Babe Ruth

From SoSH

George Herman Ruth (born February 6, 1895, Baltimore, MD, died August 16, 1948, New York, NY) played for the Boston Red Sox (1914-19), New York Yankees (1920-1934) and Boston Braves (1935). He was elected to the Hall of Fame as part of its first class in 1936. His place among the greatest baseball players ever is undisputed, and most consider him the end-all in any argument of who is the greatest of all time.

Although he revolutionized the home run, he was also a great contact hitter for most of his career. His .346 career batting average is 10th-highest all-time, and he led the AL in slugging percentage for 14 straight seasons; his .690 career slugging average is the highest all-time. And before discovering the home run he was known as an excellent pitcher; he has a 94-46 career record with a 2.28 career ERA (14th best all-time), a career 7.19 hits allowed per 9 innings (13th best all-time) and two 20-win seasons.

"Sometimes I still can't believe what I saw. This 19-year-old kid, crude, poorly educated, only lightly brushed by the social veneer we call civilization, gradually transformed into the idol of American youth and the symbol of baseball the world over -- a man loved by more people and with an intensity of feeling that perhaps has never been equaled before or since. I saw a man transformed into something pretty close to a god." -- Harry Hooper

Contents 1 Overall Career 2 Awards 3 Achievements 4 Moment in the Sun 5 Trivia 6 Quotes 7 Transactions 8 External Links

Overall Career

As a young boy in Baltimore, Maryland, when Ruth began to seriously play baseball at St Mary's Industrial School for Boys, he preferred to play catcher because he was most involved in the action on the field at that position. This same preference was very important in Ruth ultimately leaving the Boston Red Sox for the New York Yankees.

At St. Mary's, Ruth one day mocked his own team's pitcher, because he wasn't pitching well. The school's disciplinarian, Brother Matthias, immediately removed Ruth from behind the plate and put him on the mound to force Ruth to walk a mile in the pitcher's shoes -- Catholic Schools are big on teaching lessons, as well as making smoking hot fashions for schoolgirls (and grown women who don't mind playing dress-up to spice things up a little). Ruth had the last laugh, though, because he was a damn good pitcher -- so good that he was brought to the attention of Jack Dunn, the owner and manager of the then-minor-league Baltimore Orioles (Miguel Tejada isn't sure they aren't still), and Dunn signed him up (Ruth got his famous "Babe" nickname because this young, cherubic, happy-go-lucky phenom was "Dunn's Babe"). Because of financial woes, the O's had to sell Ruth and Joseph Lannin was the lucky owner who got to buy Ruth in the fire sale, and the "Babe Ruth as a Red Sox" era began, in 1914.

With lefties Ray Collins, Dutch Leonard, and Vean Gregg pitching for the Sox already, the 1914 Red Sox didn't have much need for Ruth (only four appearances), so they sent him to get some innings in with the Providence Grays in Rhode Island. He excelled and the Red Sox put him in the rotation for the 1915 Red Sox season, when he went 18-8 on the mound and cranked out a .952 OPS in 103 plate appearances. It was his season with the 1916 Red Sox when Ruth broke out as an elite American League pitcher: 23-12 record (third most wins in the AL), 9 shutouts (an AL lefty record that has still not been exceeded, though it was tied by Ron Guidry in 1978), 1.75 ERA (the best in the AL and third best in all of the majors), and the third most innings pitched that season in the AL. Unlike in 1915, when he was barely used in the postseason, Ruth got the call from manager Bill Carrigan during the 1916 World Series and ran with it -- a 14-inning complete game victory in Game 2 (an inside-the-park solo home run in the 1st inning by Hi Myers was all the scoring the Brooklyn Robins would do that day). Boston won the game 2-1.

Ruth nearly duplicated his sparkling 1916 season with the 1917 Red Sox: 24-13 (second most wins in the AL), 6 shutouts, 2.01 ERA (seventh best in the AL), and the second most innings pitched that season in the AL. After having his average dip below .300 in 1916 (his first 100+ AB season), it rebounded to .325 in 1917, but his power wasn't what it was in 1915. That would change the following year.

During the end of 1917, Ruth began voicing his displeasure with playing only every fourth day. In 1918, after the military draft weakened the Red Sox lineup, and at the suggestion of team captain Harry Hooper, Everett Scott and Heinie Wagner, Ed Barrow penciled in Ruth at first base and left field.

The experiment was a huge success. Ruth led the major leagues with a .555 slugging percentage, tied for the American League lead with 11 home runs, tied for second in doubles and tied for third in runs batted in -- all while having 75 to 150 less plate appearances than his opponents.

On the mound, he allowed the fourth fewest hits per game, had the fourth lowest opponents batting average and third lowest opponents on-base percentage. Only Walter Johnson allowed fewer baserunners per nine innings.

In the 1918 World Series, Ruth won two games on the mound, including a Game One shutout; he also clubbed a triple which catapulted Boston to victory in Game Four.

