Ninety-two years ago, on January 5, 1920, the New York Yankees announced they had purchased the slugging outfielder Babe Ruth from the Boston Red Sox for $125,000 in cash and $300,000 in loans.
Born into a poor family in 1895, George Herman Ruth attended a reformatory and orphanage, where he was an unruly student. But he learned to play baseball and, at 19, was signed by the Baltimore Orioles, a minor league team.
His teammates referred to him as the owner's newest "babe," a nickname that stuck. Ruth made his debut in the majors as a left-handed pitcher with the Boston Red Sox in 1914.
In the 1918 World Series, he notched 29 2/3 scoreless innings, a record that endured for 43 years. The next year, he won nine of 17 starts, hit a record 29 home runs and led the league with 114 runs batted in and 103 runs.
The legacy of his trade to the Yankees haunted the Red Sox, who went 86 years without a World Series victory, while the Yankees won 26 World Series titles. The Sox shook the "curse of the Bambino" in 2004, winning their first world championship since 1918.
In 1920, Ruth nearly doubled his own home run record of 29 by slamming 54. He had so many fans that in 1923, when the new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx opened, it was dubbed "The House That Ruth Built."
In one of Ruth's last games, he hit three homers in Pittsburgh. On the final trip around the bases, he tipped his cap to the crowd of 10,000. It was number 714, his last home run.
Ruth's career home run record stood until 1974, when it was broken by Hank Aaron. His record of 60 homers in a single season of 154 games was not bested until 1961, when Roger Maris of the Yankees hit 61 in 162 games.
Barry Bonds is now the home run leader, with 762 and the single season record of 73, set in 2001. But Ruth’s career slugging percentage of .690 remains the highest in history.
Ruth ended his career in 1935, after 10 World Series and 22 seasons. He led the Yankees to an unprecedented seven pennants and four World Series victories.
On the 25th anniversary of the opening of Yankee Stadium, the team honored the player that made them the most recognizable in sports history by retiring his number 3. It was the last time Ruth was seen in Yankee pinstripes.
He died of throat cancer at 53 on August 16, 1948, in New York City. His body lay in state at Yankee Stadium for two days and more than 100,000 fans paid their final respects.
Babe Ruth was named The Associated Press Athlete of the Century in 1999 and The Sporting News' Greatest Player of All Time. "Baseball,” he once said, “was, is and always will be to me the best game in the world."
Comments