Babe Ruth
Outfielder / Pitcher
Born: (1895-02-06)February 6, 1895 Baltimore, Maryland
Died: August 16, 1948(1948-08-16) (aged 53) New York City
Batted: Left	Threw: Left
MLB debut
July 11, 1914 for the Boston Red Sox
Last MLB appearance
May 30, 1935 for the Boston Braves
Career statistics
Batting average	.342
Home runs	714
Hits	2,873
Runs batted in	2,217
Win–loss record	94–46
Earned run average	2.28
Teams
Boston Red Sox (1914–1919) New York Yankees (1920–1934) Boston Braves (1935)
Career highlights and awards
2× All-Star (1933, 1934) 7× World Series champion (1915, 1916, 1918, 1923, 1927, 1928, 1932) 1923 AL MVP New York Yankees #3 retired Major League Baseball All-Century Team Major League Baseball All-Time Team Ranks in the top 10 of numerous career statistics MLB Records .690 career slugging % 1.164 career OPS
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction	1936
Vote	95.13%

George Herman Ruth, Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948), best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American baseball player who spent 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) playing for three teams (1914–1935). Known for his hitting brilliance, Ruth set career records for home runs (714), slugging percentage (.690), runs batted in (RBI) (2,217), and on-base plus slugging (OPS) (1.164). Ruth originally entered the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox as a starting pitcher, but after he was sold to the New York Yankees in 1919, he converted to a full time right fielder. He subsequently became one of the league's most prolific hitters and with his home run hitting prowess, he helped the Yankees win seven pennants and four World Series titles. Ruth retired in 1935 after a short stint with the Boston Braves, and the following year, he became one of the first five players to be elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Ruth was the first player to hit 60 home runs in one season (1927), a mark first eclipsed by Roger Maris in 1961 with 61. Ruth's lifetime record of 714 home runs stood until 1974 when it was surpassed by Hank Aaron. Unlike many power hitters, Ruth also hit for a high batting average: his .342 lifetime average is the tenth highest in baseball history, and in one season (1923) he batted .393, a Yankee record.^[1] Ruth dominated the era in which he played. He led the league in home runs during a season twelve times, slugging percentage and OPS thirteen times each, runs scored eight times, and RBIs six times. Each of those totals represents a modern record.^[2]

Ruth is credited with changing baseball itself. The popularity of the game exploded in the 1920s, largely due to his influence. Ruth ushered in the "live-ball era", as his big swing led to escalating home run totals that not only excited fans, but helped baseball evolve from a low-scoring, speed-dominated game to a high-scoring power game. He has since become regarded as one of the greatest sports heroes in American culture.^[3] Ruth's legendary power and charismatic personality made him a larger than life figure in the "Roaring Twenties",^[4] and according to ESPN, he was the first true American sports celebrity superstar whose fame transcended baseball.^[5] Off the field he was famous for his charity, but also was noted for his often reckless lifestyle.

Ruth has been named the greatest baseball player of all time in various surveys and rankings. In 1998, The Sporting News ranked him number one on the list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players".^[6] In 1999, baseball fans named Ruth to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.^[7] In 1969, he was named baseball's Greatest Player Ever in a ballot commemorating the 100th anniversary of professional baseball. In 1993, the Associated Press reported that Muhammad Ali was tied with Babe Ruth as the most recognized athletes in America.^[8] In a 1999 ESPN poll, he was ranked as the third-greatest U.S. athlete of the century, behind Michael Jordan and Ali.^[4]

Early years[link]

Ruth was born at 216 Emory Street in Pigtown, a rough neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. Ruth's German-American parents, Kate Schamberger-Ruth and George Herman Ruth, Sr., owned a succession of saloons and sold lightning rods.^[9] Only one of Ruth's seven siblings, his sister Mamie, survived past infancy.^[10]

Not much is known about Ruth's early childhood.^[11] His mother was constantly ill (she later died of tuberculosis while Ruth was still a teenager).^[12] Ruth later described his early life as "rough".^[13] When he was seven years old, his father sent him to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, a reformatory and orphanage, and signed custody over to the Catholic missionaries who ran the school (the site of St. Mary's was occupied by Cardinal Gibbons School).^[14] Ruth remained at St. Mary's for the next 12 years, visiting with his family only for special occasions.^[15] Brother Matthias Boutlier, the Head of Discipline at St. Mary's, first introduced Ruth to the game of baseball.^[16] He became a father figure in Ruth's life, teaching him how to read and write, and worked with Ruth on hitting, fielding and as his skills progressed, pitching.^[17] During his time in St. Mary's, Ruth was also taught tailoring, where he became a qualified shirtmaker and was a part of both the school band and the drama club.^[18]

