Babe Ruth, the greatest hitter of all time, opened the doors of the Major Leagues with his shots from the center of the diamond. One more irony in the life of the greatest figure in baseball, who would later be sold by the Red Sox to the Yankees, a move that would make him a legend and that marked the history of this sport.
Today marks the 106th anniversary of Ruth’s major league debut. That Saturday, July 11, 1914, the fans, who attended Fenway Park, never imagined that they would witness a historic moment. The 19-year-old pitcher, who was known as Babe because of his boyish face, scored his first win with the Red Sox, who beat the Cleveland Indians 4-3.
George Herman Ruth had been bought by Boston from the Baltimore team, which was then in the minor leagues. He arrived on July 9 with two other players for $ 25,000. Two days later he was appointed to open the meeting. Seven innings of work with three runs and eight hits were enough for the rookie to score the victory, which would be the first of the 94 he added in the majors.
Ruth had a poor performance that day with the stick, going 2-0 with a strikeout. Even at the close of the seventh inning he was replaced by pinch hitter Duffy Lewis, who would score the run on difference.
In the lineup of the Indians there were names that also years later would be memorable. As third bat and right fielder appeared Joe El Descalzo
Jackson, who years later would be infamous with the Chicago White Sox for that 1919 World Series, which was tainted by the presence of bettors.
Ray Champan appeared as shortstop and sixth bat of the Tribe, who during the 1920 season became the first player to die from a ball to the head, after being hit by a shipment from Carl Mays of the New York Yankees. . Ruth, who was living his first season with the Bronx Bombers, was present at that game.
Ruth was born in Baltimore. His parents, who tended a tavern, could not with the education of the undisciplined child, so they decided to take him to a boarding school where he was also considered as incorrigible, since he used to chew tobacco and drink whiskey. He found the support of the priest Mathias, who taught him to read and write, he also discovered that through baseball he could take advantage of all that energy.
In a game with his school team he was observed by Joe Engel, a Major League Baseball pitcher, who was in the stands and immediately spoke to Baltimore Orioles owner Jack Dunn to come and observe him.
It took Dunn only half an hour to realize that this kid had something special and he drafted him in 1914. A few months later he sold him to the Boston Red Sox to kick off his major league career.
Following her debut, Ruth had a second start on July 16, but she barely lasted three innings on the mound and took the loss. Boston sent him to the minor leagues and he didn’t return until October.
He finished that year with two more pitcher appearances and achieved a second win over the New York Yankees, no less, with a complete game performance.
By 1915 he managed to establish himself as a pitcher for the Red Sox and finished with a 18-8 record. That season he hit his first home run, on May 6, and he did it precisely against the Yankees, in New York.
A year later he achieved 23 wins and 24 by 1917, which shows his brilliant career as a pitcher, but at the same time he excelled with the bat.
For the 1918 season, Boston began using him as an outfielder on non-pitching days and finished with 11 full-back sticks to lead in that department.
A year later he sent 29 balls to the fairway to lead the bardebreakers again and only played 17 as a pitcher, he had a 9-5 mark.
Babe Ruth was already a Red Sox figure and the new owner,
Harry Frazee decided to sell it to the New York Yankees for $ 125,000, money he used to put on a play.
The worst deal in Major League history gave birth to the most brilliant history in diamonds.
Babe Ruth hit 54 homers in his first year with New York and 59 in his second.
Yankees, who shared the Polo Grounds with the Giants, soon had to find a new home.
Ruth’s presence generated great anticipation and made fans re-interested in baseball after the Black Sox scandal.
Chicago in 1919
The Yankees began to be the team with the best attendance in the majors since the arrival of Babe. That ticket sale was key to starting the construction of the old Yankee Stadium, which became known as the
House that Ruth Built and which opened in 1923.
The climax came in the 1927 season, when Babe Ruth hit an incredible 60 home runs. He just hit more than any major league team that season.
In total he played 15 seasons with the Bronx Bombers and in that span the team won its first four World Series.
Baseball saved Babe Ruth from perdition and made him an icon. Then the famous Bambino did the same with his hits, when the King was experiencing one of his worst crises. (GG) (TAKEN FROM EXCELSIOR.COM.MX)