Babe Ruth

George Herman "Babe" Ruth, Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was a famous baseball player during the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s in Major League Baseball. He played with the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and the Boston Braves, and hit 714 home runs in his career.^[1] Only two players, Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds, have hit more. At the beginning of his career, he was a pitcher. He is widely considered the greatest baseball player of all time.

Babe Ruth
Outfielder / Pitcher
Born: (1895-02-06)February 6, 1895 Baltimore, Maryland
Died: August 16, 1948(1948-08-16) (aged 53) New York, New York
Batted: Left Threw: Left
debut
July 11, 1914, for the Boston Red Sox
Last 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
[[{{{hoflink}}}|Member of the {{{hoftype}}}]]
[[{{{hoflink}}}|Baseball Hall of Fame]]
Induction	1936
Vote	95.13%

Nicknames

Babe Ruth has been called by many nicknames. Some of the most common are: "The Great Bambino", "The Sultan of Swat", "The Colossus of Clout", "The Titan of Terror", and "The King of Crash". While attending St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, he was sometimes referred to by the racial epitaph "Niggerlips" as he had large facial features and was darker than most boys at the all-white reformatory.^[2]

Early career

Ruth learned to play baseball while growing up in Baltimore, Maryland.His first Major League Baseball (MLB) team was the Boston Red Sox. Ruth began playing as a pitcher. He had some of the best pitching statistics in baseball. The Red Sox won the World Series in 1915, 1916, and 1918.

At that time, there was no designated hitter rule in the American League, where the Red Sox played, so Ruth got chances to hit as a pitcher. The team realized that he was also good at hitting. In 1918, Ruth began hitting more and pitching less. Later in his career, he became an outfielder.

Ruth was becoming a star player. However, by 1919, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee was having problems with money.^[3] In 1920, the Red Sox sold Ruth to the New York Yankees for cash. Even though the Red Sox had won several World Series in the years before this, they would not win another one until 2004. Many baseball fans believed that the Red Sox had become "cursed" by trading Ruth, and called this the "Curse of the Bambino".^[4] (When the Red Sox finally did win a World Series in 2004, they beat the Yankees in the American League Championship to get there.)

After the trade

Ruth spent most of the rest of his career with the Yankees, where he became one of the most famous players in baseball history. Ruth helped the Yankees win World Series championships in 1923, 1927, 1928, and 1932. He left the Yankees after the 1934 season and played one last season with the Boston Braves in 1935.

In 1927, Ruth hit 60 home runs, which was then a record for the most home runs in one season. The record was broken by Roger Maris in 1961 with 61 home runs.

Death

Babe Ruth died on August 16, 1948, from a type of throat cancer. He underwent hormone therapy and surgery in an attempt to treat his cancer. He was also one of the first cancer patients to receive sequential radiation and chemotherapy treatment.

Honors

In November 2018, Ruth posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Donald Trump.^[5]

Career batting statistics

Season	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	BB	SO	Avg.	SLG
1914	5	10	1	2	0	2	0	4	.200	.300
1915	42	92	16	29	4	21	9	23	.315	.576
1916	67	136	18	37	3	15	10	23	.272	.419
1917	52	123	14	40	2	12	12	18	.325	.472
1918	95	317	50	95	11	66	58	58	.300	.555
1919	130	432	103	139	29	114	101	58	.322	.657
1920	142	458	158	172	54	137	150	80	.376	.849
1921	152	540	177	204	59	171	145	81	.378	.846
1922	110	406	94	128	35	99	84	80	.315	.672
1923	152	522	151	205	41	131	170	93	.393	.764
1924	153	529	143	200	46	121	142	81	.378	.739
1925	98	359	61	104	25	66	59	68	.290	.543
1926	152	495	139	184	47	150	144	76	.372	.737
1927	151	540	158	192	60	164	137	89	.356	.772
1928	154	536	163	173	54	142	137	87	.323	.709
1929	135	499	121	172	46	154	72	60	.345	.697
1930	145	518	150	186	49	153	136	61	.359	.732
1931	145	534	149	199	46	163	128	51	.373	.700
1932	133	457	120	156	41	137	130	62	.341	.661
1933	137	459	97	138	34	103	114	90	.301	.582
1934	125	365	78	105	22	84	104	63	.288	.537
1935	28	72	13	13	6	12	20	24	.181	.431
Career Statistics	2,503	8,398	2,174	2,874	714	2,217	2,062	1,330	.342	.690

He also had a .474 career on-base percentage, which is second all-time to Ted Williams' .482.