In 1919, he was even better, leading both leagues in on-base average, slugging percentage, runs scored and runs batted in. That year, he became a household name by belting a record 29 home runs. However, his off-field activities and prima donna attitude caused problems with management, and on January 5, 1920, he was sold to the New York Yankees.

It is only a coincidence that the Red Sox would fail to win the World Series for another 85 seasons thereafter, but the more immediate aftermath was manager Ed Barrow's defection to the Yankees after the 1920 season, taking seven players with him and building the Yankees into an AL superpower. By 1986, sportswriters began to suggest that the Red Sox were cursed because of Ruth's departure, but those thoughts were laid to rest when the team finally won a World Series in 2004.

Awards

• Elected to Hall of Fame by Baseball Writers in 1936 (95.13% )

• 1923 American League MVP
• 2-time American League All-Star (1933, 1934)

Achievements

• Member of the 500 Home Run Club (714 HR)

• AL ERA Leader (1916)
• AL Complete Games Leader (1917)
• AL Shutouts Leader (1916)
• AL Batting Average Leader (1924)
• 10-time AL On-Base Percentage Leader (1919-1921, 1923-1927 & 1930-1932)
• 13-time AL Slugging Percentage Leader (1918-1924 & 1926-1931)
• 13-time AL OPS Leader (1918-1924 & 1926-1931)
• 8-time AL Runs Scored Leader (1918-1924 & 1926-1928)
• 6-time AL Total Bases Leader (1919, 1921, 1923, 1924, 1926 & 1928)
• 12-time AL Home Runs Leader (1918-1921, 1923, 1924 & 1926-1931)
• 6-time AL RBI Leader (1919-1921, 1923, 1926 & 1928)
• 11-time AL Bases on Balls Leader (1920, 1921, 1923, 1924, 1926-1928 & 1930-1933)
• 15 Wins Seasons: 3 (1915-1917)
• 20 Wins Seasons: 2 (1916 & 1917)
• 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 3 (1915-1917)
• 300 Innings Pitched Seasons: 2 (1916-1917)
• 20-Home Run Seasons: 16 (1919-1934)
• 30-Home Run Seasons: 13 (1920-1924 & 1926-1933)
• 40-Home Run Seasons: 11 (1920, 1921, 1923, 1924 & 1926-1932)
• 50-Home Run Seasons: 4 (1920, 1921, 1927 & 1928)
• 60-Home Run Seasons: 1 (1927)
• 100 RBI Seasons: 13 (1919-1921, 1923, 1924 & 1926-1933)
• 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 12 (1919-1921, 1923, 1924 & 1926-1932)
• 200 Hits Seasons: 3 (1921, 1923 & 1924)

Moment in the Sun

• As Babe himself would agree, his best moments were usually after the sun went down.

Trivia

• In Boston, Babe was known as The Colossus, The Caveman, and Tarzan.
• Babe Ruth earned his nickname during spring training of 1914 when teammates on the minor league Baltimore Orioles began referring to him as owner Jack Dunn’s new "babe."
• Won seven World Series Rings with the Boston Red Sox (1915, 1916 & 1918) and the New York Yankees (1923, 1927, 1928 & 1932)
• According to Leigh Montville, more books (28) have been written about Ruth than any other baseball player. Jackie Robinson is second with 25.
• His first daughter, Dorothy, is a convert to Red Sox Nation, and still attends games at Fenway in 2007 at age 91. She was most recently interviewed on NESN during a game on July 19, 2007.

Quotes

• "I learned early to drink beer, wine and whiskey. And I think I was about 5 when I first chewed tobacco."
• "As soon as I got out there I felt a strange relationship with the pitcher's mound. It was as if I'd been born out there. Pitching just felt like the most natural thing in the world. Striking out batters was easy."
• "I'll promise to go easier on drinking and to get to bed earlier, but not for you, fifty thousand dollars, or two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars will I give up women. They're too much fun."
• "If I'd just tried for them dinky singles, I could've batted around .600."
• "If it wasn't for baseball, I'd be in either the penitentiary or the cemetery."
• "It's lonesome in the outfield. It's hard to keep awake with nothing to do."
• "Pussy good, pussy good." (Ruth's answer to "How's it goin'?" (instead of "Pretty good, pretty good"))

Transactions

• July 9, 1914: Purchased by the Boston Red Sox from the Baltimore (International) for more than $25,000.
• January 3, 1920: Purchased by the New York Yankees from the Boston Red Sox for $125000 and a $300000 loan.
• February 26, 1935: Released by the New York Yankees.
• February 26, 1935: Signed as a Free Agent with the Boston Braves.

External Links

• Baseball-Reference.com - Career Statistics and Analysis
• Babe Ruth: Hall of Fame Page
• 1936 Hall of Fame Class
• Babe Ruth Memorial at Find A Grave