Baltimore Orioles[link]

In 1913, St. Mary's Industrial School was playing a game against Mount St. Mary's University (then college) in Emmitsburg, Maryland. That day, the game was attended by Joe Engel, a former Mount St. Mary's student who was then a pitcher for the Washington Senators.^[19] Impressed with Ruth's pitching abilities, Engel, along with a teacher at St. Mary's, Brother Gilbert, brought Ruth to the attention of Jack Dunn, owner and manager of the then minor-league Baltimore Orioles. After watching Ruth pitch in a workout for half an hour, Dunn signed Ruth to a contract for $250 ($5,900 in current dollar terms) a month on February 14, 1914.^[20] Since Ruth was only 19 years old, Dunn had to become Ruth's legal guardian as well; at that time, the age of majority was 21.^{[citation needed]} When the other players on the Orioles caught sight of Ruth, they nicknamed him "Jack Dunn's baby".^[21] The reference stayed with Ruth the rest of his life, and he was most commonly referred to as Babe Ruth from then on.^[22] "Babe" was not a unique nickname (see e.g., Babe Adams). His teammates eschewed the public nickname "Babe", and instead called him "George"; or "Jidge" (a nickname for George); or "The Big Fellow"; or just "Bam".^[23]

On July 7, 1914, Dunn offered to trade Ruth, along with Ernie Shore and Ben Egan, to Connie Mack of the Philadelphia Athletics. Dunn asked $10,000 ($230,000 in current dollar terms) for the trio, but Mack refused the offer.^[24] The Cincinnati Reds, who had an agreement with the Orioles, also passed on Ruth. Instead, the team elected to take George Twombly and Claud Derrick.^[25] Two days later, on July 9, Dunn sold the trio to Joe Lannin and the Boston Red Sox.^[26] The amount of money exchanged in the transaction is disputed.

Major League career[link]

Boston Red Sox (1914–1919)[link]

Ruth pitching for the Red Sox at Comiskey Park in Chicago in 1914.

Ruth appeared in five games for the Red Sox in 1914, pitching in four of them. He picked up the victory in his major league debut on July 11.^[27] The Red Sox had many star players in 1914, so Ruth was soon optioned to the minor league Providence Grays of Providence, Rhode Island for most of the remaining season. Behind Ruth and Carl Mays, the Grays won the International League pennant.^[28] Shortly after the season, in which he had finished with a 2–1 record, Ruth proposed to Helen Woodford, a waitress whom he had met in Boston. They were married in Ellicott City, Maryland, on October 17, 1914.^[28]

During spring training in 1915, Ruth secured a spot in the Red Sox' starting rotation. He joined a pitching staff that included Rube Foster, Dutch Leonard, and Smokey Joe Wood. Ruth won 18 games,^[29] lost eight, and helped himself by hitting .315. He also hit his first four home runs. The Red Sox won 101 games that year on their way to a victory in the World Series. Ruth did not pitch in the series, and grounded out in his only at-bat.^[4]

In 1916, after a slightly shaky spring, he went 23–12, with a 1.75 ERA and nine shutouts, both of which led the league. On June 27, he struck out ten Philadelphia A's, a career high. On July 11, he started both games of a doubleheader, but the feat was not what it seemed; he pitched only one third of an inning in the opener because the scheduled starter, Foster, had trouble getting loose. Ruth then pitched a complete-game victory in the nightcap. Ruth had unusual success against Washington Senators star pitcher Walter Johnson, beating him four times in 1916 alone, by scores of 5–1, 1–0, 1–0 in 13 innings, and 2–1. Johnson finally outlasted Ruth for an extra-inning 4–3 victory on September 12; in the years to come, Ruth would hit ten home runs off Johnson, including the only two Johnson would allow in 1918–1919. Ruth's nine shutouts in 1916 set an AL record for left-handers which would remain unmatched until Ron Guidry tied it in 1978.