Community Corner

This Day in History--June 2

Baseball legend Babe Ruth retired.

George Herman “Babe” Ruth, one of the greatest baseball players in the history of the game, retired on this day in 1935. He had spent 22 years in the Major Leagues, hitting 714 home runs during his career, a record that stood until 1974, when Henry “Hammerin’ Hank” Aaron beat it.

Ruth was born in 1896 into a poor Baltimore family, and was sent to  St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, run by Catholic brothers. A priest there taught him to play baseball, and at 19, the Baltimore Orioles signed him. The Orioles were then a minor league team of the Boston Red Sox.

He was called the newest “babe” of Orioles owner Jack Dunn by team members and the media, and he was known as Babe thereafter. Adoring fans and sportswriters later dubbed him "The Sultan of Swat" and "The Bambino."

Find out what's happening in Loganville-Graysonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In July 1914, the left-handed Ruth pitched his first game in the Majors for the Red Sox, and went on to pitch 89 winning games for them In 1920, he was traded to the New York Yankees. Ruth is responsible for the “curse of the Bambino” that afflicted the Red Sox for decades. After his departure, they didn’t win a World Series until 2004.

In New York, Ruth became an outfielder. He led the Yankees to seven American League championships and four World Series victories. He attracted so many fans in New York that in 1923 the team constructed a new stadium, "The House That Ruth Built."

Find out what's happening in Loganville-Graysonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Ruth died of throat cancer at age 53. More than 100,000 fans came to see his body lying in state at Yankee Stadium.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Loganville-Grayson