On January 5, 1920, the New York Yankees major league baseball club announces its purchase of the heavy-hitting outfielder George Herman “Babe” Ruth from the Boston Red Sox for the sum of $125,000.
In all, Ruth had played six seasons with the Red Sox, leading them to three World Series victories. On the mound, Ruth pitched a total of 29 2/3 scoreless World Series innings, setting a new league record that would stand for 43 years. He was fresh off a sensational 1919 season, having broken the major league home run record with 29 and led the American League with 114 runs-batted-in and 103 runs. In addition to playing more than 100 games in left field, he also went 9-5 as a pitcher. With his prodigious hitting, pitching and fielding skills, Ruth had surpassed the great Ty Cobb as baseball’s biggest attraction.
Why was Babe Ruth sold to the Yankees by the Red Sox?
Ruth, contacted in Los Angeles where Yankees manager Miller Huggins helped secure a contract that would pay the home run king $20,000 per season in 1920 and ’21, claimed to be not surprised by sale to New York, adding: “When I made my demand on the Red Sox for $20,000 a year I had an idea they would choose to sell me ..
