Editing Babe Ruth (section)

===New York Yankees (1920–1934)===
====Initial success (1920–1923)====
When Ruth signed with the Yankees, his  transition from a pitcher to a power-hitting outfielder was complete. His fifteen-season Yankee career consisted of over 2,000 games, and Ruth broke many batting records while making only five widely scattered appearances on the mound, winning all of them.<ref name = "stats" />

At the end of April 1920, the Yankees were 4–7, with the Red Sox leading the league with a 10–2 mark. Ruth had done little, having injured himself swinging the bat.<ref>{{harvp|Stout|2002|p=90}}</ref> Both situations began to change on May 1, when Ruth hit a tape measure home run that sent the ball completely out of the Polo Grounds, a feat believed to have been previously accomplished only by [[Shoeless Joe Jackson]]. The Yankees won, 6–0, taking three out of four from the Red Sox.<ref>{{harvp|Reisler|2004|pp=74–75}}</ref> Ruth hit his second home run on May 2, and by the end of the month had set a major league record for home runs in a month with 11, and promptly broke it with 13 in June.<ref>{{harvp|Montville|2006|pp=112–113}}</ref> Fans responded with record attendance figures. On May 16, Ruth and the Yankees drew 38,600 to the Polo Grounds, a record for the ballpark, and 15,000 fans were turned away. Large crowds jammed stadiums to see Ruth play when the Yankees were on the road.<ref>{{harvp|Creamer|1992|p=225}}</ref>

[[File:Harding Cox and Ruth.jpg|thumb|left|"How Does He Do It?" In this [[Clifford Berryman]] cartoon, presidential candidates [[Warren G. Harding]] and [[James M. Cox]] wonder at Ruth's record home run pace.]]
The home runs kept on coming. Ruth tied his own record of 29 on July 15 and broke it with home runs in both games of a doubleheader four days later. By the end of July, he had 37, but his pace slackened somewhat after that.<ref>{{harvp|Creamer|1992|p=226}}</ref> Nevertheless, on September 4, he both tied and broke the organized baseball record for home runs in a season, snapping [[Perry Werden]]'s 1895 mark of 44 in the minor [[Western League (original)|Western League]].<ref>{{harvp|Wagenheim|1974|p=75}}</ref> The Yankees played well as a team, battling for the league lead early in the summer, but slumped in August in the AL pennant battle with Chicago and Cleveland. The pennant and the [[1920 World Series|World Series]] were won by Cleveland, who surged ahead after the [[Black Sox Scandal]] broke on September 28 and led to the suspension of many of Chicago's top players, including Shoeless Joe Jackson. The Yankees finished third, but drew 1.2&nbsp;million fans to the Polo Grounds, the first time a team had drawn a seven-figure attendance. The rest of the league sold 600,000 more tickets, many fans there to see Ruth, who led the league with 54 home runs, 158 [[Run (baseball)|runs]], and 137 [[runs batted in]] (RBIs).<ref>{{harvp|Stout|2002|p=92}}</ref>

In 1920 and afterwards, Ruth was aided in his power hitting by the fact that [[Al Reach|A.J. Reach Company]]—the maker of baseballs used in the major leagues—was using a more efficient machine to wind the yarn found within the baseball. The new baseballs went into play in 1920 and ushered the start of the [[live-ball era]]; the number of home runs across the major leagues increased by 184 over the previous year.<ref>{{harvp|Reisler|2004|pp=100–101}}</ref> Baseball statistician [[Bill James]] pointed out that while Ruth was likely aided by the change in the baseball, there were other factors at work, including the gradual abolition of the [[spitball]] (accelerated after the death of [[Ray Chapman]], struck by a pitched ball thrown by Mays in August 1920) and the more frequent use of new baseballs (also a response to Chapman's death). Nevertheless, James theorized that Ruth's 1920 explosion might have happened in 1919, had a full season of 154 games been played rather than 140, had Ruth refrained from pitching 133 innings that season, and if he were playing at any other home field but Fenway Park, where he hit only 9 of 29 home runs.<ref>{{harvp|James|2003|pp=120–122}}</ref>

[[File:1920 Babe Ruth and Shoeless Joe.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Ruth and [[Shoeless Joe Jackson]] looking at one of Ruth's home run bats, 1920]]
Yankees business manager Harry Sparrow had died early in the 1920 season. Ruppert and Huston hired Barrow to replace him.<ref>{{harvp|Stout|2002|p=93}}</ref> The two men quickly made a deal with Frazee for New York to acquire some of the players who would be mainstays of the early Yankee pennant-winning teams, including catcher [[Wally Schang]] and pitcher [[Waite Hoyt]].<ref>{{harvp|Creamer|1992|p=131}}</ref> The 21-year-old Hoyt became close to Ruth:
{{blockquote|The outrageous life fascinated Hoyt, the don't-give-a-shit freedom of it, the nonstop, pell-mell charge into excess. How did a man drink so much and never get drunk?{{nbsp}}... The puzzle of Babe Ruth never was dull, no matter how many times Hoyt picked up the pieces and stared at them. After games he would follow the crowd to the Babe's suite. No matter what the town, the beer would be iced and the bottles would fill the bathtub.<ref>{{harvp|Montville|2006|p=156}}</ref>
}}

In the offseason, Ruth spent some time in [[Havana]], Cuba, where he was said to have lost $35,000 ({{Inflation|US|35000|1921|fmt=eq|r=-4}}) betting on horse races.<ref>{{cite news |author1=Special to the New York Times |title=Says Ruth Lost $35,000 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1921/01/01/103526324.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221031164944/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1921/01/01/103526324.pdf |archive-date=October 31, 2022 |url-status=live |access-date=December 1, 2022 |work=The New York Times |volume=LXX|issue=22,988 |date=January 1, 1921 |page=20}}</ref>

