Babe Didrikson Zaharias demonstrates her throwing technique for her namesake,baseball great, Babe Ruth. She competed in the baseball throw from1930-1932, and continues to hold the record for the longest throw by a femaleathlete at 272’ 2”. The AAU dropped the event from competition in 1958.Photo: © Bettmann/CORBISAlthough she excelled in many sports, golfbecame the one that defined Babe.34 Vol. 6, No. 3–Sports
The Babe Didrikson Zaharias Museum inBeaumont, Texas, houses artifacts such asBabe’s Olympic medals, golf clubs, numeroustrophies, and pictures.Babe received an endorsement from Wilson sporting goods. The Wilson bag is one of many artifactsdisplayed in the museum.of 143’ 4” and in the 80-meter hurdles finishing in 11.7 seconds.Babe tied teammate Jean Shiley for a world record high jumpof 5’ 5 ¾”. Both women were credited with the world record,but Babe received the silver medal instead of gold based on herquestionable “Western roll” jumping style. The actual medalcomposed of half-gold, half-silver is the only one of its kind.Babe later received credit for a first-place tie and an Olympicrecord that stood for sixteen years. 3In 1933 Babe decided to make a career in golf, a game shehad previously played only intermittently, because golf offeredwomen greater opportunities for competition. Additionally,golf was considered more appropriate feminine behavior. Justtwo years later, Babe entered the Women’s Texas AmateurTournament at the River Oaks Country Club in <strong>Houston</strong>. Eventhough golf provided a friendlier venue for women athletes,class discrimination emerged as a new obstacle for Babe. Whenshe entered a driving competition, several others withdrew toshow their distaste for her working-class background. Zahariasbiographers indicate that the championship round pitted Babeagainst a socialite from Dallas, Peggy Chandler, who madeit clear she did not want lower-class women like Babe in thetournament when she said, “We don’t need any truck driver’sdaughters in our tournament.” The crowd, however, loved theanimated Babe and cheered her to a win over Chandler. It was ahollow victory, however. Following receipt of complaints fromthe upper-class competitors, the United States Golf Associationrescinded Babe’s amateur status — despite having reviewedand granted it before the tournament — in the “best interest ofthe game.” As a result, Babe sat out three years to regain heramateur status. 4Despite her many achievements in a variety of sports, Babeis most noted for her accomplishments in golf. She met her husband,professional wrestler George Zaharias, when the two werepaired together in a Los Angeles tournament, and he helped toVol. 6, No. 3–Sports 35
- Page 1 and 2: Volume 6 • Number 3 • Summer 20
- Page 3: table of contentsReaders’ Forum P
- Page 6 and 7: A Conversation with...MR. ASTRO, LA
- Page 8 and 9: young player, you know, to try to m
- Page 10 and 11: Astros owners R. E. “Bob” Smith
- Page 12 and 13: all the time. And then, I spent my
- Page 14 and 15: LD: Yes, I did. Sportsman’s Park
- Page 16 and 17: By Ernesto ValdésTrying to instill
- Page 18 and 19: ecause I wasn’t very old and . .
- Page 20 and 21: Coach Tellez giving pointers to Pat
- Page 22 and 23: Rain or Shine:How HoustonDeveloped
- Page 24 and 25: since the St. Louis Cardinals owned
- Page 26 and 27: City on the international map.Peopl
- Page 28 and 29: Hofheinz worked with Monsanto to in
- Page 30 and 31: Story Sloane’s GalleryHermann Par
- Page 32 and 33: THE FIRST PROMISING RUMOUR I heard
- Page 34 and 35: Never one to hold back, an animated
- Page 38 and 39: Babe sets up a putt at the Babe Did
- Page 40 and 41: 38 Vol. 6, No. 3-Sports
- Page 42 and 43: Today, multilingual signage of busi
- Page 44 and 45: A large crowd gathered for the much
- Page 46 and 47: The neighborhood welcome sign indic
- Page 48 and 49: preservation CAN work in houston:Th
- Page 50 and 51: of falling to the wrecking ball, as
- Page 52 and 53: SpawGlass Construction managed the
- Page 54 and 55: “KUHF’s ‘Texas Originals’ w
- Page 56 and 57: 24 Ibid; Richard Dean, “BASEBALL
- Page 58 and 59: 6 “Houston Deco: Modernistic Arch
- Page 60: University of HoustonCenter for Pub
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