Aaron's Sports History Highlights
Babe Ruth (1895-1948) was born in Baltimore. 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.
Babe (George) was a natural hitter from the first time he held a bat, but he needed hours of practice before his fielding was acceptable. 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".
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. The Yankees paid much more than the price of a whole franchise.
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). 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 1927 his 60 home runs in 154 games established a record that stood until 1961, when Roger Maris hit 61 in 162 games.
His career total of 714 home runs stood as a major league record until 1974, when Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves topped it. In his 22-year major league career, Ruth played in 2503 games and had a lifetime batting average of .342. He drove in 2213 runs, scored 2174 times, and was walked 2056 times. He also finished with a pitching record of 94-46, compiling an earned run average of 2.28.
