Yankees Tribute: Happy Birthday, Babe
February 6 should hold a special place in both Yankees and MLB fans’ hearts as Babe Ruth‘s birthday is celebrated. He is arguably the greatest player of all-time.
As sports fans, we hear the expression ‘GOAT’ said a lot. In football, its thrown around for legends such as Joe Montana and John Elway, or more recently, future Hall of Famer Tom Brady. In baseball, however, it’s reserved for perhaps only one man. He’s a man of many nicknames: ‘The Sultan of Swat,’ ‘The Colossus of Clout,’ ‘The King of Crash,’ ‘The Great Bambino.’ There’s one nickname, though, that stuck with Yankees legend George Herman Ruth throughout his lifetime: ‘Babe.’
The Rising Star
When we think of Ruth, we often think of the quintessential Yankees legend. He was with the Yankees for 15 seasons. But, Babe didn’t start his career off in New York. He started his MLB career in a Red Sox jersey in 1914.
He began as a hitting pitcher because there was no designated hitter position at the time. Towards the end of his Red Sox career, Ruth would make the transition to being an outfielder. For the 1920 season, he was sold to the Yankees to finance a Broadway show. The purchase of $125,000, which is roughly equivalent to $2 million today, was the largest at the time. It was here that Babe Ruth would become a legend and a household name.
The Record Breaker
In his first season as a Yankee, Ruth went on to break the home run record for a single month, smashing 11 in May. The very next month, he broke his own record hitting 13. Even though the Yankees finished in third …