In 1917, when Babe Ruth was age 22, he was 6�2" and a slim 180 pounds of muscle, and a superb left-handed pitcher who had a lifetime record of 67-34. His prowess with the bat, however, prompted his manager to cut in half the number of starts of this young ace in 1918, and give him 317 at bats playing as a regular outfielder. He went 13-7 on the mound and led the league with 11 home runs. The kid became the talk of both leagues. The finest player in the history of the game was just beginning to flex his muscles, but everyone already knew about Ruth.
In 1919, George Herman Ruth set a single-season record with29 home runs and led the league in RBI and runs for the Boston Red Sox. Red Sox owner Harry Frazee�s financial needs prompted Ruth�s sale to the New Yankees. "The Sultan of Swat" brought $100,000 more than twice the price of any previous player, and a $300,000 loan. The Red Sox, winners of the 1916 and 1918 World Series (Ruth was a 3-0 as a pitcher in the fall classic), have not won a World Series since, but the Yankees went on to become the most successful franchise in history.
In 1920 Ruth took baseball, New York, and America by storm. His 54 home runs were more than any other American League team. His .847 slugging average still stands as the single-season record, and he hit .376 with the league-leading 158 runs and 137 RBI, He dominated the AL almost up to his 1935 retirement. He had a batting title in 1924, twelve home run titles, eight times a league leader in runs, six in RBI, and 13 times in slugging, He might have won more honors, but in 1922 he was suspended by the commissioner for barnstorming, and he played in only 110 games. He was limited to only 98 games in 1925, when he was sidelined with an intestinal abscess. Despite his big swing, the Bambino never struck out 100 times in a season, and he led the league in walks, 11 times, including a record 170 in 1923. He still holds lifetime marks in walks and slugging of baseball that packed in fans in record numbers and helped heal the wounds left by the 1919 Black Sox scandal.
The Babe led the Yankees to seven World Series appearances and four championships. He teamed with Lou Gerig to form the most feared one-two punch in baseball history, and in 1927 the fabled "Murderer�s Row" of the Yankees won 110 games and lost just 44. Ruth set a record that year that was to capture the imagination like no other, hitting 60 home runs in a single season. He further added to baseball lore in the 1932 World Series, when, as legend has it, he made his famous "Called Shot." He reportedly pointed to the center field bleachers before homering against the Cubs.
Rube Bressler said that Ruth was "one of the greatest pitchers of all time, and then he became a great judge of a fly ball, never threw to the wrong base when he was playing the outfield, terrific arm good base runner, could hit the ball twice as fare as any other human being. He was like an animal. He had that instinct. They know when it�s going to rain. Nature, that was Ruth!"
Ruth was one of the first five players inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1936 and was the most beloved player ever to play the game.
Babe Ruth was one of only two people (Reggie Jackson being the other) to ever hit three home runs in a World Series game and is the only one to do it twice (1926& 1928).| Accomplishments | Babe Ruth holds the record for the longest complete game victory in World Series history. In 1916, as a member of the Boston Red Sox, Ruth went 14 innings to defeat the Brooklyn Dodgers. | Babe Ruth led the American League in home runs 12 times. | Babe Ruth has the most base on balls with 2,056. |
When Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs in 1927, he hit 14% of all home runs in his league that year. For a player to hit 14% of all home runs today, he would have to hit over 300 home runs in one season.