Babe Ruth

George Herman Ruth, (b. February 6, 1895, d. August 16, 1948), better known as Babe Ruth, also commonly known by the nicknames The Bambino and The Sultan of Swat, was an American baseball player and United States national icon. He was one of the first five players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame and he was the first player to hit over 30, 40 and 50 home runs in one season. His record of 60 home runs in the 1927 season stood for 34 years until it was broken by Roger Maris in 1961. He also was a member of the original American League All-Star team in 1933. In 1998, The Sporting News named Ruth as Number One in its list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players."

Decline and end with Yankees

Despite his heroics in the 1932 Series, Ruth was informed in 1933 by Ed Barrow that his salary would be cut 33%, from $75,000 to $50,000 a year. Ruth's salary had been cut before the 1932 season, but it was only a $5,000 cut. It was the Great Depression, and teams were losing money, although the Yankees themselves were still making a profit. Barrow and Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert also wanted to phase Ruth out from the Yankees. With baseball's reserve clause firmly in place, Ruth, even with all his stature, had little negotiating power at this stage in his career. Ruth eventually settled to play for $52,000, although he was still the highest paid player in the game. Ruth was quite unhappy with the pay cut, but in these bad economic times, few people felt sorry for him.

Related Topics:
1933 - Ed Barrow - Great Depression - Jacob Ruppert - Reserve clause

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Ruth remained productive in 1933, batting .301, with 34 home runs, 103 RBI's, and led the league in walks with 114. Although most major league players could only dream about these type of numbers, they were well below Ruth's previous standards. The batting average and slugging average were down over 40 points and 100 points respectively from his career averages, and he was also slow in the field. It was clear Father Time was eroding Ruth's skills. The Yankees did finish second to the Washington Senators, but they never seriously threatened to win the pennant. At least to Barrow and Ruppert, Ruth and the Yankees season justified his pay cut, and the next year, Ruth took another big pay cut down to $25,000 a year.

Related Topics:
1933 - Batting average - Slugging average - Father Time - Washington Senators

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One highlight for Ruth during the season was when he hit the very first home run in the very first All-Star game, held July 6, 1933 at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois. His 2-run shot off Bill Hallahan helped the A.L. to a 4-2 win over the N.L., and he also made a fine defensive catch in the game.

Related Topics:
July 6 - Comiskey Park - Chicago, Illinois

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After the season Ruth continued to press Barrow for a chance to manage the Yankees, but Barrow had no intentions of getting rid of manager Joe McCarthy. Ruth never liked the disciplinarian style of McCarthy, and had even stated he could do a better job managing the team, but the Yankees never gave him the chance. The most they offered him was a chance to manage the Yankees farm team in Newark, New Jersey, an offer Ruth scoffed at with justification. Players such as Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, and a 26-year-old Joe Cronin had been given big league managerial jobs with no previous managing experience. At one point Frank Navin, owner of the Detroit Tigers, seemed serious about hiring Ruth to player manage the Tigers. Ruth however put off a meeting with Navin to take a trip to Hawaii, and Navin, never a particularly congenial man anyway, essentially retracted any meeting with Ruth. Ruth never received a chance to manage, as owners apparently took to heart a statement Barrow had made about Ruth when he said, "How can he manage other men when he can't even manage himself?"

Related Topics:
Joe McCarthy - Farm team - Newark, New Jersey - Ty Cobb - Tris Speaker - Joe Cronin - Detroit Tigers - Hawaii

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Ruth's play continued downward in 1934, and he finished the year with a .288 average and 22 home runs. It was understood during the season it would be Ruth's last season in a Yankee uniform, and Ruth himself stated it might be the last year he played. He made the 1934 All-Star team, but certainly this was more for his name than anything his was doing on the field. During the game, he was the first of the five consecutive strikeout victims (with Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, and Joe Cronin) of Carl Hubbell, one of the most famous moments in All-Star game history. As he made his last appearances around various cities, it was accepted as his farewell tour, and a fairly large crowd turned out to see his last game at Yankee Stadium.

Related Topics:
1934 - Lou Gehrig - Jimmie Foxx - Al Simmons - Joe Cronin - Carl Hubbell

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After the 1934 season, Ruth went on a baseball barnstorming tour in the far east. Players such as Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Gomez, Earl Averill, Charlie Gehringer, and Lou Gehrig were among 14 players who played a series of 22 games. 17 of the games were played in Japan, and the reception there was completely enthusiastic. Ruth was by far the most popular player there. Baseball had been big in Japan for decades, so many Japanese baseball fans were well aware of Babe Ruth. Riding in a car, Ruth waved the American and Japanese flags, and a crowd of Japanese waved American flags back at him. The games were played in two different stadiums: Tokyo's Meiji-Jingu Stadium which held over 60,000 fans and Koshien Stadium near Kobe which held over 80,000. Both sites had been sold out for weeks, and Ruth would excite the huge crowds with 13 home runs in the 17 games. The tour was a complete success in Japan, and in just a couple years, Japan organized its first professional baseball league, the Japan Professional Baseball Association.

Related Topics:
Jimmie Foxx - Lefty Gomez - Earl Averill - Charlie Gehringer - Lou Gehrig - Japan - Tokyo - Meiji-Jingu Stadium - Koshien Stadium - Kobe - Japan Professional Baseball Association

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