50 Fun Facts About Babe Ruth

In which city was Babe Ruth born in 1895?

His birthplace was renovated and opened as the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum in 1974; his father later ran a saloon on West Camden Street.

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

His daughter Julia later said his saloon-keeper father gave him so little supervision that he became a delinquent.

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 Matthias hit a baseball; the $5,000 Cadillac came in 1926, and Ruth replaced it after a crash.

Which minor-league owner signed Ruth in 1914, giving rise to the nickname "Babe"?

Veteran players called the rookie "Dunnie's babe"; "Babe" was a common baseball nickname at the time.

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?

He twice won 23 games in a season and won three World Series with Boston before converting to the outfield.

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

He said he met her, a waitress, on the morning of his first day in Boston; they adopted a daughter, Dorothy, in 1921.

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

That season Ruth went 23-12 with a league-best 1.75 ERA, dueling Walter Johnson repeatedly.

Ruth's 14-inning victory in the 1916 World Series still holds what distinction?

It was the longest World Series game of any kind until 2005.

In 1917 Ruth was ejected after four pitches for punching an umpire. What did reliever Ernie Shore then do?

The runner Ruth had walked was caught stealing, so Shore faced the minimum; Ruth got ten days 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?

He was 3-0 as a World Series pitcher, winning Game One of the 1918 Series 1-0 and Game Four despite an injured hand.

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 deal also included a $350,000 loan from Jacob Ruppert to Frazee, secured by a mortgage on Fenway Park.

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

It did not open until 1925, after Frazee had sold the Red Sox, though it was based on 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?

He also led the league with 158 runs and 137 RBIs, and the Yankees drew a record 38,600 to the Polo Grounds one May afternoon.

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

Every one of the nearly 600 homers Ruth hit afterward extended his own record; that season he hit 59 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.

Yankee Stadium opened on April 18, 1923. What did Ruth do that day?

The park was designed with him in mind, with a short right-field fence, and was quickly dubbed the House That Ruth Built.

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

He also hit a career-high 45 doubles and reached base 379 times that year, then 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 was Ruth's 1925 illness, which sportswriter W. O. McGeehan blamed on hot dogs and soda pop, called?

British newspapers printed a premature obituary after a rumor spread that he had died.

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

The Yankees still lost the Series when he was thrown out trying to steal second to end Game Seven.

How did the 1926 World Series end?

He had walked in the ninth as the only Yankee to reach base against Alexander, who had reportedly gotten very drunk after winning Game Six.

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

The boy had been hurt falling from a horse; the press inflated the story into Ruth saving his life.

What was the 1927 Yankees lineup nicknamed?

The team won a then-AL-record 110 games and swept the Pirates, who were reportedly demoralized just watching Yankees batting practice.

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

It came on September 30 in the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie; a teammate had led him 45-44 in early September before finishing with 47.

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

Ruth answered with two homers in the same doubleheader and never trailed again; Gehrig finished with 47.

Why did Ruth wear the uniform number 3?

The 1929 Yankees were the first team to put numbers on both home and road uniforms, assigning them by batting order.

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

He also noted the President only got a four-year contract; the salary was 2.4 times the next-highest, still a record margin.

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.

Ruth played right field in the first Major League All-Star Game in 1933. Where was it held?

Connie Mack selected him for the American League side; he was picked again in 1934.

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

Owner Emil Fuchs promised him a shot at managing and a share of profits, none of which was real; Ruth quit on June 2 after an argument.

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?

His last six came with the Braves in a season he hit just .181; the total was preserved when a records committee reversed a 1968 ruling that would have added one.

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

His .690 slugging percentage and .474 on-base percentage were still the highest ever as of 2025; his home run, RBI and walk totals have since been passed.

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

Christy Mathewson completed the class; Ruth was the only one of the five never offered a managing job.

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

General manager Larry MacPhail made clear he would not be considered to replace manager Burleigh Grimes.

Ruth and his slugging teammate did not speak off the field for seven years. What ended the feud?

The rift began with a 1932 remark by Gehrig's mother about how Ruth's daughters were dressed.

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

She had been living there as the wife of a dentist; three months later Ruth married Claire Hodgson and adopted her daughter Julia.

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

He was one of the first patients to receive drugs and radiation at the same time; his family never told him the diagnosis.

How old was Ruth when he died on August 16, 1948?

His open casket lay in the Yankee Stadium rotunda for two days and 77,000 people filed past.

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

He was there for the 25th anniversary of the House That Ruth Built, introduced with his surviving 1923 teammates.

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

She had died in 1904; the bar appeared in 1921 at the height of Ruth mania, and Ruth was later refused a trademark for his own candy because of it.

Japanese soldiers in WWII reportedly taunted Americans by yelling 'To hell with' whom?

Ruth had toured Japan in 1934; he made peace with the Japanese after the war.

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

Writers then dug up Ned Williamson's 27 for the 1884 Chicago White Stockings, hit in a park with a 215-foot right field.

Which brewer and former congressman was the Yankees' principal owner when the club bought Ruth?

Ruppert reportedly asked manager Miller Huggins what the team needed to win; Prohibition was squeezing his brewing business at the time.

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

Another crowd of about 75,000 waited outside St. Patrick's Cathedral during his Requiem Mass; he is buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York.