Babe Ruth, baseball player, 714 home runs, 1914-1935

Babe Ruth

⭐ Hall of Fame 1936

Born: 2/6/1895 in Baltimore, MD, USA

Died: 8/16/1948 in New York, NY, USA

MLB Debut: 1914-07-11 | Final Game: 1935-05-30

Bats: L | Throws: L | Height: 6'2" | Weight: 215 lbs

Full name: George Herman Ruth

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Biography

Babe Ruth, born in 1895, was one of the most iconic figures in baseball history, renowned for his exceptional skills both as a pitcher and a hitter. His career spanned from 1914 to 1935, during which he made a profound impact on the game. Primarily recognized as a pitcher in his early years, Ruth finished his pitching career with a record of 94-46 and an impressive earned run average (ERA) of 2.28. He recorded 488 strikeouts and accumulated 4 saves, showcasing his dominance on the mound. Ruth was selected as an All-Star twice, a testament to his elite performance during his playing days. Ruth's significance extended beyond just statistics; he played a pivotal role in transforming baseball into America's pastime during the 1920s, a period marked by the rise of the live-ball era. His charismatic personality and unparalleled power at the plate later overshadowed his pitching accomplishments, as he became one of the greatest hitters in the game. Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1936, Ruth's legacy endures, and he is often celebrated as one of the greatest athletes in sports history, symbolizing the excitement and cultural impact of baseball in the early 20th century.

Negro Leagues Career Statistics

Batting

PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
8.0 7.0 0 3.0 3.0 0 0 0 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.429 0.500 0.857 1.357

Negro Leagues Season-by-Season Batting

Season PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG OPS
1926 4.0 4.0 0 2.0 2.0 0 0 0 0 1.0 1.0 0.500 0.500 1.000 1.500
1935 4.0 3.0 0 1.0 1.0 0 0 0 1.0 0 0 0.333 0.500 0.667 1.167

Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
94 46 163 148 107 17 4 1221.3 974 309 10 441 488 2.28 0

Career ERA 2.28 vs. league average 3.34 across their career seasons — 31.8% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1914 BOS AL 2 1 4 3 1 0 0 23.0 21 10 7 3 3.91 2.93 (-34%) -434.3
1915 BOS AL 18 8 32 28 16 1 0 217.7 166 59 85 112 2.44 2.90 (+16%) 429.0
1916 BOS AL 23 12 44 41 23 9 1 323.7 230 63 118 170 1.75 2.78 (+37%) 2509.5
1917 BOS AL 24 13 41 38 35 6 2 326.3 244 73 108 128 2.01 2.69 (+25%) 172.7
1918 BOS AL 13 7 20 19 18 1 0 166.3 125 41 49 40 2.22 2.83 (+22%) 82.3
1919 BOS AL 9 5 17 15 12 0 1 133.3 148 44 58 30 2.97 3.09 (+4%) -1773.4
1920 NYY AL 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 4.0 3 2 2 0 4.50 — -
1921 NYY AL 2 0 2 1 0 0 0 9.0 14 9 9 2 9.00 4.02 (-124%) -
1930 NYY AL 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 9.0 11 3 2 3 3.00 4.80 (+37%) -
1933 NYY AL 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 9.0 12 5 3 0 5.00 3.86 (-30%) -

Career Batting Statistics

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
2503 8398 2174 2873 506 136 714 2217 123 2062 1330 0.342 0.474 0.690 1.164 111978.7

Career AVG .342 vs. league average .275 across their career seasons — +24.6% above league average.

Career OBP .474 vs. league average .337 across their career seasons — +40.6% above league average.

Career SLG .690 vs. league average .379 across their career seasons — +81.8% above league average.

