On April 27, baseball fans around the country honor one of baseball’s all-time greatest players on National Babe Ruth Day.
George Herman “Babe” Ruth, Jr., born on February 6, 1895, in Baltimore, Maryland was nicknamed “the Bambino” and “the Sultan of Swat.” Spending 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), he played for three teams from 1914 to 1935.
- 1914 – He hit his first professional home run on March 7, 1914, in Fayetteville, N.C., during an intrasquad game in which he played shortstop.
- 1914 – Ruth’s first official professional home run came on Sept. 5, 1914, for the Providence Grays of the International League, where he had been sent by the Red Sox for more seasoning the month before.
- 1915 – Ruth’s first major league home run came against the Yankees at the Polo Grounds on May 6, 1915. Exactly three years later, in the same ballpark, Ruth hit a home run in his first start at a position (1B) other than pitcher.
- 1916 – In Game 2 of the 1916 World Series, Ruth pitched a 14-inning complete game to beat the Dodgers 2-1. It is still the most innings ever thrown by one pitcher in a single postseason game.
- 1919 – Babe Ruth’s baseball career started as a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. He became a full-time right-fielder when the New York Yankees bought his contract in 1919. Being one of the league’s most prolific hitters, he helped the Yankees win seven pennants and four World Series titles.
- 1919 – Only five teams hit more home runs than Ruth did by himself in 1919 (not counting Ruth’s own Red Sox), and only two teams had more than his total in 1920 (this time including Ruth’s Yankees, who hit 61 in addition to his 54).
- 1921 – Ruth also hit more home runs than half of the teams in baseball in 1921.
- 1922 – you could get chocolate-covered ice cream balls called Babe Ruth Home Runs. They cost 10 cents.
- 1923 – Yankee Stadium, dubbed “The House That Ruth Built” by sportswriter Fred Lieb, opened on April 18, 1923. Ruth hit the new ballpark’s first home run, a three-run shot in the third inning off the Red Sox’ Howard Ehmke, the key blow in the Yankees’ 4-1 victory.
- 1927 – Ruth set career records, in his time, for home runs, slugging percentage runs batted in, and on-base plus slugging. In 1927, he was the very first player to hit 60 home runs in one season.
- 1931 – At an exhibition game (a “for fun” or charity game) on April 2, 1931, a 17-year-old female pitcher named Jackie Mitchell struck Ruth out (Mitchell then went on to strike out Lou Gehrig.)
- 1933 – Babe Ruth hit the first home run in the history of the All-Star Game, at Chicago’s Comiskey Park in 1933.
- 1935 – Following a short stint with the Boston Braves, Ruth retired in 1935.
- 1936 – Ruth became one of the first five players to be elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
- 1946 – after experiencing severe eye pain and difficulty swallowing, Babe Ruth was diagnosed with cancer.
- 1947 – On April 27, 1947, he was able to attend the proclaimed Babe Ruth Day and spoke briefly to a crowd of almost 60,000 people at Yankee Stadium.
- 1947 – With Ruth’s health failing, April 27, 1947, was declared Babe Ruth Day around the major leagues by commissioner Happy Chandler. Ruth famously addressed the crowd at Yankee Stadium that day, his voice reduced to a hoarse croak by cancer. You can listen to Ruth’s speech here.
- 1948 – At the age of 53, on August 16, 1948, at 8:01 pm, Babe Ruth died in his sleep.
- 1955 – The candy bar, Baby Ruth, is most likely named for Babe Ruth. The bar was formerly called Kandy Kake but the name was changed right around Ruth’s rise to popularity. Because “official” permission was not requested, the company (then the Curtiss Candy Co.) denied that Babe Ruth was the namesake. However, in 1995, the Babe Ruth estate licensed his name and likeness for use in a Baby Ruth marketing campaign with Nestle.
- Babe Ruth had a stellar career in Major League Baseball that spanned 22 seasons. During his MLB days, he played for three teams:
- Boston Red Sox from 1914-1919
- New York Yankees from 1920-1924
- Boston Braves in his final season, 1925.
- Babe Ruth was one of only two people to ever hit three home runs in a World Series game.
- The Babe played in 163 games as a pitcher, winning 92 and losing 44, for a percentage of .676, he was one of the best left-handed pitchers the game has ever known.
- He was signed to the major leagues at the age of 19.
- Jack Dunn, then the owner of the Boston Red Sox, called his burgeoning superstar the “Bambino,” or baby, leading to the nickname “Babe.”
- First signed as a pitcher, the Boston Red Sox coaching staff quickly noticed his remarkable hitting ability. The decision to switch Ruth from pitching and focus instead on developing his slugging skills may have changed baseball forever. It also earned him another new nickname: “The Sultan of Swat.”
- Babe Ruth appeared as himself in four different movies. In one, he lost 40 pounds to play a younger version of himself.
- He was the very first player to hit home runs in all eight ballparks in the league.
- Ruth lived for a time on the site of what is now Oriole Park at Camden Yards, above one of his father’s string of saloons.
- In six seasons with Ruth, the Red Sox won three World Series titles. In 107 seasons without him, they have won four.
- Some Babe Ruth cards are worth a lot of money today.
- The 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth #53,
- 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth #144,
- 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth #149,
- 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth #181
- “Babe Ruth was an American professional baseball player who had a net worth of $800 thousand at the time of his death. That’s the same as around $8.5 million after adjusting for inflation,” claims Celebrity Net Worth.
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