George Herman Ruth Jr.
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Film credits
6
Awards
George Herman ‘Babe’ Ruth was sold to the New York Yankees in 1920 for $125,000, a record sum at the time. He hit 60 home runs in 1927, a record that lasted until 1961. He finished his career with 714 home runs, a mark that stood until 1974. Ruth was one of the first five inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Babe Ruth — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Babe Ruth by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Babe Ruth — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Only two of eight Ruth children survived infancy: George and his sister Mamie. Born February 6, 1895 in Baltimore, Maryland, George was sent to St. Mary’s Industrial School at age 7. There, Brother Matthias introduced him to baseball. He learned tailoring and became a qualified shirtmaker, but found the work unsatisfying. In 1914, at age 19, he was signed by the Baltimore Orioles of the International League, earning the nickname Babe as manager Jack Dunn’s ward.
Ruth began his Major League career as a left-handed pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, winning 23 games in 1916 and 24 in 1917 while posting a league-leading ERA in 1916. In 1918 he hit 11 home runs while splitting time between pitching and outfield, helping the Red Sox win the World Series. In 1919 he set a new single-season home run record with 29. That winter, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold him to the New York Yankees for $125,000 as part of a $350,000 loan. Ruth transformed the Yankees into a dynasty, leading the team to seven American League pennants and four World Series championships from 1920 to 1934. He set the home run record anew in 1920 with 54, then 59 in 1921, and famously hit 60 in 1927. He won 12 home run titles and a batting title in 1924 with a .378 average. In World Series games, he pitched and set a record for consecutive scoreless innings that stood until 1961.
Ruth married Helen Woodford in 1914; they adopted a daughter, Dorothy, in 1921. The couple separated but never divorced due to their Catholic faith. After Helen’s death in 1929, Ruth married Claire Merritt Hodgson, adopting her daughter Julia. He spoke German fluently and often ate hot dogs and drank beer before games. He owned a saloon in Baltimore before it was torn down; the site is now center field at Camden Yards. He died of throat cancer on August 16, 1948 in New York City.
Ruth’s record of 714 home runs stood until Hank Aaron passed it in 1974. He was a charter inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936. Many credit him with saving baseball after the 1919 Black Sox scandal. In 1999, his heirs earned over $1 million per year from image licensing. ESPN named him the number two athlete of the 20th century. A statue at Camden Yards incorrectly shows him batting right-handed. The Yankees retired his number 3 and have a monument in his honor at Yankee Stadium.
The complete filmography of Babe Ruth — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Babe Ruth — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from Babe Ruth — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
There Are 52 Weeks in a Year. I Always Wanted to Make a Grand a Week. After Signing a 5-Year Contract for $52,000 per Season.
The Only Game, I Think, in the World Is Baseball.
I Didn’t Mean to Hit the Umpire with the Dirt, but I Did Mean to Hit That Bastard in the Stands.
Never Let the Fear of Striking Out Get in Your Way.
It’s Hard to Beat a Person Who Never Gives Up.
When Asked If He Had Any Superstitions: Just One. Whenever I Hit a Home Run, I Make Certain I Touch All Four Bases.
I Won’t Be Happy Until We Have Every Boy in America Between the Ages of Six and Sixteen Wearing a Glove and Swinging a Bat.
All I Can Tell Them Is Pick a Good One and Sock It. I Get Back to the Dugout and They Ask Me What It Was I Hit and I Tell Them I Don’t Know Except It Looked Good.
The Way a Team Plays as a Whole Determines Its Success. You May Have the Greatest Bunch of Individual Stars in the World, but If They Don’t Play Together, the Club Won’t Be Worth a Dime.
If I’d Tried for Them Dinky Singles I Could’ve Batted Around .600.
I Swing as Hard as I Can, and I Try to Swing Right Through the Ball… the Harder You Grip the Bat, the More You Can Swing It Through the Ball, and the Farther the Ball Will Go. I Swing Big, with Everything I’ve Got. I Hit Big or I Miss Big. I Like to Live as Big as I Can.
Baseball Changes Through the Years. It Gets Milder.
All Ballplayers Should Quit When It Starts to Feel as If All the Baselines Run Uphill.
As Soon as I Got Out There I Felt a Strange Relationship with the Pitcher’s Mound. It Was as If I’d Been Born Out There. Pitching Just Felt Like the Most Natural Thing in the World. Striking Out Batters Was Easy.
Don’t Ever Forget Two Things I’m Going to Tell You. One, Don’t Believe Everything That’s Written About You. Two, Don’t Pick up Too Many Checks.
