First Baseman Babe Ruth
Ruth played first base before he was in the outfield
First Baseman Babe Ruth
Did you know Babe Ruth was a first baseman before he was an outfielder?
It was very brief, and it was for a very specific purpose — but it’s true.
Despite his hitting achievements, Ruth was a pitcher only (and an occasional pinch hitter) from 1915 through the end of the 1917 season:
This all changed on May 6, 1918. First baseman Dick Hoblitzell, who was only two weeks away from being drafted into World War I, had a sore finger and had to miss a game.
On came the Babe — and, ironically, his opponent that day was the Yankees.
Note that Ruth hit 6th. Sure, the Babe was the leading hitter on the squad at the time, with an absolutely unbelievable batting average:
However, any experienced baseball fan will remind you that sample sizes are a thing and really do matter. There was no real reason to expect that Ruth was good enough to hit 3rd or 4th on a regular basis. In fact, up to this point Ruth had only hit 9th in his career, regardless of how many home runs he had.
The experiment was a success. Hoblitzell was back in the lineup by May 9, which was Ruth’s next start as a pitcher. And, boy oh boy, did the Babe ever deliver!
Ruth’s 5 for 5 performance in the 4th slot earned him a permanent part of the middle of the lineup — something that he held onto for years to come.
Note that this was one of the few times in major league baseball history when a pitcher started the game batting 4th.
Ruth basically turned into an everday player after that:
And the rest is history.