Babe Ruth

George Herman "Babe" Ruth, Jr.  (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was a famous baseball player during the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s in Major League Baseball. He played with the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and the Boston Braves, and hit 714 home runs in his career. Only two players, Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds, have hit more. At the beginning of his career, he was a pitcher. He is widely considered the greatest baseball player of all time.

Nicknames
Babe Ruth has been called by many nicknames. Some of the most common are: "The Great Bambino",  "The Sultan of Swat", "The Colossus of Clout", "The Titan of Terror", and "The King of Crash". While attending St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, he was sometimes referred to by the racial epithet "Niggerlips" as he had large facial features and was darker than most boys at the all-white reformatory.

Early career
Ruth learned to play baseball while growing up in Baltimore, Maryland.His first Major League Baseball (MLB) team was the Boston Red Sox. Ruth began playing as a pitcher. He had some of the best pitching statistics in baseball. The Red Sox won the World Series in 1915, 1916, and 1918.

At that time, there was no designated hitter rule in the American League, where the Red Sox played, so Ruth got chances to hit as a pitcher. The team realized that he was also good at hitting. In 1918, Ruth began hitting more and pitching less. Later in his career, he became an outfielder.

Ruth was becoming a star player. However, by 1919, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee was having problems with money. In 1920, the Red Sox sold Ruth to the New York Yankees for cash. Even though the Red Sox had won several World Series in the years before this, they would not win another one until 2004. Many baseball fans believed that the Red Sox had become "cursed" by trading Ruth, and called this the "Curse of the Bambino". (When the Red Sox finally did win a World Series in 2004, they beat the Yankees in the American League Championship to get there.)

After the trade
Ruth spent most of the rest of his career with the Yankees, where he became one of the most famous players in baseball history. Ruth helped the Yankees win World Series championships in 1923, 1927, 1928, and 1932. He left the Yankees after the 1934 season and played one last season with the Boston Braves in 1935.

In 1927, Ruth hit 60 home runs, which was then a record for the most home runs in one season. The record was broken by Roger Maris in 1961 with 61 home runs.

Death
Babe Ruth died on August 16, 1948, from a type of throat cancer. He underwent hormone therapy and surgery in an attempt to treat his cancer. He was also one of the first cancer patients to receive sequential radiation and chemotherapy treatment. 

Honors
In November 2018, Ruth posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Donald Trump.

 Career batting statistics 

 Season G AB R H HR RBI BB SO Avg. SLG 1914  5  10  1  2  0  2  0  4  .200 .300 1915  42  92  16  29  4  21  9  23  .315  .576 1916  67  136  18  37  3  15  10  23  .272  .419 1917  52  123  14  40  2  12  12  18  .325  .472 1918  95  317  50  95  11  66  58  58  .300  .555 1919  130  432  103  139  29  114  101  58  .322  .657 1920  142  458  158  172  54  137  150  80  .376  .849 1921  152  540  177  204  59  171  145  81  .378  .846 1922  110  406  94  128  35  99  84  80  .315  .672 1923  152  522  151  205  41  131  170  93  .393  .764 1924  153  529  143  200  46  121  142  81  .378  .739 1925  98  359  61  104  25  66  59  68  .290  .543 1926  152  495  139  184  47  150  144  76  .372  .737 1927  151  540  158  192  60  164  137  89  .356  .772 1928  154  536  163  173  54  142  137  87  .323  .709 1929  135  499  121  172  46  154  72  60  .345  .697 1930  145  518  150  186  49  153  136  61  .359  .732 1931  145  534  149  199  46  163  128  51  .373  .700 1932  133  457  120  156  41  137  130  62  .341  .661 1933  137  459  97  138  34  103  114  90  .301  .582 1934  125  365  78  105  22  84  104  63  .288  .537 1935  28  72  13  13  6  12  20  24  .181  .431 Career Statistics  2,503  8,398  2,174  2,874  714  2,217  2,062  1,330  .342  .690

He also had a .474 career on-base percentage, which is second all-time to Ted Williams' .482.

References

 Other websites 


 baberuth.com - Official site
 baberuthmuseum.com  Ruth Museum
 Photo of Babe Ruth as a member of the 1916 Red Sox 

Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Category:1895 births
Category:1948 deaths
Category:Deaths from throat cancer
Category:American baseball players
Category:Boston Braves players
Category:Boston Red Sox players
Category:New York Yankees players
Category:American Roman Catholics
Category:Sportspeople from Baltimore
Category:National Baseball Hall of Fame members