Babe Ruth

When Ruth arrived in 1914, the Red Sox had many star players. As such, he was optioned to the minor league Providence Grays of Providence, Rhode Island for part of the season. Behind Ruth and Carl Mays, the Grays won the International League pennant. Ruth appeared in five games for the Red Sox that year, pitching in four of them. He finished the season 2-1 for the major league club. Shortly after the season, Ruth proposed to Helen Woodford, a waitress he met in Boston, and they were married in Ellicott City, Maryland on October 17, 1914.

During spring training in 1915, Ruth secured a spot in the starting rotation. He joined a pitching staff that included Rube Foster, Dutch Leonard, and Smokey Joe Wood. Ruth won 18 games, lost weight, 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 appear much in the series. He did not pitch in the series and he recorded only one at-bat.

In 1916, after a slightly shaky spring, he went 23 - 12, with a 1.75 ERA and 9 shutouts. Despite a weak offense and hurt by the sale of Tris Speaker to the Indians, the Red Sox still made it to the World Series. They defeated the Brooklyn Robins four games to one. This time Ruth made major contributions in the series. In game 2 of the series, the Red Sox won the game and Ruth pitched a 14-inning complete game.

George went 24-13 in 1917 and hit .325. The Sox finished nine games behind the Chicago White Sox, good enough for second place in the AL.

In the 1918 World Series, Ruth appeared as a pitcher and went 2-0 with a 1.06 ERA. Ruth extended his World Series consecutive scoreless inning streak to 29â?? innings^[8]. Since Hippo Vaughn and Lefty Tyler, two left-handers, pitched nearly all the innings for the Cubs, Ruth, who batted left-handed registered only five at-bats.

During the 1919 season, Ruth pitched in only 17 of the 130 games in which he appeared. He also set his first single-season home run record that year. It was his last season with the Red Sox.

In the early part of 1920, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee agreed to sell Babe to the New York Yankees. Frazee and Jacob Ruppert, Yankee owner, agreed to exchange Ruth for $125,000 and a loan of more than $300,000. The deal was completed on January 3, 1920. Many Red Sox fans believed this deal was the main reason that the Sox would not win another World Series for the next 86 years. What would later be known as "The Curse of the Bambino", was allegedly a supernatural haunting by the ghost of Babe Ruth (albeit it was an easy scapegoat for Red Sox failures) for the sale unjust exchange between the Sox & the Yankees. Between 1918 & 2004 (the amount of time between the last 2 Red Sox world titles), the Yankees went on to win 26 world titles while the Sox won 0.

Ruth hit 54 home runs and batted .376 in his first year with the Yankees. His .847 slugging average was a major league record until 2001.

In 1921, the Yankees met the New York Giants in the World Series. Ruth badly scraped his elbow during Game 2 sliding into third base. After the game, he was told by the team physician not to play the rest of the series. Without him, the Yankees lost the series. Ruth hit .316, drove in five runs and hit his first World Series home run.

Ruth's appearance in the 1921 World Series created a problem. After the series, Ruth played in a barnstorming tour. At the time, there was a rule that prohibited World Series participants from playing in exhibition games during the off-season. Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis suspended Ruth for the first six weeks of the 1922 season.

Despite his suspension, George was named the Yankees on-field captain. Ruth started his 1922 season on May 20. Five days later, he was ejected from a game and Ruth subsequently lost the title.

In his shortened season, Ruth appeared in 110 games, hit 35 home runs and drove in 99 runs. Even without Ruth for much of the season, the Yankees still made it to the World Series. Unfortunately, Ruth got just two hits in seventeen at-bats and the Yankees lost to the Giants for the second straight year.

Ruth finished the 1923 season with a career-high .393 batting average and major leagues leading 41 home runs.

For the third straight year the Yankees faced the Giants in the World Series. The Bambino batted .368, walked eight times, scored eight runs, hit three home runs and slugged 1.000 during the series. The Yankees won the series 4 games to two.

During spring training in 1925, Ruth fell ill. In order to recover, Ruth returned to New York. Coming off the injury, Ruth finished the season with a .290 average and 25 home runs in 98 games. The team finished next to last in the A.L. with a 69-85 mark.

Babe performed at a much higher level during 1926 season. That year, Ruth hit .372 with 47 home runs and 146 RBI.

The Yankees won the AL title and advanced to the World Series. Unfortunately for Ruth, the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Yankees in seven games. However, Ruth had his moments. In game 4, he hit three home runs.^[9]

The 1927 Yankees went 110-44, won the A.L. pennant by 19 games, and swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Series. That year Ruth , hit a career high 60 home runs, batted .356, drove in 164 runs and slugged .772.

The following season started off very well for the Yankees. The team even built a 13-game lead in July. But the Yankees were soon plagued by some key injuries, erratic pitching and inconsistent play. The Philadelphia Athletics club quickly ate into the Yankees lead. In early September, the A's took over first place with a 1-game lead. But in a pivotal series later that month, the Yankees took 3 out of 4 games and held on to win the pennant.

Ruth's play in 1928 mirrored his team's play. He got off to a hot start, and on August 1, had 42 home runs. This put him on pace to hit more than the 60 home runs he hit the previous season. But Ruth's power waned, and he hit just 12 home runs in the last two months of the regular season. Still, he ended the season with an impressive 54, the fourth (and last) time he passed 50 home runs in a season plateau.

The Yankees had a World Series rematch with the St. Louis Cardinals, who had upset them in the 1926 series. The Cardinals had the same core players as the 1926 team, except for Rogers Hornsby, who was traded for Frankie Frisch after the 1926 season.

The series was no contest. The Yankees swept the Cardinals 4-0. Ruth batted .625 and hit three home runs in game four of the series.