Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth was an American professional baseball player widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the sport's history, whose prodigious home run hitting helped popularize baseball as America's national pastime.
He started his career as a standout left-handed pitcher, and it was only after his team noticed how far he could hit the ball that Ruth was moved into the everyday lineup at all.
Starting as a Pitcher
Ruth began his career as a highly talented left-handed pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, before the team's management recognized his extraordinary hitting ability and gradually converted him into an everyday outfielder to take full advantage of his power at the plate.
"The Curse of the Bambino"
Ruth's sale to the New York Yankees in 1919 became one of the most famous transactions in sports history, with Boston fans later blaming the decision for decades of subsequent championship futility in what became known as the "Curse of the Bambino."
Redefining the Home Run
With the Yankees, Ruth became baseball's biggest star, setting numerous home run records including an astonishing 60 home runs in a single season in 1927, a record that stood unbroken for 34 years.
A Larger-Than-Life Personality
Ruth's combination of extraordinary power hitting and an outsized, charismatic public personality helped transform baseball's cultural popularity throughout the 1920s, elevating the sport into America's dominant national pastime.
An Enduring Icon
Ruth died in 1948, but he remains one of the most iconic and recognizable figures in the history of American sports, decades after his playing career and even longer after many of his individual records have since been broken.
