Babe Ruth’s Time with the Red Sox

 

Babe Ruth made his debut for the Red Sox in July of 1914. He made an immediate impact in Boston. However, they primarily played him as a pitcher. After just over a month, the Red Sox sent Babe Ruth to play for the Providence Grays, a minor league team they purchased shortly after Ruth’s Major League Debut. Ruth finished his International League season with a record of 23-8, leading the Grays to the International League pennant. While Ruth played in Spring Training for the Red Sox, he entered the season in a limited role due to the fact that their rotation was headlined by star lefties Dutch Leonard and Ray Collins. While Ruth managed ups and downs between starting and relief pitching, his bat started to shine. During a May start against the Yankees at Polo Grounds, Ruth hit a third inning home run, the first of his career. Despite seeing the clear potential in Ruth’s bat, the Red Sox continued to use him as a pitcher. 1919 was the year they started to really use him as a hitter, and he hit an MLB-record 29 home runs. Yes, 29 home runs was the MLB record. For the 5 years Ruth was in Boston, it worked. In his first full year with the Sox, they won the World Series. They went back to back in 1916, and then won again in 1918. After 1918, the Red Sox had won 5 of the 15 World Series in baseball. Only the Philadelphia Athletics were even close to them, with three. And then, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee made the most shocking trade in sports history.

 

The Trade

 

Harry Frazee, along with being the owner of the Boston Red Sox, was also a producer at Broadway. In desperate need of money, he sold Ruth to the Yankees for an astonishing $100,000. Immediately, Boston went into outrage. They knew how stupid it was to sell away a player who could hit homers better than anyone ever before and also be one of the best left-handed pitchers in baseball. Frazee tried everything he could to downplay the deal, calling Ruth selfish. Sounds awfully similar to another special someone after he traded Rafael Devers to the Giants for absolutely nothing. Ruth had an immediate impact in New York. Manager Miller Huggins made him a full time hitter, and he shattered his previous record of 29 home runs, hitting 54 in his first year.

 

Ruth’s Yankees Career

 

Ruth was absolutely dominant in New York. After his 54 homer 1920 season, he broke his record again in 1921, hitting 59 of them. Ruth went on to win 4 World Series with the Yankees. Before Babe Ruth, Roger Connor held the MLB home run record with 138. Ruth broke that in 1923. And he played until 1935. He hit 714 home runs in his career, a record that would stand until Hank Aaron broke it nearly 40 years later. He broke nearly every batting record in the book during his time in New York. He hit over 40 home runs in 11 seasons. When he retired, there was no doubt who the best player in baseball history was.
 

Heartbreak

 

During the curse, the Red Sox suffered the most heartbreaking World Series losses ever.

 

1946: The Mad Dash. 

The Red Sox won the first game in 10 innings to take a 1-0 series lead. They held a 2-1 series lead. They held a 3-2 series lead. And they blew it. St. Louis won game 6, forcing game 7, the only truly memorable game from that series. The Mad Dash. With two outs in the 8th inning, Harry Walker hit a ball into left-center field. Leon Culberson got the ball in right field and Slaughter was on his way around the bases. Johnny Pesky had the ball, a chance to throw Slaughter out at the plate, and he hesitated. He just waited. He held on to the ball for a second and then finally threw it, but by that time, Slaughter was easily safe at home. The Cardinals won the series in 7 games.

 

 

1967: The Impossible Dream Season.

In 1966, the Boston Red Sox finished 9th in the American League. They entered the 1967 season with 100-1 odds to win the American League pennant. It was, for all intents and purposes, impossible for them to win the pennant that year. But all of a sudden, the team found themselves in the race in August. Tony Conigliaro looked like the next big thing in baseball. He was 22 years old and already one of the best players in baseball. But on August 18th, he took a brutal hit by pitch to the face. He faced multiple terrible injuries to his head and face, and he was never the same baseball player after. But after the injury, the team became much closer. They continued to rally, they fought harder and harder. Carl Yastrzemski would go on to win the Triple Crown, hitting .326 with 44 home runs and 121 RBI. On the final day of the regular season, Jim Lonborg led them to a 5-3 win over the Minnesota Twins to miraculously clinch the AL pennant. The dream was real. But the World Series was another 7-game heartbreaker. Bob Gibson pitched game 1, and won it 2-1 for the Cardinals. In Game 4, he threw another amazing game, leading the Cardinals to a 6-0 win. And yet again, in Game 7, the Red Sox could not find anything against him. The Cardinals won 7-2 behind the absolute dominance from Gibson. The Impossible Dream became a nightmare thanks to Gibson.
 

