On December 26, 1919, a bid star was sold to … New York Yankees!
Frazee had a huge financial concern and he sold Babe Ruth!!!
Ruth between 1915 and 1917 had been used in just 44 games in which he had not pitched. After the 1917 season, in which he hit .325, albeit with limited at bats, teammate Harry Hooper suggested that Ruth might be more valuable in the lineup as an everyday player.
In 1918, he began playing in the outfield more and pitching less, making 75 hitting-only appearances. And during the 1919 season, Ruth pitched in only 17 of his 130 games. He also set his first single-season home run record that year with 29 (passing Ned Williamson’s 27 in 1884. This was Babe Ruth’s last season with the Red Sox.
After the 1919 season, Ruth demanded a raise to $20,000 ($230,000 in current dollar terms)—double his previous salary. Frazee finally lost patience with Ruth, and decided to trade him.
Frazee, and the Yankees side with Ruppert and Huston quickly agreed to a deal and Ruth officially became property of the Yankees on December 26. The deal was announced ten days later.
After moving to the Yankees, Ruth’s evolution from a pitcher to a power-hitting outfielder became complete. In his fifteen year Yankee career, consisting of over 2,000 games, Ruth re-wrote the record books in terms of his hitting achievements, while making only five widely scattered token appearances on the mound, winning all of them.
His .847 slugging average was a Major League record until 2001. Aside from the Yankees, only the Philadelphia Phillies managed to hit more home runs as a team than Ruth did as an individual!
In 1921, Ruth improved to arguably the best year of his career, while leading the Yankees to their first league championship.
No doubt about Ruth’s legend. It is still alive! On paper too…
Some paper ideas from the same date from the past!
KO for eCharta
eCharta 