45 Fun Facts About Babe Ruth

In which city was Babe Ruth born in 1895?

Ruth was born in Baltimore on February 6, 1895; the Emory Street rowhouse where he was born opened as the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum in 1974.

At what age was Ruth sent to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, a reformatory and orphanage?

Ruth was seven when his parents sent him to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys in June 1902; the school recorded him as incorrigible.

Which St. Mary's staff member did Ruth credit with making him a hitter?

Ruth said he was 'born as a hitter' the first day he saw Brother Matthias hit a baseball; in 1926 he thanked him with a Cadillac, and bought another after the first was wrecked.

Why did the Orioles have to sell Ruth to the Red Sox in July 1914?

Paid attendance fell as low as 150 despite the Orioles being in first place, so Dunn sold his best players to raise money.

Ruth began his major league career at which position?

Ruth broke in as a left-handed pitcher for the Red Sox, winning 23 games in 1916 and 24 in 1917, plus three World Series titles, before his move to the outfield.

Where did Ruth marry his first wife, Helen Woodford, after the 1914 season?

Ruth married Helen Woodford, a Boston waitress, in October 1914 at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Ellicott City, Maryland, days after his first Red Sox season ended.

Which pitcher tied Ruth's 1916 AL record of nine shutouts by a left-hander in 1978?

Ron Guidry threw nine shutouts for the 1978 Yankees, matching the American League mark for a left-hander that Ruth set in 1916, when he went 23-12 with a 1.75 ERA.

Ruth's 14-inning win in Game 2 of the 1916 World Series set what record?

Ruth pitched all 14 innings of Boston's 2-1 win in Game 2 of the 1916 World Series, the longest complete game in postseason history; no World Series game went longer until 2005.

After Ruth was ejected for punching an umpire in 1917, what did reliever Ernie Shore do?

After Ruth walked Ray Morgan and was ejected, Ernie Shore retired all 26 batters he faced (Morgan was caught stealing); Ruth drew a ten-day suspension and a $100 fine.

Which Red Sox teammate persuaded Ed Barrow to let Ruth play outfield on non-pitching days?

Hooper's argument was that crowds were bigger when Ruth hit; Ruth promptly homered in four straight games.

How many consecutive scoreless World Series innings did Babe Ruth pitch, a record until Whitey Ford broke it in 1961?

Ruth's 29 2/3 consecutive scoreless World Series innings, spanning Game 2 of 1916 and Games 1 and 4 of 1918, stood until Whitey Ford passed the mark in 1961.

Which Red Sox owner sold Ruth to the Yankees after the 1919 season?

A New York theatrical promoter, Frazee still owed as much as $125,000 on his purchase of the club.

For how much did the Yankees buy Ruth's contract, then the largest sum ever paid for a player?

The Yankees paid $100,000 for Ruth's contract in December 1919, then a record for a player; the Yankees' owner also lent Frazee money secured by a mortgage on Fenway Park.

Which Broadway musical is often, and inaccurately, said to have been financed by the Ruth sale?

No, No, Nanette did not reach Broadway until 1925, two years after Frazee sold the Red Sox, though it was adapted from his 1919 play My Lady Friends.

How long did the Red Sox go without a World Series title after selling Ruth?

The drought, blamed on the Curse of the Bambino, ended in 2004; they did not even win a pennant until 1946.

How many home runs did Ruth hit in 1920, his first season with the Yankees?

Ruth hit 54 home runs in 1920, nearly doubling the record he had set the year before, and led the American League with 158 runs scored.

Whose career home run record of 138 did Ruth break in 1921?

Roger Connor's 138 career home runs, a 19th-century mark, fell when Ruth passed it in 1921; Ruth hit 59 that season and slugged .846.

Why did Commissioner Landis suspend Ruth for the start of the 1922 season?

Ruth and two teammates were also fined their 1921 World Series checks; the rule was relaxed that August.

What was Ruth's career-high batting average, set in 1923?

Ruth hit .393 in 1923, his career high, yet lost the batting title to Harry Heilmann's .403; he also reached base 379 times that season, a major-league record.

How many American League batting titles did Ruth win?

He hit .378 in 1924 with a league-leading 46 home runs, the only time he led the league in average.

What did sportswriter W. O. McGeehan dub Ruth's 1925 illness?

Sportswriter W. O. McGeehan called Ruth's 1925 collapse 'the bellyache heard 'round the world', blaming hot dogs and soda pop; London papers even printed a premature obituary.

What did Ruth do in Game Four of the 1926 World Series that had never been done in a Series game?

Ruth hit three home runs in Game 4 of the 1926 World Series at St. Louis on October 6, the first three-homer game in Series history; he did it again in Game 4 of 1928.

Ruth famously promised a home run to which hospitalized 11-year-old boy during the 1926 World Series?

Johnny Sylvester, an 11-year-old New Jersey boy injured in a fall from a horse, received an autographed ball and Ruth's promise; Ruth homered three times in Game 4, and the press said it saved his life.

What was the 1927 Yankees lineup nicknamed?

