On January 3rd, 1920, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to Colonel Ruppert and the NY Yankees for $125,000 cash and a $350,000 loan. This deal, which much later came to be known as the “Curse of the Bambino”, changed the fate of the Yankees. Before Ruth, they hadn’t even won a pennant. When the Babe came on the scene, the Yankees won 7 pennants and 4 championships and have long continued their success with 40 pennants and 27 World Series titles today. For the Babe, he became an international star and as Babe’s daughter, Julia Ruth Stevens, has said, “Babe was made for New York and New York was made for the Babe.” Lastly, due to the 1919 Black Sox scandal, fans jaded by the fixed World Series were tempted to turn their back on baseball. When Babe was introduced to the country’s biggest stage in New York, he showed fans and the world a performance that they would never forget. In short time, hitting long balls became the game’s new strategy and the course of baseball was forever changed.
To learn more about the trade and “The Curse” visit our Legends section.
To learn more about Babe’s impact on the game visit our Legacy section.
