Babe Ruth

I

Introduction

Babe Ruth (1895-1948), American professional baseball player, one of the most gifted and popular players in the history of baseball. While Ruth was playing for the New York Yankees in the 1920s and 1930s, his legendary home run hitting feats dominated the national pastime. Ruth’s love for baseball, generosity, and dramatic rise from humble beginnings endeared him to fans, and he is one of the greatest sports heroes of American culture.

II

Childhood

The son of a tavern owner, George Herman Ruth was born in Baltimore, Maryland. After spending several troubled years growing up on the streets of the city’s waterfront, seven-year-old George was placed in Saint Mary’s Industrial School for Boys, an orphanage and reform school. Brother Matthias, a strict Roman Catholic priest at Saint Mary’s, taught him to play baseball. Although George was left-handed, which made it difficult for him to throw out runners stealing second base, he eventually became a catcher for the Saint Mary’s team. He also played first base, third base, and in the outfield when needed.

George was a natural hitter from the first time he held a bat, but he needed hours of practice with Brother Matthias before his fielding was acceptable. After he teased another boy whose attempts to pitch had failed, Brother Matthias made Ruth take the mound to see if he could do better. Ruth had never pitched before, but he showed immediate promise. He soon demonstrated a sidearm throwing style that many observers compared to star pitcher Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators.

III

Early Career

In 1914, shortly after his 19th birthday, Ruth signed a contract with the Baltimore Orioles of the International League. Because Ruth was not yet a legal adult, Orioles owner Jack Dunn became his guardian. In spring training he acquired the distinctive nickname Babe, a reference to his status as “Dunn’s baby,” and to his rookie status and his round-faced, youthful appearance. Batting for the Orioles in his first professional spring training game, Ruth hit a home run into a cornfield well beyond the right field barrier. A newspaper headline the next day read “RUTH MAKES MIGHTY CLOUT,” foretelling the future.

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Baltimore soon sold Ruth’s contract to the Boston Red Sox of the American League (AL), a team already crowded with star players. Boston optioned Ruth to the Providence Grays of the International League to give him the opportunity to play every day and develop his talents. Ruth was called up to the majors late in 1914, and the following season he became a regular pitcher for the Red Sox. Led by Ruth, Boston won the World Series in 1915, 1916, and 1918. During Ruth’s six-year stay in Boston, he won 89 regular-season games and three World Series contests for the Red Sox.

It was Ruth’s hitting, however, that attracted the attention of the team’s management and fans. Beginning in 1918, the Red Sox played Ruth more often as an outfielder to take advantage of his hitting skills. That season he led the AL with 11 home runs. In 1919 he pitched in only 17 games. Playing regularly in the outfield, he captured the home run title again with 29 roundtrippers. This set a new season record.

Ruth’s pitching and hitting earned him the devotion of Boston fans, but in 1920 Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Ruth’s contract to the Yankees to cover financial losses sustained in other business ventures (including a failed Broadway show). The Yankees paid more than $400,000 in cash and loans (much more than the price of a whole franchise at that time). Heartbroken Red Sox fans never forgave Frazee for selling their star, and some even blamed the transaction for the Red Sox’ failure to win the World Series for more than eight decades afterward. This fabled drought, which finally ended when the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series, was known as “The Curse of the Bambino.”

IV

Sultan of Swat

From 1920 to 1934, Ruth played the outfield for the Yankees, headlining some of the greatest squads in the history of baseball. Beloved by the New York fans, Ruth earned several nicknames, including the Bambino (Italian for Babe) and the Sultan of Swat (for his home run hitting ability). In the Babe’s first season as a Yankee, he batted .376 and slugged 54 home runs, almost double his record-setting total of the previous year. The 54 home runs represented 4 more than any other AL team produced in total, and 35 more than his closest individual rival, George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns. Ruth’s extraordinary home run slugging touched off a nationwide resurgence of fan support for baseball, which had suffered in the aftermath of the 1919 World Series scandal, in which several Chicago White Sox players had intentionally played badly in exchange for payments from gamblers.

As a Yankee Ruth won ten home run crowns and played in seven World Series, with the Yankees winning four of them. His home run production was unprecedented. He hit 41 in 1923, 46 in 1924, and 47 in 1926. In 1927 his 60 home runs in 154 games established a record that stood until 1961, when Roger Maris hit 61 in 162 games. When the Yankees opened a new ballpark in 1923, it was named Yankee Stadium. Fans and journalists, however, began referring to the park as “The House That Ruth Built,” a tribute to their hero. To see Ruth, his fans flocked not only to Yankee Stadium, but to ballparks around the AL when the Yankees played road games, making him one of the biggest drawing stars in baseball history.

Fearing his powerful bat, opposing pitchers issued Ruth many bases on balls, and he led the AL 11 times in walks. He also led the league in runs batted in (RBIs) 6 times and in runs scored 8 times. Seldom in the history of baseball has one player so dominated the game’s offense for as many years as Ruth did. With the Yankees, Ruth also appeared in five games as a pitcher, winning each time.

While Ruth served as New York’s centerpiece, the other Yankees players were also extremely talented. The 1927 squad was particularly successful. The team won 110 of 154 games, setting a record for victories that would not be topped until 1954, when the Cleveland Indians won 111 games. The batting lineup, which started with Earle Combs, Mark Koenig, Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Bob Meusel, and Tony Lazzeri, was nicknamed Murderers’ Row.