Henry Hartz Helf was a Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 catcher

Catcher

Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...

 who played for three seasons. He played for the Cleveland Indians

Cleveland Indians

The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...

 in 1938 and 1940 and the St. Louis Browns

Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...

 in 1946. From 1944 to 1945 Helf served in the military during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

On August 20, 1938

1938 Cleveland Indians season

The Cleveland Indians season was a season in American baseball. The team finished third in the American League with a record of 86-66, 13 games behind the New York Yankees.- Roster :- Starters by position :...

, as part of a publicity stunt by the Come to Cleveland Committee, Helf, along with Indians' catcher, Frankie Pytlak

Frankie Pytlak

Frank Anthony Pytlak born in Buffalo, New York was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox...

, successfully caught baseballs dropped from Cleveland's 708 feet (215.8 m) Terminal Tower

Terminal Tower

The Terminal Tower is a landmark skyscraper located on Public Square in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It was built during the skyscraper boom of the 1920s and 1930s, and was the second-tallest building in the world when it was completed. The Terminal Tower stood as the tallest building in North America...

 by Indians' third baseman Ken Keltner

Ken Keltner

Kenneth Frederick Keltner was an American professional baseball player. He played almost his entire Major League Baseball career as a third baseman with the Cleveland Indians, until his final season when he played 13 games for the Boston Red Sox. He batted and threw right-handed...

. The 708 feet (215.8 m) drop broke the 555-foot, 30-year-old record set by Washington Senator catcher Gabby Street

Gabby Street

Charles Evard “Gabby” Street , also nicknamed "The Old Sarge", was an American catcher, manager, coach and radio broadcaster in Major League Baseball during the first half of the 20th century. As a catcher, he participated in one of the most publicized baseball stunts of the century's first decade....

 at the Washington Monument

Washington Monument

The Washington Monument is an obelisk near the west end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate the first U.S. president, General George Washington...

. The baseballs were estimated to have been traveling at 138 miles per hour when caught.

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