Babe Ruth

In 1916 the Red Sox repeated as league champs with Ruth's record improving to 23-12 and a 1.75 ERA. He also pitched nine shutouts. Ruth had become the premier lefthander in the American League, and many consider him to have been the best pitcher in the league for the 1916 season. He started the second game of the World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers and went the distance in a 14-inning 2-1 pitchers' duel. After giving up an inside-the-park home run in the first inning, he pitched 13 scoreless innings. It was the only game Ruth appeared in, as the Red Sox once again won the Series in five games.

When the war in Europe, which had been raging since 1914, finally involved the United States in 1917, many ballplayers enlisted in the reserves or were subject to the military draft. For a time Ruth was exempt from the draft because he was married, but a later ruling exempted only men whose jobs were vital for the national effort, which baseball was not. He later joined a reserve unit. The Red Sox failed to win the league pennant in 1917, but Ruth's pitching continued to dominate the hitters. He posted a 24-13 record, a 2.01 ERA, and six shutouts. In an era when relief pitchers where used sparingly Ruth completed 35 of the 38 games he started that year. He also batted for a .325 average.

In 1918 the Red Sox were once again the AL pennant winners. The season was also a critical one for Ruth as it marked the beginning of his transformation from a star pitcher to a star hitter—the man who more than anyone else influenced (and some contend saved) the game of baseball. That year he started only 19 games as a pitcher, completing 18. His record was 13-7; his ERA was 2.22 and he pitched one shutout. As a batter that season, Ruth compiled 317 at-bats (his previous high was 136). He hit 11 home runs—most of them of the towering kind that sportswriters would take to describing as "Ruthian," drove in 66 runs and hit for a .300 average. What's more, Ruth made it known to his manager, Ed Barrow, that he preferred hitting to pitching. In time, the fans would agree.

In the World Series against the Chicago Cubs, Ruth was used as a pitcher (he had only five at-bats) and he responded masterfully. He won the first game 1-0, pitching a complete game. Ruth then pitched in the fourth game (the Red Sox held a 2-1 Series lead) and shutout the Cubs for seven innings before being relieved in the ninth inning. The Red Sox won the game 3-2. The seven shutout innings, combined with the nine he had pitched in the Series opener and the 13 he had pitched in the 1916 Series, gave him 29 consecutive scoreless World Series innings, a new record. Christy Mathewson had set the previous record of 28 in 1905. Of all his baseball achievements Ruth claimed he was proudest of this record.

The 1918 season had not been a rosy one for Ruth, who never really got along with manager Ed Barrow. Arguments between the two flared up often, and at one point in the season Ruth jumped the team and threatened to play for a semiprofessional team sponsored by the Chester Shipyards in Chester, Pennsylvania. But Harry Frazee, the Red Sox owner, threatened a lawsuit and Ruth came back into the fold. The following year, after Ruth threatened to punch Barrow in the nose, the manager suspended his star player. A contrite Ruth apologized and had his first important season as a hitter.

1919 was the last year Ruth pitched with any regularity, though he did compile a 5-0 record with the Yankees over the years. His indifference to pitching now showed. In 1919 Ruth appeared in only 17 games as a pitcher, 15 of which he started. He had a mediocre (for Ruth) 9-5 record, but his ERA was a respectable 2.97. He also saved a game.

As a hitter he wowed the fans. Ruth smacked a record 29 home runs and drove in 114 runs while batting .322. He also hit four grand slams (home runs with the bases loaded) that year which was another record. It stood as the AL standard for 40 years.