The incredibly true story of how a Sioux City realtor purchased a home made famous by Babe Ruth

After all, the outfielder for the World Series champion New York Yankees was having a spectacular year, hitting a record-breaking 60 home runs in a single season.

So what did Ruth — who was nicknamed both "The Great Bambino" and "The Sultan of Swat" — do to celebrate his victories? He went on what had been called "the mother of all barnstorming tours and a three-week victory lap."

This included a stopover at the Sioux City home of John Donohue, owner of a livestock company and a local promoter of sorts.

Donohue -- who was known to his friends as "Jiggs" -- met with sports agent Christy Walsh. Together, the two men arranged an engagement for Ruth as well as his teammate Lou Gehrig -- who had been selected the American League's most valuable player -- to play an exhibition game at Sioux City's Stockyards Park a mere 10 days after the Yanks swept the Pittsburgh Pirates to win the World Series.

While the teammates were in town, they were also invited to meet Donohue's six young children.

A home with a storied past

Indeed, the visit by Ruth and Gehrig (aka "The Iron Horse") has been immortalized in a black-and-white photograph which was taken in the backyard of the Donohue Family's 37th and Jackson streets home.

Nearly a century later, the house is still instantly identifiable by its brick exterior and second-floor balcony.

"The first floor even has the same windows that are original to the house," Ashley Divis, who currently resides in the home with her teenage children, said. "The tree in the photo is long gone but I'm guessing the backyard is remarkably similar to the way it looked in 1927."

Divis, a Realtor with RE/MAX Experience, had no idea about her home's historical significance when she purchased it nearly four years ago.

"All I knew was that it was built around 1915 and had plenty of old-fashioned character," she explained.

That is, until Divis performed a Google search on her home's colorful past.

Riding the rails with the Bambino

"I found several sources that had chronicled Babe Ruth's Sioux City visit," she said.

This included a chapter in "The Big Fella: Babe Ruth and The World He Created," a book by former Washington Post sports writer Jane Leavy.

According to Leavy's book, published in 2018, Ruth traveled by train to several Midwestern cities including Kansas City, where he was photographed holding a Black baby at the Wheatley-Provident Hospital for Negro Children.

Leavy said this created a storm of controversy during the less-enlightened 1920s.

After that, Ruth and Gehrig appeared at exhibition games and community events in Omaha, Des Moines and, finally, Sioux City.

Meet the 'Bustin' Babes' and the 'Larrupin Lous'

In Oct. 18, 1927's Sioux City Journal, the headline read: "5,000 S.C. FANS SEE BABE RUTH HIT HOMER."

Ruth and a team of area baseball players donned uniforms with the name "Bustin' Babes," while Gehrig and another batch of Siouxlanders took the field as the "Larrupin' Lous."

Indeed, this was how Ruth and Gehrig were dressed when they were guests at the home of 'Jiggs" Donohue, his wife Jo and their children Jimmie, Phil, Jack, Kenny and four-month-old twins Tommy and Joanne.

Divis showed off an enlarged photograph of Gehrig, the Donohue kids as well as an incongruous Ruth, sitting on top of a pony.

"When you think of Babe Ruth, you think of him as being a strapping man," Divis said, taking a close look at the photo. "Maybe it's the angle of the camera, but Babe doesn't look that big here."

On closer inspection, Ruth also looks very uncomfortable on Molly, which was the name of Donohue children's pet pony.

"Babe doesn't look happy on the pony and the pony doesn't look happy with Babe on his back," Divis noted with a smile.

Reliving an eventful afternoon from 96 years ago

Always a bit of a history buff, Divis was intrigued at the thought of two legendary members of the New York Yankees' famous "Murderer's Row" in her backyard, however briefly.

She was also amazed at how well the incident was chronicled.

For the sake of this story, Divis borrowed the photograph of Ruth on top of the pony from its permanent home at Sioux City's Arena Sports Academy.

"I believe the Arena got it from the Sioux City Public Museum," she said.

A soiree as seen on TV

Incredibly enough, there is even 16-millimeter film of Ruth and Gehrig's visit to the Donohue's home. Clips from the film can be seen in "When It Was a Game 2" and "Babe Ruth," which were documentaries broadcast on HBO in the 1990s.

Hoping to learn more about the long-ago party, Divis reached out to the only-surviving Donohoe child by phone a few years ago.

"I spoke briefly to Joanne Donohue Sanderson, who, with her twin Tommy, was the youngest of the Donohue children," she said. "Joanne was very nice to talk to but she was only 4 months old when Ruth and Gehrig came to the house."

Still, it was part of the Donohue family lore for generations to come.

"Can you imagine what it must've been like to have two of the best-known men in America in your backyard for an afternoon party?" Divis said, shaking her head in amazement. "Joanne remembered being told they were very friendly and funny."

A house with character, both inside and out

Judging by the home's exquisite crown molding, hardwood floors and elaborate fireplace, the Donohues' home was likely a showplace back in the day.

"John Donohue was a prominent business owner in the livestock field when the Sioux City Stockyards was very prominent," Divis said. "I'm guessing he was well-to-do."

Also having a house on Sioux City's upper Northside was very prestigious.

"Nowadays, people buy houses on the Northside of town because the homes are older and have plenty of character," Divis said. "Back in the 1920s, this was a new section of Sioux City. People were buying houses here because they were recently built."

Where memories and history were made

Divis said she chose the house because of its old-fashioned charm.

"You can tell how well the Donohue family and every subsequent resident maintained the integrity of this house," she said.

Divis also speculates that the home has been the site of many happy memories. Though, perhaps, none so famous as when the "Sultan of Swat" and the "Pride of the Yankees" came by for a visit.

"Every time I look out my window, I can say 'Oh, that's probably where Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig once stood," Divis allowed with a smile. "That's pretty cool."