Former Red Sox and Yankees great Herman “Babe” Ruth is one of the most iconic players to ever step onto a baseball field. Is it time that we do more to recognize his accomplishments to the game? (FILE PHOTO)

George Herman “Babe” Ruth, Jr. was born Feb. 6, 1895, in Baltimore Maryland, a short walk from the train yards where Camden Yard is located today. At the age of 7, his parents had him declared incorrigible and he was committed to the St. Mary’s Industrial School on the outskirts of Baltimore where he spent most of the next 11 years, except for short stretches when they tried, unsuccessfully, to keep him at home, but were unable to deal with his behavior. He was always returned to the school where he remained until he turned 18 in 1914. 

He played baseball for the school team and, after playing in a semi-pro league in Baltimore at 17, he was signed, to a minor-league contract, as a pitcher, by Jack Dunn, owner of the Baltimore Orioles of the then AA International League. Ruth went to Spring Training with the Orioles where he caught the attention of the Red Sox and they bought his contract from the Orioles. 

Carl Johnson

Dunn became Ruth’s legal guardian when he joined the Orioles. Fresh out of St. Mary’s and his cloistered existence, he always followed Dunn around for guidance and the story goes that the other players said that he was “Dunn’s new Babe” and the nickname stuck. 

He made his Major League debut with the Sox on July 14 of that year, pitching seven innings, giving up just two earned runs on eight hits and getting the win as the Sox outscored the Cleveland Indians, 4-3.

In 1918, from July 17 until Aug. 31, he pitched an average of every fourth day and played the field every day in between. In that stretch, he started 10 games on the mound, pitched nine complete games, won eight and lost two, had an earned run average of 1.66, and played 29 games in the field and at bat. Four days later, he pitched a complete game shutout in Game 1 of the World Series against the Cubs and, four days later, won Game 4, giving up just two runs on seven hits in seven innings.   

He appeared in 10 World Series, three with the Red Sox, all three of which they won, and seven with the Yankees, who won five of the eight.  In his first World Series, in 1915, he got into just one game, pinch hitting and grounding out to first in the ninth inning in Game 1 against the Phillies. In 1916, when the Sox beat the Brooklyn Robins, later the Brooklyn and then Los Angeles Dodgers, in five games, he won Game 2, pitching a 14 inning, complete game, giving up just one run, a home run in the first inning to Brooklyn center fielder Hi Myers, then pitched 13 1/3 scoreless innings, as the Sox win 2-1.   

As noted above, in his third World Series with the Sox, in 1918, against the Chicago Cubs, he shut out the Cubs in Game 1 on six hits and pitched eight innings in Game 4, winning, 3-2, and got the win in both games as the Sox won the Series in six games. In three World Series games, as a pitcher, he started and won all three, giving up just three earned runs in 31 innings for a 0.87 ERA.

All baseball fans, especially Red Sox and Yankee fans, know the story about the curse of the Babe, which supposedly started with his sale to the Yankees on Dec. 26 of 1919 for $100,000.   

He had won 89 and lost just 46 games as a pitcher with the Sox with a 2.19 ERA in 147 starts with 107 complete games.  His winning percentage as a pitcher was .671, 12^th best of all pitchers in baseball history. In 1918, he led the league in home runs with 11 and had 29 in 1919 to lead again.  While splitting his time between pitching and playing the field those two years, he pitched and won 22 games while losing just 12 with a 2.55 ERA.

In his first year with the Yankees, 1920, he hit 54 home runs and the next year 59, as he led the Yankees to the first of the seven pennants they’d win with him. In 15 years in New York, he hit .349 with 659 home runs and 1,978 RBI’s. His overall career batting average of .342 is 10th best among all players in history, his 714 career homers is the third best of all time, his slugging percentage of .690 is the best of all times, beating second place Ted Williams by 56 points and his 60 homers in 1927 was the record for  single season until Roger Maris hit 61 in 1961.

With the Yankees, as an outfielder, in seven World Series, he played in 36 games, had 41 hits in 118 at bats, for a .347 average and hit 15 home runs and drove in 33 runs.  His 3-0 pitching record and .347 batting average, against the best competition in the world, is a feat never equaled before or since.

The year before he joined the Yankees, they had drawn just 619,164 fans to Yankee Stadium. In his first year, the attendance more than doubled to 1,289,422. When the original Yankee Stadium was completed in 1923, it was called “The House That Ruth Built” because of his drawing power making it possible.

Besides being, arguably, the best player ever to play the game, Ruth was a larger than life personality and, even today, is one of the most recognized people in American history. In addition to his legendary exploits on the field, and despite his sometimes less than exemplary behavior off it, he spent much of his  time aiding charities and working with youngsters. For example, he and Lou Gehrig, in conjunction with the Knight’s of Columbus, ran barnstorming tours to raise money for charities in the off season.

Ruth played a great part in making baseball the success it is today, played by people of all ages throughout the world. From the 16 Major League teams in the east of his time, to the 30 from all the corners of the country, to the 160 plus Minor League teams, the hundreds of Little Leagues, Independent Leagues, School Leagues and others, Ruth played a large part in developing the popularity that brought baseball to where it is today.

It is time baseball recognized its debt to this legend and retired his No. 3 throughout baseball as they did for Jackie Robinson to recognize his great contributions to the game.  His “Rags to Riches story” is one of the classics of sports. No one in the history of the game did more to popularize baseball as our National Pastime than the Babe and this would be a fitting and well-deserved tribute to the Sultan of Swat.

Carl Johnson is a noted baseball lecturer and author. His books include the popular series “THE BASEBALL BUFF’S BATHROOM BOOKS” and “THE BEST TEAM EVER?” which chronicles the Red Sox 2018 World Series win.