|
George Herman Ruth 6’2″, 215 lbs., Batted Left, Threw Left Debut: July 11, 1914 Elected to Baseball Hall of Fame: 1939 |
Babe Ruth debuted with the Red Sox in July 1914. He joined the regular rotation the following spring and over the next three seasons had a record of 65-33. In 1916, he was the best pitcher in the American League: 23-12, with nine shutouts and an ERA of 1.75.
Although he did nearly as well in 1917 (24-13, 2.01), Ruth began voicing his displeasure with playing only every fourth day. In 1918, after the military draft weakened the Red Sox lineup, and at the suggestion of Harry Hooper, Everett Scott and Heinie Wagner, Ed Barrow penciled in Ruth at first base and left field.
The experiment was a huge success. Ruth led the major leagues with a .555 slugging percentage, tied for the American League lead with 11 home runs, tied for second in doubles and tied for third in runs batted in — all while having 75 to 150 less plate appearances than his opponents.
On the mound, he allowed the fourth fewest hits per game, had the fourth lowest opponents batting average and third lowest opponents on-base percentage. Only Walter Johnson allowed fewer baserunners per nine innings.
In the World Series, Ruth won two games on the mound, including a Game One shutout; he also clubbed a triple which catapulted Boston to victory in Game Four.
In 1919, he was even better, leading both leagues in on-base average, slugging percentage, runs scored and runs batted in. That year, he became a household name by belting a record 29 home runs. However, his off-field activities and prima donna attitude caused problems with management, and on January 5, 1920, he was sold to the New York Yankees.
Pitching Year Ag Tm Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA lgERA ERA+ 1914 19 BOS AL 2 1 4 3 1 0 0 23.0 21 10 1 7 3 3.91 2.68 68 1915 20 BOS AL 18 8 32 28 16 1 0 217.2 166 59 3 85 112 2.44 2.79 114 1916 21 BOS AL 23 12 44 41 23 9 1 323.2 230 63 0 118 170 1.75 2.77 158 1917 22 BOS AL 24 13 41 38 35 6 2 326.1 244 73 2 108 128 2.01 2.58 128 1918 23 BOS AL 13 7 20 19 18 1 0 166.1 125 41 1 49 40 2.22 2.69 121 1919 24 BOS AL 9 5 17 15 12 0 1 133.1 148 44 2 58 30 2.97 3.03 102 1920 25 NYY AL 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 4.0 3 2 0 2 0 4.50 3.83 85 1921 26 NYY AL 2 0 2 1 0 0 0 9.0 14 9 1 9 2 9.00 4.24 47 1930 35 NYY AL 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 9.0 11 3 0 2 3 3.00 4.32 144 1933 38 NYY AL 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 9.0 12 5 0 3 0 5.00 3.90 78 10 Yr WL% .671 94 46 163 148 107 17 4 1221.1 974 309 10 441 488 2.28 2.77 122 Batting Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG TB SH HBP 1914 19 BOS AL 5 10 1 2 1 0 