Career OPS 1.164 vs. league average 0.716 across their career seasons — +62.4% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1914 BOS AL 5 10 1 2 1 0 0 2 0 0 4 0.200 — — — — 0.0
1915 BOS AL 42 92 16 29 10 1 4 21 0 9 23 0.315 .250 (+26%) .318 (+18%) .332 (+73%) .651 (+46%) 626.7
1916 BOS AL 67 136 18 37 5 3 3 15 0 10 23 0.272 .248 (+9%) .314 (+2%) .326 (+28%) .640 (+16%) 296.7
1917 BOS AL 52 123 14 40 6 3 2 12 0 12 18 0.325 .248 (+31%) .312 (+23%) .323 (+46%) .635 (+35%) 655.6
1918 BOS AL 95 317 50 95 26 11 11 66 6 58 58 0.300 .255 (+17%) .318 (+29%) .326 (+70%) .645 (+50%) 2802.4
1919 BOS AL 130 432 103 139 34 12 29 114 7 101 58 0.322 .262 (+23%) .322 (+41%) .347 (+89%) .670 (+66%) 5841.8
1920 NYY AL 142 457 158 172 36 9 54 137 14 150 80 0.376 .271 (+38%) .331 (+61%) .363 (+134%) .694 (+99%) 9809.9
1921 NYY AL 152 540 177 204 44 16 59 171 17 145 81 0.378 .286 (+32%) .344 (+49%) .395 (+114%) .739 (+84%) 10137.0
1922 NYY AL 110 406 94 128 24 8 35 99 2 84 80 0.315 .285 (+10%) .345 (+25%) .397 (+69%) .743 (+49%) 4081.3
1923 NYY AL 152 522 151 205 45 13 41 131 17 170 93 0.393 .282 (+39%) .344 (+58%) .390 (+96%) .734 (+78%) 9715.5
1924 NYY AL 153 529 143 200 39 7 46 121 9 142 81 0.378 .283 (+33%) .345 (+48%) .389 (+90%) .734 (+70%) 8610.9
1925 NYY AL 98 359 61 104 12 2 25 66 2 59 68 0.290 .288 (+1%) .349 (+12%) .407 (+33%) .756 (+24%) 1791.6
1926 NYY AL 152 495 139 184 30 5 47 150 11 144 76 0.372 .279 (+33%) .345 (+49%) .390 (+89%) .735 (+70%) 8173.0
1927 NYY AL 151 540 158 192 29 8 60 164 7 137 89 0.356 .282 (+26%) .344 (+41%) .392 (+97%) .736 (+71%) 8547.9
1928 NYY AL 154 536 163 173 29 8 54 142 4 137 87 0.323 .280 (+15%) .342 (+35%) .395 (+79%) .737 (+59%) 7192.9
1929 NYY AL 135 499 121 172 26 6 46 154 5 72 60 0.345 .289 (+19%) .353 (+22%) .415 (+68%) .769 (+47%) 4963.6
1930 NYY AL 145 518 150 186 28 9 49 153 10 136 61 0.359 .293 (+22%) .354 (+39%) .429 (+70%) .784 (+56%) 7014.0
1931 NYY AL 145 534 149 199 31 3 46 163 5 128 51 0.373 .276 (+35%) .338 (+46%) .388 (+80%) .726 (+64%) 7752.4
1932 NYY AL 133 457 120 156 13 5 41 137 2 130 62 0.341 .275 (+24%) .335 (+46%) .391 (+69%) .726 (+58%) 6161.5
1933 NYY AL 137 459 97 138 21 3 34 103 4 114 90 0.301 .270 (+11%) .329 (+34%) .377 (+54%) .707 (+45%) 4623.5
1934 NYY AL 125 365 78 105 17 4 22 84 1 104 63 0.288 .278 (+3%) .340 (+32%) .392 (+37%) .733 (+34%) 3050.1
1935 BSN NL 28 72 13 13 0 0 6 12 0 20 24 0.181 .279 (-35%) .342 (+5%) .399 (+8%) .742 (+6%) 130.4

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
41 129 37 42 5 2 15 33 33 30 0.326

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1932 WS NYA 4 15 6 5 0 0 2 6 4 3 0.333
1928 WS NYA 4 16 9 10 3 0 3 4 1 2 0.625
1927 WS NYA 4 15 4 6 0 0 2 7 2 2 0.400
1926 WS NYA 7 20 6 6 0 0 4 5 11 2 0.300
1923 WS NYA 6 19 8 7 1 1 3 3 8 6 0.368
1922 WS NYA 5 17 1 2 1 0 0 1 2 3 0.118
1921 WS NYA 6 16 3 5 0 0 1 4 5 8 0.312
1918 WS BOS 3 5 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 2 0.200
1916 WS BOS 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0.000
1915 WS BOS 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
3 0 3 3 0 31.0 19 3 10 8 0.87

