Of all the figures in baseball history, there is perhaps none more famous than the Sultan of Swat, George Herman “Babe” Ruth. Ruth’s dominance of the game during his time as a New York Yankee has earned him the distinction of being one of the greatest figures in American sports history. With 2023 being the 100 year anniversary of one of his most iconic seasons and with April 19th marking the anniversary of the erection of a plaque at Yankee Stadium in his honor in 1949, it seemed appropriate to look back at his career, with special attention to his coverage by New Jersey’s newspapers.
Ruth began his MLB career as a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, playing in their 1915, 1916, and 1918 World Series-winning rosters. Ruth also began making a name for himself as a hitter, setting the home-run record with 29 homers in the 1919 season at a time when home runs were not common in baseball.
It was not until Ruth began playing with the New York Yankees in 1920 that he truly came to the attention of New Jersey’s newspapers. A brief article in the January 29, 1920 issue of the Perth Amboy Evening News covered Ruth’s wife Helen’s assertion that her husband’s hitting success was not a temporary product of luck. She would be proven correct, as Ruth would nearly double his home run output, ending the 1920 season with the Yankees with 54 home runs. Unsurprisingly, Ruth’s continued success would only continue to increase his fame. As he rose to celebrity status, his success helped bring the Yankees to the World Series against the New York Giants in both 1921 and 1922, although the Yankees failed to win both.
The 1923 season would prove to be one of Ruth’s most important. The Yankees were set to open their new stadium, Yankee Stadium, having previously played at the Polo Grounds, which they shared with the New York Giants. Given his success with the team over the past few seasons, the new stadium was nicknamed “the House that Ruth Built,” and he made it clear why at the inaugural game on April 18, 1923, christening it with its first home run. This would prove to be an omen of things to come, and, led by Ruth, the Yankees won the World Series that year, the team’s first of many.
Ruth’s success was such that, even during his time playing, he was already being considered one of the best. One need look no further than the May 23, 1924 issue of the Palisadian, in which he was identified as the “mightiest slugger of all time,” for proof of this. Still, despite his popularity, he did have his naysayers. According to the Perth Amboy Evening News in an article in the July 28, 1922 issue, United States Commissioner of Education John J. Tigert decried the popularity of sports figures like Babe Ruth as deleterious to the education of the country in a speech at Rutgers!
Regardless, Ruth continued to have an all-time great career. He was part of the Yankees until 1934, winning the 1927, 1928, and 1932 World Series. In the 1927 season, Ruth hit 60 home runs, setting a record that would not be beat until 1961. At the time of his retirement after the 1935 season, Ruth had a total of 714 home runs, a number that would not be surpassed until 1974. Because of this amazing performance, Babe Ruth more than secured his place in history and is arguably the greatest baseball player of all time.
(Contributed by Tristan Smith)
Sources:
Rader, Benjamin G. “Babe Ruth.” Britannica, April 12, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Babe-Ruth.
“Yankees Approve Babe Ruth Plaque; Memorial to Home-Run King Will Be Erected in Stadium on Opening Day, April 19.” New York Times, February 26, 1949. https://www.nytimes.com/1949/02/26/archives/yankees-approve-babe-ruth-plaque-memorial-to-homerun-king-will-be.html.