By Alessandro
“…and I do not mind saying I think they are taking a gamble.”
Thus was Boston Red Sox owner Harry Frazee’s assessment of Babe Ruth after trading him to the New York Yankees in 1919.
Yikes. I mean, yikes!
No doubt Frazee was trying to justify the trade in some psychological way since he could not afford the $20 000 raise Ruth was looking for. Maybe he didn’t mean what he said deep down in his heart but it still is one of the greatest gaffes in North American sports history – maybe even international sports. It was that big a deal.
The statement is made even odder considering Ruth had just completed a break through career year with 29 home runs and a .657 slugging percentage. He also chipped in with a 9-5 record pitching in 133.3 innings that year for the Sox. Incidentally, once he arrived in New york for the 1920 season, the Yankees reduced his pitching duties to the point of being insignificant – which probably contributed to his ability to become an even greater hitter. In his first year with the Yanks he belted 54 home runs with, get this, with a slugging total of .849.
Above all, he helped Boston to a World Series the year before the trade in 1918. The city of Baw-ston would not see another until 2004. He would go on to improve on those numbers even further with the Yankees setting all sorts of hitting records until 1934. He would go on to leave a cultural legacy that transcended baseball. And yes, his statistics were staggering.
It was a trade that reversed the fortunes of two franchises. Up until that point, it was Red Sox who were the premier club in the American League. After 1919. the Yankees went on to become one of the continent’s legendary and most successful franchises. What cometh uppeth musteth cometh downeth.
Years later the two teams considered another trade: Ted Williams for Joe DiMaggio.
The mind boggles on the “what ifs” had that happened.