Murderers' Row, the 1927 Yankees' lineup of Combs, Koenig, Ruth, Gehrig, Meusel and Lazzeri, drove a 110-win season, then an American League record, and a sweep of the Pirates.

Off which pitcher did Ruth hit his 60th home run of 1927?

Ruth hit number 60 off Washington left-hander Tom Zachary on September 30, 1927, an eighth-inning shot that broke a 2-2 tie at Yankee Stadium.

Which teammate briefly led Ruth in the 1927 home run race, 45 to 44, in early September?

Lou Gehrig edged ahead 45-44 in early September 1927, but Ruth's record 17 home runs that month carried him to 60 while Gehrig finished with 47.

Why did Ruth wear the uniform number 3?

The 1929 Yankees assigned uniform numbers by batting order, and Ruth batted third, so he wore 3; Gehrig, batting cleanup, wore 4.

What did Ruth reportedly say when asked about out-earning President Hoover in 1930?

Asked in 1930 why he deserved $80,000 when President Hoover made $75,000, Ruth reportedly replied, 'I had a better year than he did.'

Ruth's "called shot" came in the 1932 World Series against which team?

He homered off the Cubs' starter at Wrigley Field after some kind of gesture; surviving teammate Charlie Devens said in 1999 he did not think Ruth was pointing.

Off which pitcher did Ruth hit the called shot?

Ruth had already hit a three-run homer off Root in the first inning of that game.

Where was the first Major League All-Star Game, featuring Ruth in right field, played?

The first All-Star Game was played at Comiskey Park, Chicago, on July 6, 1933, tied to the Century of Progress fair; Ruth hit the game's first home run, a two-run shot off Bill Hallahan.

Which team did Ruth join for his final season in 1935?

The Boston Braves signed Ruth for 1935 with owner Emil Fuchs's hollow promises of a managing job and a share of profits; he hit .181 and quit on June 2 after a row with Fuchs.

Ruth's last home run, at Pittsburgh on May 25, 1935, was notable for what?

He went 4-for-4 that day, though the Braves lost 11-7; it was home run number 714.

How many career home runs did Ruth finish with?

Ruth retired with 714 home runs, the last six with the 1935 Braves; a 1968 committee ruling that would have made it 715 (counting a 1918 walk-off 'triple') was reversed the next year.

Which of these career records did Ruth still hold as of 2025?

Ruth's .690 career slugging percentage remained the all-time record as of 2025 (Ted Williams's .634 is second); his 2,174 runs trail Rickey Henderson's 2,295 and his 506 doubles are far behind Tris Speaker's 792.

Which of these was NOT among the five original 1936 Hall of Fame electees alongside Ruth?

Cy Young was not elected until 1937; the 1936 class was Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson, with Cobb topping the vote.

Which team hired Ruth as a first base coach in 1938, his only major league job after playing?

The Brooklyn Dodgers hired Ruth as first-base coach in June 1938, mostly as a gate attraction; GM Larry MacPhail made clear he would not succeed manager Burleigh Grimes, and Leo Durocher got the job.

How did Ruth's first wife, Helen, die in 1929?

Helen died in a house fire in Watertown, Massachusetts, in January 1929, where she had been living as the wife of a dentist; three months later Ruth married Claire Hodgson.

Ruth fell ill in 1946 with which disease, which killed him two years later?

Ruth's nasopharyngeal cancer, found in late 1946, made him one of the first patients treated with chemotherapy and radiation together; his family and doctors never told him the diagnosis.

How many games did Ruth win as a major-league pitcher?

Ruth went 94-46 with a 2.28 ERA as a pitcher, 89 of the wins for the Red Sox from 1914 to 1919 and the last five with the Yankees.

At his final Yankee Stadium appearance in June 1948, what did Ruth use as a cane?

At Yankee Stadium's 25th-anniversary celebration on June 13, 1948, a frail Ruth leaned on a bat as a cane, the scene of Nat Fein's Pulitzer-winning photograph; his number 3 was retired that day.

The makers of the Baby Ruth candy bar have always claimed it was named after a member of which family?

Curtiss Candy said Baby Ruth, launched in 1921, honored President Grover Cleveland's daughter Ruth, who had died in 1904; the company later blocked Ruth's own 'Home Run' candy bar on that basis.

In which year did Ruth headline an American all-star tour of Japan?

Ruth headlined the 1934 all-star tour of Japan with Gehrig, Foxx and Gehringer, drawing huge crowds; Japanese troops in the Pacific war reportedly yelled 'To hell with Babe Ruth' at Americans.

Ruth broke the single-season home run record in 1919 with how many homers?

Ruth hit 29 home runs for the 1919 Red Sox, passing Buck Freeman's 25 from 1899 and then Ned Williamson's 27 from 1884, which writers dug up after the fact.

How many people filed past Ruth's open casket during the two days it lay in the Yankee Stadium rotunda?

An estimated 77,000 people filed past Ruth's open casket in the Yankee Stadium rotunda on August 17-18, 1948; about 75,000 more waited outside St. Patrick's Cathedral for his funeral Mass.