Misc Facts

George Herman Ruth, Jr., better known as Babe Ruth, is widely regarded as one of the best and most famous players to every play baseball. Ruth, nicknamed The Great Bambino, played 21 seasons in the Major Leagues, batted an incredible .342 on his career and hit 714 home runs!

A lean Babe Ruth early in his career

Here’s our list of the most interesting Babe Ruth facts for you to enjoy:

• While Ruth is best known for his hitting, he was an outstanding pitcher early in his career having an overall 94-46 record and an ERA of 2.28.
• On April 18th 1923, Yankee Stadium opened for its first game. A crowd of 74,200 got to watch Babe Ruth hit the first home run on opening day. A sportswriter at the time referred to his first blast in his news story as “The House That Ruth Built.” The saying stuck.
• In 1927, Ruth set the home run record with 60 home runs that season. This record stood until 1961.
• The first home run in an All-Star was hit by Babe Ruth at Chicago’s Comiskey Park in 1933.
• Ruth was a part of the 1934 All-Star team that went to Japan to play an 18 game series. Babe Ruth hit 13 home runs during the series and the Americans won every game.
• Babe Ruth’s pay was big news in 1930 because it was greater than the President’s. When asked about it, Ruth responded, “I know, but I had a better year.”
• Supposedly (so, maybe not exactly a fact but..), Ruth once ate 12 hot dogs and drank 8 bottles of soda between games of a doubleheader (source ESPN).
• The Yankees retired Ruth’s number 3 on June 13, 1948.
• When Babe Ruth died in 1948, more than 100,000 people came to Yankee Stadium to pay their respects.

Babe Ruth played with the Boston Red Sox from 1914-1919, New York Yankees from 1920-1934 and Boston Braves in 1935. He is surely one of the most remembered and well-known baseball players in history, if not the most.