If It Wasn’t for Baseball, I’d Be in Either the Penitentiary or the Cemetery.
Why Not? I Had a Better Year Than He Did. – When Asked Why He Should Be Paid More Than the President of the United States After Signing an $80,000 Contract in 1930
I Swing Big, with Everything I’ve Got. I Hit Big or I Miss Big.
Little-known facts about Babe Ruth — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
A cabbage leaf under his cap helped keep him cool during games.
When he died in 1948, he left an estate valued at $360,811. In 1999, his heirs earned over $1 million per year from image licensing.
He spoke German fluently, as his maternal grandfather was a German immigrant.
He was once given an intentional walk with the bases loaded.
Although he threw, batted, and ate left-handed, he wrote right-handed after being forced by a teacher at Catholic school to switch.
His last home run was the first to clear the right field roof in Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field.
He could never remember his teammates’ names and usually called everybody kid.
His father owned a saloon in downtown Baltimore, which was later torn down; the site now occupies center field of Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
After the Yankees’ 1928 World Series victory, he gave a campaign plug for Al Smith in Indiana, only to be met with silence from the pro-Hoover crowd.
A statue of Ruth at Camden Yards incorrectly portrays him as a right-hander.
In 1914, his starting salary as a ballplayer with the Boston Red Sox was $350 per year.
Throughout his life, he thought he was born February 7, 1894, but his birth certificate later showed February 6, 1895.
He still holds the Yankee club record for highest season batting average with .393 in 1923.
He claimed that if he had hit for average instead of power, he would have batted .600; he finished with a .342 lifetime average.
He and his sister Mamie were the only two of their parents’ eight children to survive infancy.
At age 7, his father sent him to St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys, a reformatory and orphanage run by Catholic missionaries.
His wife Claire was a cousin of Hall of Fame slugger Johnny Mize.
He adopted Dorothy Ruth in 1921; she later wrote a book claiming she was his biological child by a woman named Juanita Jennings.
He was considered the best left-handed pitcher in the American League during his brief pitching career.
He was enshrined in the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 1995 as a charter member.
His biggest ambition was to be a major league manager.
He served as first base coach for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1938.
He was separated from his first wife Helen during the last few years of their marriage but did not seek a divorce because both were Roman Catholic.
He stole home 10 times in his career.
He was inducted into the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame in 2010.
He hit a total of 16 grand slam home runs during his career.
He lived at St. Mary’s Industrial School until signed by the Baltimore Orioles in 1914, where manager Jack Dunn became his guardian and gave him the nickname Babe.
He is the New York Yankees All-Time Leader in runs 1,959, home runs 659, total bases 5,131, walks 1,852, on-base percentage .484, slugging percentage .711, and batting average .349.
He briefly worked as a bartender.
His teachers taught him to be a tailor; he graduated as a qualified shirtmaker but thought he was no good at it.
His mother died of tuberculosis when he was still a teenager.
He was the first player in baseball history to hit 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, and 700 home runs in a career, reaching those thresholds between 1923 and 1934.
He turned down an offer to manage the Yankees’ AAA farm club in Newark.
He was named the number two athlete of the 20th century in an ESPN poll.
He was lifted for a pinch hitter in the 1918 World Series.
Contrary to popular belief, the game in which he hit three home runs against the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 25, 1935 was not his last; his last game was May 30 against the Phillies.
Though he shook President Herbert Hoover’s hand, he was no fan; he earned $80,000 in 1930 and said he had a better year than Hoover.
He was the first Major League player to hit 60 home runs in a season 1927, starting as a pitcher with 94 career wins.
He played for the Boston Red Sox 1914-1919, New York Yankees 1920-1934, and Boston Braves 1935.
He became a full-time outfielder in 1919.
He held the record for consecutive scoreless innings pitched in World Series play from 1918 until 1961.
He was pictured on a 20 cent US commemorative postage stamp in 1983 and on a 32 cent stamp in 1998.
He adopted Julia Ruth Stevens after marrying her mother.
He was formally sold to the Yankees on January 3, 1920 for $125,000 plus a loan, which is often cited as the start of the Curse of the Bambino.
He was the first player to hit 30, 40, and 50 home runs in a season, all in 1920.
He was inducted into the Jersey Shore Sports Hall of Fame in 1991.
He worked as a professional wrestling referee.
He left the Yankees when they would not name him manager and accepted an offer from the Boston Braves to be a right fielder, vice president, and assistant manager.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Babe Ruth.
Celebrities similar to Babe Ruth — same craft, ranked by reach.
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