 

1975: Fisk’s Home Run.

After an up and down start to the series, the Red Sox found themselves at Fenway Park for game 6, trailing the series 3-2. In the 8th inning, the Red Sox trailed 6-3. It seemed over. But Bernie Carbo stepped up to the plate with two runners on, and he hit a home run to center field to tie the game and send it to extra innings. Then, in the 12th inning, one of the most iconic home runs in Red Sox-and even baseball-history. Carlton Fisk hit a ball deep down the left field line. It was deep but it looked foul. Fisk waved his hands in the air, willing it fair, and by some miracle, it did. Fisk had walked it off to force a Game 7.  And yet again, the Red Sox had their hearts broken in a Game 7. In the top of the 9th, tied 3-3, with two outs, Joe Morgan blooped a hit into center field, giving the Reds a 4-3 lead that they would hang on to for the win.

 

 

1986: Bill Buckner.

Sigh. This is probably the worst of them all. Game 6. Up 5-3 going into the bottom of the 10th. And Bob Stanley blew it. He threw a wild pitch to make the game 5-5. The game was tied before Buckner made the error. Yet he became the scapegoat. Because that was the memorable play. A routine ground ball. And it just rolled through his legs. The Mets won 6-5. But there was still Game 7. The Red Sox could still win it. Bruce Hurst threw 5 shutout innings. The Sox had a 3-0 lead. Then Hurst collapsed. 6 runs in two innings. And the Red Sox went on to lose their 4th World Series Game 7. Each one was uniquely heartbreaking.

 

 

2003: Aaron Bleepin Boone

 

While it wasn’t a World Series, the heartbreak in 2003 was just as bad, if not worse than the others. In the 11th inning of Game 7, Aaron Boone stepped up to the plate for his first at bat of the game. And he hit a walkoff home run. The Red Sox were crushed. The Marlins went on to win that World Series, but it didn’t matter. Every heart in Boston was broken.

 

 

2004

The greatest year in Red Sox history. The greatest year in Boston history. I wasn’t alive for this. But the amount of documentaries I’ve watched, the amount of times I’ve gone back and rewatched each game. The Yankees won Game 3 19-8. It was just another year of heartbreak in Boston. At least they got over with it in 4 games this time instead of dragging it to 7 like they did the previous year. Then Game 4. Probably the most memorable game from this series. The Red Sox were down 4-3 going into the bottom of the 9th. Out of the bullpen came Mariano Rivera. It was officially over. Mariano Rivera was already the best closer in baseball history. There was no chance the Red Sox would score against him. But Kevin Millar drew a walk. He was pinch run for by Dave Roberts. He knew he was stealing. Mariano Rivera knew he was stealing. Jorge Posada knew he was stealing. The fans at Fenway knew he was stealing. Every single person watching the game knew he was stealing. And he did. And he was safe. And then Bill Mueller hit a single up the middle. They scored on Mariano Rivera and the game was tied. And then Big Papi. So many huge moments for the Red Sox. But none more memorable than this. In the 12th inning. Past midnight. He hit the walkoff 2-run homer. The hope was alive. Pedro then pitched in game 5. After a game 2 loss, and the “Who’s your daddy” chants raining down from Yankee Stadium, he got to pitch a game at Fenway Park. And it was a duel. 14 innings long. Past 1 AM in Boston. And Big Papi was the hero again. He hit a walkoff single in the 14th to drive in Johnny Damon, and all of a sudden the series was headed back to New York 3-2.

 

Game 6. The Bloody Sock Game. Curt Schilling said he was alright. He got his leg stitched up and went out to pitch. He started the game fine, but as it went on, you could see the blood start to accumulate on his sock. The stitches didn’t work. And despite that, Schilling pitched 7 innings and allowed only 1 run. The Red Sox had come back from down 3-0 to force a Game 7. And honestly, game 7 was kind of the least memorable game from that series. After blowing the 3-0 lead, there was no chance the Yankees could win that game. Derek Lowe pitched 6 innings, allowing only 1 run, and Johnny Damon had 6 RBIs. The Red Sox had done it. They pulled off the miracle. And after that, there was no way they would lose the World Series. They swept the Cardinals. The Curse of the Bambino was finally broken. But it wasn't just that. The Sox would go on to win in 2007, 2013, and 2018.