Honoring the Babe

Mostly remembered for his home run records as a New York Yankee outfielder, Babe Ruth's start was far from Yankee Stadium and, for that matter, far from the outfield.  Ruth actually started as a pitcher for the Yankee rivals.  100 years ago today, July 11, Babe Ruth made his major league debut with the Boston Red Sox as a left-handed pitcher.  Babe's journey, though, was unexpected and, at the time, not even welcomed.  The Babe was comfortable in his role with his native Baltimore, pitching for a first-place Orioles team in the International League.  The team, however, sold the three best prospects to the American League, specifically to the Boston Red Sox, due to poor attendance at the Orioles' games.  Those players, Ruth, Ben Egan, and Ernie Shore, boarded an overnight train to Boston on the evening of July 10, 1914.  Ruth joined the Red Sox the next day and pitched seven innings earning a 4-3 win over the Cleveland Naps. But, his hitting debut was far from the legend we know today.  Ruth actually went hitless in his two at-bats, including a strike-out at his first major league plate appearance.  Hard to believe that the Babe was only 19 years old in his major league debut, but, he was certainly everything legends are made of, even if that legend built more slowly than the myth would allow us to believe.  In fact, Ruth was pulled from his second major league start after getting hit hard by the Tigers and, afterwards, sat on the bench for almost a month.  But, by July, he was pitching again, but his powerful batting career started even more slowly.  Ruth  did not hit his first major league home run until the following season, at the Polo Grounds off Yankee pitcher Jack Warhop on May 6, 1915.  Ruth was slowly transitioned to an outfielder after proving that he had a powerful bat so that the team would not have to wait for his turn in a pitching rotation, and in 1918, he tied the major league home-run record at 11, and, the following year set the single season home run record at 29.  Ruth was sold to the Yankees in December of 1919 and that is when his transition to  full-time outfielder was complete.  In 1920 he hit a staggering 54 home runs as a New York Yankee and a Yankees legend was born.  It was not until 1961 and Roger Maris that anyone threatened the Babe's home run record, proving how powerful Ruth really was.  It certainly is fitting that the Yankees deem their stadium "The House That Ruth Built."