THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, April 24, 2020
Babe Ruth, “The Bambino” By The Old Sachem
T
his is the third installment of the Babe Ruth story. Previously you read about the great pitcher for the Red Sox, then the sale to the Yankees. In the 1921 season, Ruth slammed homers early and often surpassed the previous most career home runs record of 138. On September 15, he hit his 55th home run. Ruth ended the season with 59 home runs, batted .378 and had a slugging percentage of .846 as the Yankees won the pennant. The Polo Grounds hosted the World Series games as the New York Giants and the Yankees both used the field as home ground. The Giants won the series five games to two as Ruth hit .316, had five runs batted in and hit his first World Series homer. After the series, Ruth and some teammates formed a barnstorming tour team, against the rules of Major League Baseball. The MBL players were suspended by the Commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, until May 1922, and he fined them their World Series checks. In August the rule was changed to allow players limited touring, but only with the permission of the Commissioner. March 6, 1922, saw the Babe sign a new contract with the Yankees for $52,000, more than twice what had ever been paid to a ballplayer before, and it added up to 40
percent of the team players’ payroll. Ruth was named the captain of the Yankees even though he was suspended until May. He worked out with the team and played exhibition games on off days. He and those of the team who had been suspended returned to the game on May 20 to a sellout crowd at the Polo Grounds. On May 25 he was tossed out of the game for throwing dirt in the face of the umpire, George Hildebrand. Babe was fined and removed as captain. Because of the suspension, Ruth only appeared in 110 games and he batted .315 while smashing 35 home runs. Even without a full-time Babe, the Yankees once again won the pennant and once again faced the Giants in the Polo Grounds. The Giants’ manager told his pitchers to only throw curveballs to Ruth and the plan was effective. Ruth only had two hits in 17 plate appearances, and the Yankees lost again, four games to zero, although one game was a tie. After the season the Elks Club invited Ruth to a banquet where each speaker, including the mayor, Jimmy Walker, censured Ruth for his poor behavior both on and off the field. Babe must have taken it to heart as he appeared to spring training in his best shape since becoming a Yankee. The Giants told the Yankees that the field lease would not be renewed, so the Yankees built a new stadium in the
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Bronx, and the field was completed in time for the 1923 season for their home opener on April 18, and when the Babe hit his first homer in the new park, it quickly became known as “The House That Ruth Built.” The stadium was built to aid left-handed hitters like Ruth, and his position in right field was designed to spare him the problem of sun in his eyes. Ruth hit 40 homers and batted .393. The Yankees won their third straight American League title. Again, they faced the Giants in the World Series and Ruth dominated the games. He belted three homeruns, batted .368, walked eight times, scored eight runs and had a slugging average of 1,000. The Yankees dedicated their new park with the title, winning the World Series, four games to two. In 1924 the Washington Senators broke the Yankees’ three years sequence of winning the American League pennant. The Yankees suffered many injuries and could not compete successfully. Ruth batted .378 and won his only AL batting title, but he smacked 46 home runs. He let himself go during the offseason and swelled to 260 pounds. He suffered illness during spring training and collapsed in Asheville, N.C., as the Yankees were traveling north. He was sent to New York, where he was hospitalized, and after being released collapsed again. It was later
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decided that his illness was the result of his lifestyle in which he got little sleep and drank a large amount of alcohol. He was hospitalized again and suffered multiple convulsions. He was in St. Vincent’s Hospital for six weeks and finally released to careful workouts with the team. Ruth only played in 98 games in 1925 and batted .290 with 25 home runs. The Yankees finished last in the AL with a 69-85 record. After the disastrous season, Babe began working out in Artie McGovern’s gym for the 1926 season. The Yankees were in a rebuilding project, adding many new faces, including Tony Lazzeri and Lou Gehrig. During the season, Ruth batted .372 with 47 homers and 146 RBIs. The Yankees won the AL and faced the St. Louis Cardinals, who had the lowest winning percentage of a champion at .578. The Yankees were heavy favorites and took the first game in New York, but the Cardinals rallied to win games two and three. Ruth blasted three home runs in game four, which led to the victory. New York took game five, but Grover Cleveland Al-
exander pitched and won game six for the Cardinals and proceeded to get very drunk afterward. However, he was inserted in game seven and got the win for St. Louis. The season of 1927 started out with the Yankees considered as the greatest team in baseball ever; it had a batting group known as “the Murderers’ Row” because of the heavy hitters in the lineup. The Yankees clinched the pennant on Labor Day while winning 110 games for the season. The nation was expectant of Ruth to surpass his 59 homers, and Lou Gehrig was tied with Ruth at 24 homers in June. On September 30, Ruth hit his 60th homerun while Gehrig added 47. Babe batted .356, drove in 164 runs and slugged .772 for the season. The 1927 season’s World Series included the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Yankees swept the series in four games. During the 1928 season the Yankees suffered many injuries and were chased by the Philadelphia Athletics, but
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