Babe Ruth Essay Example For Students

Babe Ruth Essay Ruth, Babe George Herman Babe Ruth, b. Baltimore,Md., Feb. 6, 1895, d. Aug. 16, 1948, was one ofprofessional baseballs greatest sluggers and probably thebest-known player of the 1920s and early 1930s. As a NewYork Yankee, Ruth took the game out of the dead-ball era,saved it from the Black Sox scandal of 1919, andsingle-handedly revitalized the sport as the countrys nationalpastime. He teamed with Lou Gehrig to form what becamethe greatest one-two hitting punch in baseball and was theheart of the 1927 Yankees, a team regarded by somebaseball experts as the best in baseball history. Nicknamedthe Sultan of Swat, Ruth started his major league career as aleft-handed pitcher with the Boston Red Sox in 1914. In158 games for Boston he compiled a pitching record of 89victories and 46 losses, including two 20-win seasons23wins in 1916 and 24 wins in 1917. He eventually added 5more wins as a Yankee hurler and ended his pitching careerwith a 2.28 earned run average; he also had 3 wins againstno losses in World Series competition, including one stretchof 292/3 consecutive scoreless innings. It is for his prowessat bat, not at the mound, however, that Ruth is rememberedtoday. He was sold to New York by Boston following the1919 season and after a permanent shift to the outfieldresponded by smashing a record 54 home runs whilecompiling a .376 batting average. In 22 seasons with theRed Sox, Yankees, and Boston Braves, Ruth led the leaguein home runs a record 12 timesincluding 59 in 1921 and athen-record 60 in 1927. He retired in 1935 with 714 careerhome runs, a record not surpassed until Hank Aaronsperformance in 1974. Ruth was elected to the Baseball Hallof Fame in 1936 as one of the first five charter members. Bibliography: Creamer, Robert, Babe (1974); Ruth, ClaireM., with Bill Slocum, The Babe and I (1959); Ruth, GeorgeH., with Bob Considine, The Babe Ruth Story (1948);Smelser, Marshall, The Life That Ruth Built: A Biography(1975); Wagenheim, Kal, Babe Ruth (1974). PictureCaptions Babe Ruth (1895-1948) remains perhaps themost famous baseball player in history despite the fact thatmost of his batting records have been eclipsed. Beforejoining the New York Yankees, Ruth had been anoutstanding pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. The Yankeesconverted him into an outfielder, and Ruth led the team tofour world championships (1923, 1927-28, 1932). (TheBettmann Archive)Category: History