Babe Ruth Debuts: Baseball's Greatest Legend Arrives
Babe Ruth was nineteen years old and barely a month out of a Baltimore reform school when he pitched six innings for the Boston Red Sox on July 11, 1914. His early career was built on pitching: he won 89 games in his first six seasons and set a World Series scoreless innings record. But Ruth's bat changed everything. After moving to the New York Yankees in 1920, he hit 54 home runs in a season when no other player hit more than 19. His 60 home runs in 1927 stood as the single-season record for 34 years. Ruth didn't just play baseball differently; he rescued the sport from the disgrace of the 1919 Black Sox scandal by giving fans something extraordinary to watch.
July 11, 1914
112 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on July 11
Western Roman Emperor Anthemius met his end at the hands of his own generals after they cornered him inside St. Peter’s Basilica. His execution shattered the la…
Byzantine Emperor Michael I steps down on July 11, 813, handing power to General Leo the Armenian before entering monastic life as Athanasius. This transfer end…
Charles the Simple granted the lower Seine valley to the Viking leader Rollo, ending decades of Norse raids in exchange for a defensive buffer against future in…
The retired emperor barricaded himself inside his own palace with just 200 warriors while his brother commanded 500 outside the gates. Sutoku had abdicated four…
Baldwin IV was diagnosed with leprosy at age nine when his tutor noticed the boy felt no pain during a game where children scratched each other's arms. He was c…
The French knights couldn't believe commoners had won. At Kortrijk on July 11, 1302, Flemish weavers and guild workers slaughtered France's armored nobility in …
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