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Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth, b. Baltimore, Md., Feb. 6, 1895, d. Aug. 16, 1948, was one of professional baseball's greatest sluggers and probably the best-known player of the 1920s and early 1930s. As a New York Yankee, Ruth took the game out of the dead-ball era, saved it from the Black Sox scandal of 1919, and single-handedly revitalized the sport as the country's national pastime. He teamed with Lou Gehrig to form what became the greatest one-two hitting …

…shift to the outfield responded by smashing a record 54 home runs while compiling a .376 batting average. In 22 seasons with the Red Sox, Yankees, and Boston Braves, Ruth led the league in home runs a record 12 times--including 59 in 1921 and a then-record 60 in 1927. He retired in 1935 with 714 career home runs, a record not surpassed until Hank Aaron's performance in 1974. Ruth was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936 as one of the first five charter members.