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1918 WS BOS 2 0 2 2 0 17.0 13 2 7 4 1.06
1916 WS BOS 1 0 1 1 0 14.0 6 1 3 4 0.64

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 32 0 248 11 9 17
OF 2241 0 4444 204 155 48
P 163 0 95 354 15 21

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1914 BOS P 4 0 0 7 0 0
1915 BOS P 32 0 17 63 2 3
1916 BOS P 44 0 24 83 3 6
1917 BOS P 41 0 19 101 2 4
1918 BOS 1B 13 0 130 6 5 8
1918 BOS OF 59 0 121 8 7 3
1918 BOS P 20 0 19 58 6 5
1919 BOS 1B 5 0 35 4 1 4
1919 BOS OF 111 0 222 14 1 6
1919 BOS P 17 0 13 35 2 1
1920 NYA 1B 2 0 10 0 1 1
1920 NYA OF 141 0 259 21 19 3
1920 NYA P 1 0 1 0 0 0
1921 NYA 1B 2 0 8 0 0 0
1921 NYA OF 152 0 348 17 13 6
1921 NYA P 2 0 1 2 0 0
1922 NYA 1B 1 0 0 0 0 0
1922 NYA OF 110 0 226 14 9 3
1923 NYA 1B 4 0 41 1 1 2
1923 NYA OF 148 0 378 20 11 2
1924 NYA OF 152 0 340 18 14 4
1925 NYA OF 98 0 207 15 6 3
1926 NYA 1B 2 0 10 0 0 2
1926 NYA OF 149 0 308 11 7 5
1927 NYA OF 151 0 328 14 13 4
1928 NYA OF 154 0 304 9 8 0
1929 NYA OF 133 0 240 5 4 2
1930 NYA OF 144 0 266 10 10 0
1930 NYA P 1 0 0 4 0 2
1931 NYA 1B 1 0 5 0 0 0
1931 NYA OF 142 0 237 5 7 2
1932 NYA 1B 1 0 3 0 0 0
1932 NYA OF 128 0 209 10 9 1
1933 NYA 1B 1 0 6 0 1 0
1933 NYA OF 132 0 215 9 7 4
1933 NYA P 1 0 1 1 0 0
1934 NYA OF 111 0 197 3 8 0
1935 BSN OF 26 0 39 1 2 0

Career Games by Position

Position Games
Pitcher 163
First Base 33
Left Field 1047
Center Field 74
Right Field 1128

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1932 Baseball Magazine All-Star RF
1931 Baseball Magazine All-Star RF
1931 Baseball Magazine All-Star RF
1931 TSN All-Star OF
1930 Baseball Magazine All-Star RF
1930 Baseball Magazine All-Star RF
1930 TSN All-Star OF
1929 Baseball Magazine All-Star RF
1929 Baseball Magazine All-Star RF
1929 TSN All-Star OF
1928 Baseball Magazine All-Star OF
1928 Baseball Magazine All-Star OF
1928 TSN All-Star OF
1927 Baseball Magazine All-Star RF
1927 Baseball Magazine All-Star LF
1927 TSN All-Star OF
1926 Baseball Magazine All-Star OF
1926 Baseball Magazine All-Star OF
1926 TSN All-Star OF
1924 Baseball Magazine All-Star RF
1924 Baseball Magazine All-Star RF
1923 Baseball Magazine All-Star OF
1923 Baseball Magazine All-Star OF
1923 Most Valuable Player
1921 Baseball Magazine All-Star OF
1921 Baseball Magazine All-Star OF
1920 Baseball Magazine All-Star OF
1920 Baseball Magazine All-Star OF
1919 Baseball Magazine All-Star OF
1919 Baseball Magazine All-Star OF
1918 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1918 Baseball Magazine All-Star P1
1916 Baseball Magazine All-Star P2

Featured In Rankings

#2
Top 30 Outfielders in History of MLB Baseball
Ranked 2 of 30
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Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1932 Most Valuable Player AL 6th 26.0 80 0
1931 Most Valuable Player AL 5th 40.0 80 0
1923 Most Valuable Player AL 1st 64.0 64 8