It's funny how the mind works sometimes. I read what you said about Hack Wilson. I thought to call up his Wikipedia article but at the top of it, I noted that he died in 1948. I recalled that as the year that Babe Ruth died as well.
So I thought to go to Ruth's article first and examine his funeral arrangements before continuing with Wilson's article. For Ruth,
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Thousands of New Yorkers, including many children, stood vigil outside the hospital during Ruth's final days. On August 16, 1948, at 8:01 p.m., Ruth died in his sleep at the age of 53. His funeral service took place over three days. His open casket was placed on display in the rotunda of Yankee Stadium, where it remained for two days; 77,000 people filed past to pay him tribute. His Requiem Mass was celebrated by Francis Cardinal Spellman at St. Patrick's Cathedral; a crowd estimated at 75,000 waited outside.
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Then I returned to the Wilson article where I noticed, right after what you read and repeated, it said,
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In marked contrast to Babe Ruth's funeral, which had been attended by thousands just three months earlier, only a few hundred people were present for Wilson's services.
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Happily, however,
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Ten months later, Joe McCarthy organized a second, more complete memorial service, attended by Kiki Cuyler, Charlie Grimm, Nick Altrock and other players from the Cubs and the Martinsburg team (by then renamed the Blue Sox). A granite tombstone was unveiled, with the inscription, "One of Baseball's Immortals, Lewis R. (Hack) Wilson, Rests Here."
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Ruth was 53 when he died. Wilson was 48.