This Day in Babe Ruth History: February 26th, 1935
On February 26th, 1935, the Yankees traded Ruth to the Boston Braves. Given Ruth’s age and beat up legs and knees, Yankee owner Colonel Ruppert started to look at Babe as a bit of a liability for his championship-winning team. On the other hand, the Braves’ win/loss record consistently had them in the bottom half of their league and owner Emil Fuchs was desperate for some kind of money maker. Bad knees or not, Babe could still draw the crowds. To make the deal more attractive to Ruth, he was promised a role as a team vice president and would be consulted on all club transactions, in addition to playing. He was also made assistant manager to Braves manager Bill McKechnie. In a non-legal binding letter, Fuchs had promised Ruth a share in the Braves’ profits, with the possibility of becoming co-owner of the team. Fuchs also raised the possibility of Ruth succeeding McKechnie as manager, which was what Babe was most interested in. It didn’t turn out that way, but we’ll wait to share that story at another time! Check out BRC to view a copy of Babe’s contract with the Boston Braves, signed on February 28th of that year.
1935 Bill Terry AND BABE RUTH
