The Bronx Bombers were in a position that would become all too familiar at the start of the 1929 Season. They were anxious to take the field as defending World Champions, having swept St. Louis in the previous year's World Series. It was the second consecutive Series sweep for the mighty New Yorkers, as they had also swept Pittsburgh in the 1927 series. This team, already being hailed as the greatest ever, was itching to defend their back-to-back titles. Bad weather forced a two-day delay but, finally, on April 18, 1929, the weather broke enough to allow the raising of the championship banner and to play the first game of the new campaign.

Playing under cold, graying skies to a near capacity crowd, which included heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey, these New Yorkers set the tone for what they thought would be another great march through the American League. Batting third for the Bombers in the bottom of the first is the mighty Bambino, who has just launched a pitch from Boston hurler Charlie Ruffing deep into the right-field stands for his first round tripper of the season. On deck, waiting for his licks, was the Iron Horse himself. Larrupin' Lou must have taken excellent notes, because five innings later he also cranked one deep into the right-field stands. These two shots propelled New York to an opening-day 7-3 victory.

The numbers on the backs of the Babe and Lou were assigned to them because of their spots in the batting order, as this became the first game ever where players had numbers on their uniforms. While numbers on the uniforms soon became a staple of teams at all levels of baseball, they did not bring much luck to New York, as the Philadelphia Athletics won three consecutive pennants in 1929, 1930, and 1931. It would take until 1932 for the Bombers to re-visit the series, when they swept the Cubs behind Ruth's "called shot" in Wrigley Field.