Yankees Announce Purchase of Babe Ruth on January 5, 1920

On January 5, 1920, one of the most famous deals in sports history had been announced to the public. It was a deal that would forever change the fate of both franchises involved as well as put faith back into the sport that had severely weakened its image. It was on this day that the New York Yankees announced that they had purchased the rights of Babe Ruth from the Boston Red Sox for what was reported to be for $125,000.

The deal was double that of what the Cleveland Indians paid the Boston Red Sox for Tris Speaker four years earlier at a sum of $57,000.

Harry H. Frazee, who bought the Red Sox from Joe Lannin in 1916, had struggled with his own Broadway shows. Frazee would begin to take steps to afford those shows, so he decided on December 26, 1919 to sell Ruth to the Yankees. Frazee also received a $350,000 loan from Yankee owners Jake Ruppert and T.L. Huston, too.

The deal was too good to pass up for Frazee, and it was his tactic of selling players off to the Yankees that enabled him to fund his shows. But this wasn't the first time Frazee sold players for his shows to the Yankees either.

In 1918 and 1919, pitchers Dutch Leonard and Ernie Shore along with outfielder Duffy Lewis were sold to the Yankees. In the 1920s, Frazee sold Herb Pennock, Waite Hoyt, and Everett Scott to the Yankees as they all played key roles in turning that franchise into a dynasty. Also, the controversy surrounding ace pitcher Carl Mays made Frazee's decision easier to sell his best player, too.

During a game in 1919, Mays stormed off the field angered after he blamed teammates for playing bad defense that costed him wins during the season. As a result, he left the team and several teams, including the Yankees, made offers for him. But Mays never rejoined the team before a deal could be reached, and American League President Ban Johnson warned the Red Sox to not do proceed until he returned.

Frazee sold Mays to the Yankees anyway along with two other players for $75,000. Johnson then suspended Mays, and ordered the Yankees not to use him. Ruppert stepped in with a court order and Mays played. Johnson's authority was challenged, and the relationship with the owners began to really escalate negatively.

As a result of this move, Frazee, Ruppert and Huston, and even Chicago White Sox owner Charlie Comiskey threatened to bolt the American League for the Nationals. Ruppert finally got Mays reinstated in 1920, and would join the Yankees for good. But this was only part of baseball's troubles in 1919.

During the 1919 season and World Series, rumors were flying all across the country of White Sox players "fixing" games. The heavily favored White Sox lost the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds, but it was that series that gave the game a dark cloud.

Fans began to not trust the players or the game because of what happened with the controversial 1919 World Series. Eventually, eight players from the White Sox were sent to trial for "fixing" the game which led to a lifetime ban from the American League President. It was a time of turmoil for baseball, but little did anyone know that a sale of one player would boost the game to heights never seen before.

Babe Ruth, who made a very successful switch from pitcher to an everyday outfielder in Boston, had an impressive offensive season in 1919. He played in 130 games and hit 29 home runs to go along with a .322 batting average. As a pitcher, Ruth helped the Red Sox win three World Series pennants before being sold to New York. He won two games in the 1918 World Series against the Chicago Cubs.

Ruth became an instant hero for the Yankees in 1920, and began to help turn the misfortunes of an underachieving franchise around. The Yankees needed another hitter in the lineup, and Ruth more than lived up to the amount he was sold for. In his first two seasons with the Yankees, Ruth hit 113 home runs.

Ruth dominated the game with his power so much that it was common to see him out-homer teams for the season by himself. It was this dominance that gave the game much needed notoriety and an icon that the sport so desperately needed to erase the dark cloud the sport was under. Fans came in record numbers to see Ruth play, and attendance soared to unheard of heights in the 1920s.

Ruth helped the Yankees to reach the World Series seven times in his career, winning four of them. Prior to that, the Yankees never made it the postseason. Meanwhile, the Red Sox fell behind and wouldn't win another World Series until 2004. Because of this deal, many thought the "Curse of the Bambino" had plagued the Red Sox.

Nonetheless, this sale helped Frazee with his shows, but it was Ruth that helped save the game of baseball. Because of Frazee's free-dealing ways, it was the selling of his own players that caused the Red Sox to give way to the Yankees as they went on a dynasty run.

In my opinion, this sale may have been the most important deal to ever happen in not only baseball, but all of sports. Ruth became the face of baseball in the "Roaring 20s" and forever changed the thought-process of the game by making it homer-friendly.

Whether you're a Red Sox or Yankees fan or a fan of neither, Ruth impacted the game as a player like no other. Like him or not, I fail to think what the game of baseball would be like today if not for what Ruth did to help turn the fortunes around of its most famous franchise as well as steer the sport positively into a time when America reached prosperity. You would be hard-pressed to find one deal in history that had this kind of impact in any sport. As this deal proved, it's not what you pay for, it's what you get in return.

Babe Ruth photo courtesy of Wikipedia. Contract photo courtesy of Sports Illustrated Vault

Thanks for viewing, and I hope you enjoyed this history flashback!

Posted in: American League, Babe Ruth, baseball, Boston Red Sox, home run, MLB, New York, New York Yankees, World Series

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