0 2 0 0 4 .200 .200 .300 3 0 0 1915 20 BOS AL 42 92 16 29 10 1 4 21 0 9 23 .315 .376 .576 53 2 0 1916 21 BOS AL 67 136 18 37 5 3 3 15 0 10 23 .272 .322 .419 57 4 0 1917 22 BOS AL 52 123 14 40 6 3 2 12 0 12 18 .325 .385 .472 58 7 0 1918 23 BOS AL 95 317 50 95 26 11 11 66 6 57 58 .300 .411 .555 176 3 2 1919 24 BOS AL 130 432 103 139 34 12 29 114 7 101 58 .322 .456 .657 284 3 6 1920 25 NYY AL 142 458 158 172 36 9 54 137 14 14 148 80 .376 .530 .847 388 5 3 1921 26 NYY AL 152 540 177 204 44 16 59 171 17 13 144 81 .378 .512 .846 457 4 4 1922 27 NYY AL 110 406 94 128 24 8 35 99 2 5 84 80 .315 .434 .672 273 4 1 1923 28 NYY AL 152 522 151 205 45 13 41 131 17 21 170 93 .393 .545 .764 399 3 4 1924 29 NYY AL 153 529 143 200 39 7 46 121 9 13 142 81 .378 .513 .739 391 6 4 1925 30 NYY AL 98 359 61 104 12 2 25 66 2 4 59 68 .290 .393 .543 195 6 2 1926 31 NYY AL 152 495 139 184 30 5 47 146 11 9 144 76 .372 .516 .737 365 10 3 1927 32 NYY AL 151 540 158 192 29 8 60 164 7 6 138 89 .356 .487 .772 417 14 0 1928 33 NYY AL 154 536 163 173 29 8 54 142 4 5 135 87 .323 .461 .709 380 8 3 1929 34 NYY AL 135 499 121 172 26 6 46 154 5 3 72 60 .345 .430 .697 348 13 3 1930 35 NYY AL 145 518 150 186 28 9 49 153 10 10 136 61 .359 .493 .732 379 21 1 1931 36 NYY AL 145 534 149 199 31 3 46 163 5 4 128 51 .373 .495 .700 374 0 1 1932 37 NYY AL 133 457 120 156 13 5 41 137 2 2 130 62 .341 .489 .661 302 0 2 1933 38 NYY AL 137 459 97 138 21 3 34 103 4 5 114 90 .301 .442 .582 267 0 2 1934 39 NYY AL 125 365 78 105 17 4 22 84 1 3 103 63 .288 .447 .537 196 0 2 1935 40 BSN NL 28 72 13 13 0 0 6 12 0 20 24 .181 .359 .431 31 0 0 22 Seasons 2503 8399 2174 2873 506 136 714 2213 123 117 2056 1330 .342 .474 .690 5793 113 43 Fielding Year Ag Tm Lg Pos G PO A E DP FP lgFP RnF lgRnF GS Inn LF CF RF 1914 19 BOS AL P 4 0 7 0 0 1.000 .936 2.74 2.97 3 23.0 1915 20 BOS AL P 32 17 63 2 3 .976 .937 3.31 3.01 28 217.2 1916 21 BOS AL P 44 24 83 3 6 .973 .945 2.97 2.98 41 323.2 1917 22 BOS AL P 41 19 101 2 4 .984 .947 3.31 3.04 38 326.1 1918 23 BOS AL OF 59 121 8 7 3 .949 .962 2.19 2.17 47 12 0 P 20 19 58 6 5 .928 .952 4.17 2.82 19 166.1 1B 13 130 6 5 8 .965 .986 10.46 10.89 1919 24 BOS AL OF 111 222 14 1 6 .996 .958 2.13 2.16 111 0 0 P 17 13 35 2 1 .960 .948 3.24 2.83 15 133.1 1B 5 35 4 1 4 .975 .988 7.80 10.44 1920 25 NYY AL OF 141 259 21 19 3 .936 .962 1.99 2.16 36 20 85 1B 2 10 0 1 1 .909 .990 5.00 10.40 P 1 1 0 0 0 1.000 .949 2.25 2.70 1 4.0 1921 26 NYY AL OF 152 348 17 13 6 .966 .960 2.40 2.21 134 18 0 1B 2 8 0 0 0 1.000 .991 4.00 10.15 P 2 1 2 0 0 1.000 .956 3.00 2.70 1 9.0 1922 27 NYY AL OF 110 226 14 9 3 .964 .964 2.18 2.22 71 0 40 1B 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 0.00 10.60 1923 28 NYY AL OF 148 378 20 11 2 .973 .965 2.69 2.26 68 7 73 1B 4 41 1 1 2 .977 .990 10.50 10.22 1924 29 NYY AL OF 152 340 18 14 4 .962 .970 2.36 2.27 50 7 99 1925 30 NYY AL OF 98 207 15 6 3 .974 .965 2.27 2.27 33 0 66 1926 31 NYY AL OF 149 308 11 7 5 .979 .966 2.14 2.23 82 0 68 1B 2 10 0 0 2 1.000 .990 5.00 10.30 1927 32 NYY AL OF 151 328 14 13 4 .963 .964 2.26 2.22 56 0 95 1928 33 NYY AL OF 154 304 9 8 0 .975 .973 2.03 2.22 55 0 99 1929 34 NYY AL OF 133 240 5 4 2 .984 .966 1.84 2.28 55 0 78 1930 35 NYY AL OF 144 266 10 10 0 .965 .965 1.92 2.16 53 0 91 P 1 0 4 0 2 1.000 .946 4.00 2.20 1 9.0 1931 36 NYY AL OF 142 237 5 7 2 .972 .969 1.70 2.25 51 0 91 1B 1 5 0 0 0 1.000 .991 5.00 9.70 1932 37 NYY AL OF 128 209 10 9 1 .961 .967 1.71 2.28 44 0 87 1B 1 3 0 0 0 1.000 .989 3.00 9.80 1933 38 NYY AL OF 132 215 9 7 4 .970 .970 1.70 2.21 55 0 78 1B 1 6 0 1 0 .857 .989 6.00 9.90 P 1 1 1 0 0 1.000 .960 2.00 2.30 1 9.0 1934 39 NYY AL OF 111 197 3 8 0 .962 .968 1.80 2.16 34 0 77 1935 40 BSN NL OF 26 39 1 2 0 .952 .971 1.54 2.31 22 0 4 Position Total OF 2241 4444 204 155 48 .968 .966 2.07 2.22 1057 64 1131 P 163 95 354 15 21 .968 .946 3.31 2.95 148 1221.1 1B 32 248 11 9 17 .966 .988 8.09 10.51 Overall Total 2436 4787 569 179 86 .968 .965 2.20 2.35 * Innings Played rather than Games Played was used in Range Factor calculations. # Breakdown of outfield by position games played is for entire career. World Series Pitching Year Team Opp G ERA W-L SV CG IP H ER BB SO 1916 BOS BRO 1 0.64 1-0 0 1 14.0 6 1 3 4 1918 BOS CHC 2 1.06 2-0 0 1 17.0 13 2 7 4 2 World Series 3 0.87 3-0 0 2 31.0 19 3 10 8 World Series Batting Year Team Opp G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG SB 1915 BOS PHI 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 1916 BOS BRO 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 .000 .000 .000 0 1918 BOS CHC 3 5 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 2 .200 .200 .600 0 1921 NYY NYG 6 16 3 5 0 0 1 4 5 8 .312 .476 .500 2 1922 NYY NYG 5 17 1 2 1 0 0 1 2 3 .118 .211 .176 0 1923 NYY NYG 6 19 8 7 1 1 3 3 8 6 .368 .556 1.000 0 1926 NYY STL 7 20 6 6 0 0 4 5 11 2 .300 .548 .900 1 1927 NYY PIT 4 15 4 6 0 0 2 7 2 2 .400 .471 .800 1 1928 NYY STL 4 16 9 10 3 0 3 4 1 2 .625 .647 1.375 0 1932 NYY CHC 4 15 6 5 0 0 2 6 4 3 .333 .474 .733 0 10 World Series 41 129 37 42 5 2 15 33 33 30 .326 .463 .744 Minor League Pitching
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER BB K HBP WP ERA
1914 Baltimore/
Providence IL 22 9 35 30 24 4 1 244.2 219 88 65 101 139 11 11 2.39
Minor League Batting
Year Team Lg POS G AB R H 2B 3B HR TB SB BB K BA OBP SLG
1914 Baltimore/
Providence IL P-OF 46 121 22 28 2 10 1 53 4 9 26 .231 .285 .438
Minor League: IL – International League.
� 1997-20243 by Allan Wood.
