A Man For All Seasons

THE RED SOX SOLD BABE RUTH TO THE YANKEES 100 YEARS AGO THIS MONTH—AND THE ONCE “HOPELESS INCORRIGIBLE” KID FROM BALTIMORE MADE BOTH THE NATIONAL PASTIME AND AMERICA BIGGER AND BETTER.

- Ron Cassie

Baltimore outfielder Johnny Honig practically sat on the rightfield fence at Oriole Park each time the Boston Red Sox’s Babe Ruth came to the plate, according to contemporary accounts. He might as well have been positioned in the front yards along Greenmount Avenue for all the good it did over the two-game exhibition series between the International League O’s and defending champion Red Sox. Just months before, with a display of World Series pitching as great as the game had ever seen, Ruth led Boston to their third title in four years, and his homecoming to Baltimore was trumpeted across the city. Not only had he established himself as baseball’s top left-handed pitcher, the rags-to-riches southpaw had begun playing the outfield between starts and socked 11 home runs the previous season, tying for the most in the Major Leagues.