100 years ago today, Babe Ruth made his MLB debut Ray Cavanaugh, Special for USA TODAY Sports 5:31 p.m. EDT July 11, 2014 7-12-ruth (Photo: Associated Press) 399 CONNECT 36 TWEET 4 LINKEDIN 1 COMMENT EMAIL MORE Boston Red Sox captain and outfielder Harry Hooper recalled Babe Ruth as first approaching the pitching mound head down, pigeon-toed and walkin with little short steps. One can picture the Babe trotting this way in old footage of one of his 714 home runs. But this description came July 11, 1914, the day Ruth made his major league debut. Though he was an outfielder for most of his career and is best remembered for hitting home runs for the New York Yankees, Ruth broke into the major leagues as a left-handed pitcher with the Red Sox. Ruths first game came in a series opener against the Cleveland Naps, who featured future Hall of Fame second baseman Napoleon Nap Lajoie, a player so popular that his team changed its name to the Naps, until Lajoie departed in 1915 and Cleveland took on its current name of the Indians. Lajoie went hitless against Ruth, who displayed pretty solid command over the first six innings, giving up five hits and one run. The next days Boston Globe described Ruth as a giant lefthander who was keeping the Cleveland hitters off balance with his speed and sharp curves. In the seventh inning, however, he surrendered two runs on three hits. Catching 19-year-old Ruth that day was Bill Carrigan, a Maine native nicknamed Rough, who doubled as the teams manager. Ruth later would praise Carrigan as the greatest manager he played for. Aside from managing the Sox to consecutive titles (1915, 1916), Carrigan was a fierce brawler and strict leader who commanded an unusual degree of respect from often brash and reckless Ruth. There was no designated hitter back then, so Ruth had his chance to bat in his debut. Against Cleveland left-hander Willie Mitchell, he went hitless in two appearances, including a strikeout in his first-ever at-bat. In the bottom half of his somewhat-embattled seventh inning, Ruth was removed for a pinch-hitter. He was relieved by another left-hander, Dutch Leonard, who, in typical fashion that year, pitched two scoreless innings. Leonard would finish the 1914 season with a 19-5 record and a 0.96 ERA, a mark that stands as the best for a season in the modern era (since 1900). GALLERY: AARON PASSES RUTH Facebook Twitter Google+ LinkedIn 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF HANK AARON PASSING BABE RUTH FULLSCREEN Forty years ago on April 8, Hank Aaron hits career home run No. 715 to pass Babe Ruth for the all-time record. Forty years ago on April 8, Hank Aaron hits career home run No. 715 to pass Babe Ruth for the all-time record. Harry Harris, APFULLSCREEN Forty years ago on April 8, Hank Aaron hits career home run No. 715 to pass Babe Ruth for the all-time record. Hank Aarons 715th home run was off Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Al Downing at Fulton County Stadium. Hank Aaron is congratulated by two fans as he rounds the bases after hitting his 715th home run. Hank Aaron receives death threats and hate mail during his pursuit of Babe Ruths home run record. Aaron gets a security team appointed to him. The Braves, who opened the 1974 season on the road, want Hank Aaron to break the home run record in Atlanta. So, Aaron plays in just two of the three games in Cincinnati. Hank Aaron tips his cap to fans and teammates greeting him at home plate after the record home run. Hank Aaron embraces his mother Estella and father Herb (obscured) at home plate after he hit his 715th career home run. Hank Aaron holds up the baseball that broke Babe Ruths home run record. The imposing number 715 appears on the wall over the head of an elated Hank Aaron during a press conference following his 715th career home run. Aaron would go on to hit 40 more homers before he retired in 1976. Hank Aaron waves during Commencement for the class of 2011 in Princeton, N.J., as he holds his honorary doctorate of humanities given for making America a better place with his imperishable example of grace under pressure. Hank Aaron, seen here in Cooperstown. N.Y. during the 2009 Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony, is enshrined Aug. 1, 1982. Bill Cosby inspects Hank Aarons Medal of Freedom just before receiving his own from President Bush in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, July 9, 2002. Hank Aaron waves to the crowd in Atlanta during a ceremony on April 8, 1999, to mark the 25th anniversary of his breaking Babe Ruths record of 714 home runs. Hank Aaron signs some autographs before the game between the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago White Sox in Milwaukee, July 20, 1999. The Brewers honor Aaron prior to the game, marking the 23rd anniversary of Aarons 755th career home run. On Feb. 5, 1999, Major League Baseball announces the Hank Aaron Award, an honor presented annually to the best hitters in the American and National Leagues. Hank Aaron, left, and Frank Robinson pose together after being voted into baseballs Hall of Fame on Jan. 14, 1982. Aaron received 406 of a possible 415 votes, the highest percentage since Ty Cobb was voted in in 1936. On July 20, 1976, Hank Aaron hits the final home run of his career, off Dick Drago of the Angels, for No. 755. Hank Aaron hits a home run off Reds Jack Billingham on Opening Day to tie Babe Ruth with 714 career home runs. On <b:>May 1, 1975, Hank Aaron becomes baseballs all-time leader in RBI with No. 2,212 -- he finishes his career with 2,297.</b:> Hank Aaron wins his only National League MVP award in 1957. On April 23, 1954, Hank Aaron hits his first major league home run, off Vid Raschi of the St. Louis Cardinals. Hank Aaron makes his major league debut on April 13, 1954, going 0-for-5 vs. the Cincinnati Reds. Next Slide 22 PHOTOS The Red Sox won 4-3, and Ruth was credited with the victory. Five days later, he made his second start, facing the Detroit Tigers, who knocked him out of the game in the fourth inning. In his rather abbreviated first season, Ruth pitched in four games, earning two wins and a loss and posting a 3.91 ERA. He had tension with teammates, some of whom regarded him as crude and noisy and felt that his attitude was too cavalier for such a young player. According to Kal Wagenheim, author of Babe Ruth: His Life and Legend, these veterans also did not approve of the little-used rookie pitcher taking batting practice with the regulars. At one point, Ruth returned to the locker room to find that his bats had been sawed in half. He also was tagged with the rather unflattering nickname Big Baboon. Conflict was nothing new for Ruth, who hailed from a hardscrabble Baltimore neighborhood known as Pigtown. Deemed as incorrigible at age 8, he was sent to St. Marys Industrial School for Boys, a Catholic institution that housed the orphaned and delinquent. St. Marys had its own thriving baseball league. As baseball was the unrivaled national pastime then, there were enough avid players to comprise 43 teams. The school also had its main team, which consisted of its best players and competed against the best players from other schools. By the time Ruth was in his late teens, he was the star of the main team. At 19, he was signed by his hometown Baltimore Orioles (then a minor league team) for $600. After a brief stint in the minors, Ruth was sold to the Red Sox. Just a few months out of reform school, Ruth was earning $625 a month (about $15,000 in todays money). Ruth went 89-46 with a 2.19 ERA as a pitcher for the Red Sox, but by 1918 he began to also play the outfield and bat more regularly. When he was sold to the Yankees in 1920 for $125,000 in cash and about $300,000 in loans, he became a full-time outfielder. He, of course, led the Yankees to four World Series titles. This July 11 is a bittersweet centennial for Boston, a city long haunted by Ruths departure, though he helped lead the Red Sox to three titles before he left. A little more a year after his major league debut, he completed an 18-8 season with a 2.44 ERA as Boston won its first of three Series titles in four years, a feat the Yankees never matched when he played for them.
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 00:23:16 +0000
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