Babe Ruth

On February 27, 1914, at age 19, Ruth signed his first professional contract with the Baltimore Orioles of the International League (a high-level minor league). The man who signed him was Jack Dunn, a former major leaguer and the owner and manager of the Orioles. After leaving St. Mary's for good Ruth spent some time with his father before embarking with the other pitchers and catchers to Fayetteville, North Carolina for his first spring training. It was at this time the veteran Oriole players hung the name "Babe" on him, because of his youth. Yet Ruth impressed those veterans with his pitching prowess and with his hitting, especially his power. Legend has that he hit the longest home run hit in Fayetteville up to that time, some 60 feet farther than the previous local record hit by Jim Thorpe. So impressive was Ruth against major league teams that when the team returned to Baltimore to begin the season his legend had already begun.

Ruth played for three teams during the 1914 season. He spent the first half of the season with the Orioles, his 14 wins helping to lead them to first place in the International League standings. But these were the years of the Federal League, an unofficial third major league that had signed stars from the American and National leagues and even drawn players from the International League. The Federal League had placed a team in Baltimore, the Terrapins, who played across the street from Dunn's Orioles and continually outdrew them. Dunn quickly felt the financial squeeze and attempted to move his team to Richmond, Virginia, but the Virginia League demanded too high an indemnity payment. Dunn then attempted to persuade the major league owners to halt their drafting of International League players, but to no avail. His only recourse was to sell off some of his players to keep the team afloat. As a result Babe Ruth made his debut with the Boston Red Sox after only half a season of professional baseball.

Ruth was used sparingly by the Red Sox manager, Bill Carrigan, because the team already had good left-handed pitching at that time. He compiled a 2-1 record but actually did not pitch for nearly four weeks in July and August. When he did pitch he was used in two mid-season exhibition games (which he won). Yet Ruth was such a prospect that he was sent down to the minor league Providence Grays to help them win the International League pennant. After Dunn had sold his star players the Orioles had quickly fallen out of the pennant race, replaced by the Providence and Montreal teams. Ruth won nine games in less than two months for Providence (not counting an exhibition victory), and the Grays did indeed win the pennant. That season, 1914, Ruth's International League record was 23-8; his major league record was 2-1; and his exhibition record was 3-0. His total record for his first year of professional baseball was 28-9.

During his time in Boston that first season Ruth frequented Landers' Coffee Shop where he met and fell in love with a young waitress named Helen Woodford. The two were married on October 17, 1914 at St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church in Ellicott City, Maryland.

Ruth was a full-time member of the Red Sox pitching rotation in 1915 and he responded with an 18-8 record and a 2.44 earned run average (ERA). The Red Sox were the American League (AL) pennant winners, but despite his outstanding season Ruth did not pitch in the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Ruth's only appearance in the Series was a pinch hit at bat against Grover Cleveland Alexander in the first game. He grounded out to first base. Even without Ruth the Red Sox won the Series in five games.