Posted on 07/12/2014 11:24:39 AM PDT by NKP_Vet
100 years ago today, the most iconic baseball player who ever lived made his Major League debut. The 19-year-old pitcher got the win for Boston, giving up three runs — two earned — over six-plus innings against Cleveland. In that first game, he failed to display the sort of power at the plate for which he would become famous, going 0-for-2. The rest of the season was equally unremarkable — he appeared in just three more games with the Red Sox before being sent back to the minors. But it didn't take long for Babe Ruth to become a sensation.
In 1919, Ruth set a new Major League record for single-season home runs with 29 longballs, but that didn't stop Boston from selling his contract to the New York Yankees in the offseason, setting another new record with the price. The New York Times celebrated the acquisition:
(Excerpt) Read more at mentalfloss.com ...
The Bambino was the greatest.
I’m not so sure that had I been the manager, I wouldn’t have played Babe in RD 3 days out of 4, then let him pitch in regular turn and used the fourth OF in RF on those days.
They played less games and some of the ballparks had larger dimensions. The old Yankee Stadium had a huge centerfield but Ruth would hit some out there as well.
During the McGwire/Sosa run, someone asked an old friend of Ruth’s how many home runs a year would Babe have hit, if he had worked out, ate right, took supplements,etc. He replied, “About 10”.
SUPERB!
Bump
The old stadium in Pittsburgh had extremely large Dimensions just to prevent home runs. Ruth hit the last 3 homers in the stadiums history, all in the same game.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbes_Field
Reminds me why I loved baseball in my youth. It’s history, lore, and great/legendary players like the Babe.
I’d say that the Babe is the most famous athlete of any sport in history. At one time you could have mentioned his name anywhere in the civilized, and not so civilized world, and have it recognized.
Take my advice and learn to play every position on the nine...
Above all, learn to keep your temper. Forget what I said about losing my own, because that never got me anywhere...
If you haven’t started to smoke, don’t begin now. If you have, keep it down, especially during playing season. I smoke a lot of cigars and wish I didn’t, but I own a cigar factory, which I’ve got to keep busy...
And here’s another thing: Get married. Pick a nice young girl who understands you —she’ll understand you a long time before you understand and appreciate her—and make a home run...
Go to school as long as you can. There is plenty of time for baseball after 3 o’clock and during the summer vacations. I wish I had had more books — maybe I’d be a better author than I am...
I disagree. Do the names Muhammad Ali and Pelé ring a bell?
Yes, have heard of them. I respectfully disagree with you.Babe Ruth was every bit as well known in his day as Muhammad Ali. Of course Ali is better known today to younger people. I've heard of Pele, the soccer player, who IMO was not nearly as well known as Babe Ruth, especially in the US, but elsewhere as well.
“Ruth hit the last 3 homers in the stadiums history”. LOL!!
He pitched in a career total 163 games, 94 wins 46 losses, 107 complete games, career .228 ERA with 488 strike outs. Yeah, greatest ever. It would be like if Mantle switched to become a really effective knuckleball pitcher after his legs went.
Freegards
Did loudmouth draft-dodger Ali transform the sport of boxing? Of course not. He was just another heavyweight champ, a very fast one. Certainly not the greatest fighter who ever lived. Not even the greatest heavyweight. Marciano never lost a fight. Joe Louis was champ for 12 years. In his late 30s he was regularly getting beat by bums. He’s now punch-drunk for hanging around to long with his head being used as a punching bag. Pele? Could care less about soccer.
Babe Ruth was not only the greatest slugger who ever lived, who still holds many baseball records 80 years after he retired, but also one of the greatest pitchers of the early 20th century. He not only hit for power, but finished his career with a .342 batting average, which is the 10th best BA of all time. To put it in context, the great Ted Williams only batted slightly higher than Ruth at .344. Did Ali or Pele ever have a word coined for them......
“Ruthian” has come to mean in sports, “coloss
The Ruth, the whole Ruth and nothing but the Ruth! The best ever.
From the link below. A home run every thirty seconds! The mind boggles.
“Babe Ruth once clouted 125 home runs in one hour. In February, 1927, before an exhibition game at Wrigley Field, Los Angeles, the Babe stood at the plate for one hour while 6 different pitchers hurled at him, and he banged out 2 home runs every minute.” Or if you prefer, one every thirty seconds.
http://www.trivia-library.com/a/strange-trivia-in-sports-baseball.htm
Preternatural reflexes - Scientific study shows Ruth to be best of 500 people tested for steadiness of nerve. Keep in mind that he was using a 54 ounce bat in these tests.
http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Fullerton/
Video analysis - Brute power.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBmB—g0_U8
Video below - A forty year old Ruth, as a Boston Brave, clouts a five hundred foot home run (one of two that day) over the right-center field fence at Ruppert Stadium in Newark, New Jersey in an exhibition game. Notice spectators running to top of stands to see how far ball was hit.
His last hit as a major league player was a 500 foot home run at Forbes Field, the first ball ever to clear the 90 foot high double-decked roof. He hit three that day. He was old, fat, and sick but he still managed two five hundred footers that day. Of only thirteen hits in 1935 six were home runs.
http://www.t3licensing.com/license/clip/331745_019.do
List of Babe Ruth Home Runs in excess of 450’ and 500’ by year.
Year 500+ 450+
1915—0———1
1916—0———1
1917—0———1
1918—0———0
1919—3———9
1920—5-——17
1921—9-——25
1922—1———8
1923—1-——14
1924—5-——14
1925—2———4
1926—5-——13
1927—3-——20
1928—4-——14
1929—1-——14
1930—3-——15
1931—1———6
1932—0———8
1933—1———8
1934—1———5
1935—2———2
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