Ruth, Babe (George Herman) (1895–1948)

US baseball player, regarded by many as the greatest of all time, and in December 1999 named ‘Best Baseball Player of the 20th Century’ by US magazine Sports Illustrated. He played in ten World Series, and hit 714 home runs, a record that stood from 1935 to 1974 and led to the nickname ‘Sultan of Swat’.

Career highlights

Games 2,503

Runs 2,174

Home runs 714

Average .342

World Series wins 1915–16, 1918, 1923, 1927–28, 1932

Ruth started playing 1914 as a pitcher-outfielder for the Boston Braves before moving to the Boston Red Sox later that year. He joined the New York Yankees in 1920 and became one of the best hitters in the game. He hit 60 home runs in the 1927 season (a record beaten 1961 by Roger Maris, who had played more games). He is the holder of the record for most bases in a season: 457 in 1921. Yankee Stadium is known as ‘the house that Ruth built’ because of the money he brought into the club.

Ruth was voted the greatest player in baseball history by editors of The Sporting News. The list was published in October 1998 in the book Baseball's 100 Greatest Players. A bat that he used in his last appearance at Yankee Stadium was bought by an unnamed collector for $107,000 during an auction in September 1999 in New York.