50 free Babe Ruth trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Babe Ruth pitched the Red Sox to three World Series titles, then went to New York and hit more home runs than most teams. This Babe Ruth trivia quiz has 50 free questions with answers covering the whole story: the boy sent to St. Mary's Industrial School at seven, the Baltimore Orioles rookie nicknamed by his teammates, the left-hander with 29 scoreless World Series innings, the sale that started the Curse of the Bambino, and the Yankee who hit 54, 59 and then 60. It also covers the parts casual fans skip: the called shot, the bellyache heard round the world, why he made more than President Hoover, why nobody would let him manage, the three-homer farewell at Forbes Field, his family, his illness and his funeral at Yankee Stadium. Questions climb from the basics to details that will test lifelong baseball readers. Every answer was checked against Ruth's Wikipedia biography, a featured article built on the standard Creamer, Montville and Stout biographies, and each question links to the page that establishes it.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which city was Babe Ruth born in 1895?
Baltimore
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.
Q 02At what age was Ruth sent to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, a reformatory and orphanage?
Seven
His daughter Julia later said his saloon-keeper father gave him so little supervision that he became a delinquent.
Q 03Which St. Mary's staff member did Ruth credit with making him a hitter?
Brother Matthias
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.
Q 04Which minor-league owner signed Ruth in 1914, giving rise to the nickname "Babe"?
Jack Dunn of the Baltimore Orioles
Veteran players called the rookie "Dunnie's babe"; "Babe" was a common baseball nickname at the time.
Q 05Why did the Orioles have to sell Ruth to the Red Sox in July 1914?
A rival Federal League team ruined attendance
Paid attendance fell as low as 150 despite the Orioles being in first place, so Dunn sold his best players to raise money.
Q 06Ruth began his major league career at which position?
Left-handed pitcher
He twice won 23 games in a season and won three World Series with Boston before converting to the outfield.
Q 07Where did Ruth marry his first wife, Helen Woodford, after the 1914 season?
Ellicott City, Maryland
He said he met her, a waitress, on the morning of his first day in Boston; they adopted a daughter, Dorothy, in 1921.
Q 08Which pitcher tied Ruth's 1916 AL record of nine shutouts by a left-hander in 1978?
Ron Guidry
That season Ruth went 23-12 with a league-best 1.75 ERA, dueling Walter Johnson repeatedly.
Q 09Ruth's 14-inning victory in the 1916 World Series still holds what distinction?
Longest complete-game win in postseason history
It was the longest World Series game of any kind until 2005.
Q 10In 1917 Ruth was ejected after four pitches for punching an umpire. What did reliever Ernie Shore then do?
Retired all 26 batters he faced
The runner Ruth had walked was caught stealing, so Shore faced the minimum; Ruth got ten days and a $100 fine.
Q 11Which Red Sox teammate persuaded Ed Barrow to let Ruth play outfield on non-pitching days?
Harry Hooper
Hooper's argument was that crowds were bigger when Ruth hit; Ruth promptly homered in four straight games.
Q 12How many consecutive scoreless World Series innings did Babe Ruth pitch, a record until Whitey Ford broke it in 1961?
29 2/3
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.
Q 13Which Red Sox owner sold Ruth to the Yankees after the 1919 season?
Harry Frazee
A New York theatrical promoter, Frazee still owed as much as $125,000 on his purchase of the club.
Q 21What was Ruth's career-high batting average, set in 1923?
0.393
He also hit a career-high 45 doubles and reached base 379 times that year, then a major-league record.
Q 22How many American League batting titles did Ruth win?
One
He hit .378 in 1924 with a league-leading 46 home runs, the only time he led the league in average.
Q 23What was Ruth's 1925 illness, which sportswriter W. O. McGeehan blamed on hot dogs and soda pop, called?
The bellyache heard 'round the world
British newspapers printed a premature obituary after a rumor spread that he had died.
Q 14For how much did the Yankees buy Ruth's contract, then the largest sum ever paid for a player?
$100,000
The deal also included a $350,000 loan from Jacob Ruppert to Frazee, secured by a mortgage on Fenway Park.
Q 15Which Broadway musical is often, and inaccurately, said to have been financed by the Ruth sale?
No, No, Nanette
It did not open until 1925, after Frazee had sold the Red Sox, though it was based on his 1919 play My Lady Friends.
Q 16How long did the Red Sox go without a World Series title after selling Ruth?
86 years
The drought, blamed on the Curse of the Bambino, ended in 2004; they did not even win a pennant until 1946.
Q 17How many home runs did Ruth hit in 1920, his first season with the Yankees?
54
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.
Q 18Whose career home run record of 138 did Ruth break in 1921?
Roger Connor
Every one of the nearly 600 homers Ruth hit afterward extended his own record; that season he hit 59 and slugged .846.
Q 19Why did Commissioner Landis suspend Ruth for the start of the 1922 season?
He went barnstorming after the World Series against the rules
Ruth and two teammates were also fined their 1921 World Series checks; the rule was relaxed that August.
Q 20Yankee Stadium opened on April 18, 1923. What did Ruth do that day?
Hit the first home run in the new park
The park was designed with him in mind, with a short right-field fence, and was quickly dubbed the House That Ruth Built.
Q 24What did Ruth do in Game Four of the 1926 World Series that had never been done in a Series game?
Hit three home runs
The Yankees still lost the Series when he was thrown out trying to steal second to end Game Seven.
Q 25How did the 1926 World Series end?
Ruth was thrown out stealing second
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.
Q 26Ruth famously promised a home run to which hospitalized 11-year-old boy during the 1926 World Series?
Johnny Sylvester
The boy had been hurt falling from a horse; the press inflated the story into Ruth saving his life.
Q 27What was the 1927 Yankees lineup nicknamed?
Murderers' Row
The team won a then-AL-record 110 games and swept the Pirates, who were reportedly demoralized just watching Yankees batting practice.
Q 28Off which pitcher did Ruth hit his 60th home run of 1927?
Tom Zachary
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.
Q 29Which teammate briefly led Ruth in the 1927 home run race, 45 to 44, in early September?
Lou Gehrig
Ruth answered with two homers in the same doubleheader and never trailed again; Gehrig finished with 47.
Q 30Why did Ruth wear the uniform number 3?
He batted third in the order
The 1929 Yankees were the first team to put numbers on both home and road uniforms, assigning them by batting order.