Ruth hit home runs early and often in the 1921 season, during which he broke [[Roger Connor]]'s mark for home runs in a career, 138. Each of the almost 600 home runs Ruth hit in his career after that extended his own record. After a slow start, the Yankees were soon locked in a tight pennant race with Cleveland, winners of the [[1920 World Series]]. On September 15, Ruth hit his 55th home run, breaking his year-old single-season record. In late September, the Yankees visited Cleveland and won three out of four games, giving them the upper hand in the race, and clinched their first pennant a few days later. Ruth finished the regular season with 59 home runs, batting .378 and with a [[slugging percentage]] of .846.<ref>{{harvp|Creamer|1992|pp=204, 238–240}}</ref> Ruth's 177 runs scored, 119 extra-base hits, and 457 total bases set modern-era records that still stand {{as of|lc=y|2024}}.<ref>{{cite web|title=Single-Season Leaders & Records for Runs Scored|website=[[Baseball Reference]]|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/R_season.shtml|access-date=June 19, 2021|archive-date=June 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210604133003/https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/R_season.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Single-Season Leaders & Records for Extra Base Hits|website=[[Baseball Reference]]|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/XBH_season.shtml|access-date=June 19, 2021|archive-date=June 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210618115256/https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/XBH_season.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Single-Season Leaders & Records for Total Bases|website=[[Baseball Reference]]|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/TB_season.shtml|access-date=June 19, 2021|archive-date=January 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126144612/http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/TB_season.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Yankees had high expectations when they met the [[New York Giants (NL)|New York Giants]] in the [[1921 World Series]], every game of which was played in the Polo Grounds. The Yankees won the first two games with Ruth in the lineup. However, Ruth badly scraped his elbow during Game 2 when he slid into third base (he had walked and [[stolen base|stolen]] both second and third bases). After the game, he was told by the team physician not to play the rest of the series.<ref>{{harvp|Spatz|Steinberg|2010|p=355}}</ref> Despite this advice, he did play in the next three games, and pinch-hit in Game Eight of the best-of-nine series, but the Yankees lost, five games to three. Ruth hit .316, drove in five runs and hit his first World Series home run.<ref name="stats" /><ref>{{harvp|Wagenheim|1974|pp=95–96}}</ref><ref>{{harvp|Creamer|1992|pp=241–243}}</ref>

[[File:Babe Ruth in Stands.jpg|thumb|Ruth in the stands on Opening Day, April 12, 1922, at [[Griffith Stadium]] in Washington, D.C.]]
After the Series, Ruth and teammates [[Bob Meusel]] and [[Bill Piercy]] participated in a [[barnstorm (athletics)|barnstorming]] tour in the Northeast.<ref>{{harvp|Montville|2006|pp=142–144}}</ref> A rule then in force prohibited World Series participants from playing in exhibition games during the offseason, the purpose being to prevent Series participants from replicating the Series and undermining its value. [[Baseball Commissioner]] [[Kenesaw Mountain Landis]] suspended the trio until May 20, 1922, and fined them their 1921 World Series checks.<ref>{{harvp|Montville|2006|p=145}}</ref> In August 1922, the rule was changed to allow limited barnstorming for World Series participants, with Landis's permission required.<ref name="p239">{{harvp|Pietrusza|1998|p=239}}</ref>

On March 4, 1922, Ruth signed a new contract for three years at $52,000 a year<ref>"Babe Ruth Signs for Three Years at Toss of a Coin", ''The New York Times'', March 6, 1922, p. 1.</ref> ({{Inflation|US|52000|1922|fmt=eq|r=-4}}). This was more than two times the largest sum ever paid to a ballplayer up to that point and it represented 40% of the team's player payroll.<ref name="p239" /><ref name="haupert">{{cite news |last1=Haupert |first1=Michael |title=MLB's annual salary leaders since 1874 |url=https://sabr.org/research/mlbs-annual-salary-leaders-1874-2012 |access-date=November 13, 2019 |publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191004175317/https://sabr.org/research/mlbs-annual-salary-leaders-1874-2012 |archive-date=October 4, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Despite his suspension, Ruth was named the Yankees' new on-field captain prior to the [[1922 New York Yankees season|1922 season]]. During the suspension, he worked out with the team in the morning and played exhibition games with the Yankees on their off days.<ref>{{harvp|Creamer|1992|p=255}}</ref> He and Meusel returned on May 20 to a sellout crowd at the Polo Grounds, but Ruth batted 0-for-4 and was booed.<ref>{{harvp|Pietrusza|1998|p=240}}</ref> On May 25, he was thrown out of the game for throwing dust in umpire [[George Hildebrand]]'s face, then climbed into the stands to confront a heckler. Ban Johnson ordered him fined, suspended, and stripped of position as team captain.<ref>{{harvp|Creamer|1992|pp=258–259}}</ref> In his shortened season, Ruth appeared in 110 games, batted .315, with 35 home runs, and drove in 99 runs,<ref name="stats" /> but the 1922 season was a disappointment in comparison to his two previous dominating years. Despite Ruth's off-year, the Yankees managed to win the pennant and faced the New York Giants in the [[1922 World Series|World Series]] for the second consecutive year. In the Series, Giants manager John McGraw instructed his pitchers to throw him nothing but curveballs, and Ruth never adjusted. Ruth had just two hits in 17 at bats, and the Yankees lost to the Giants for the second straight year, by 4–0 (with one tie game). Sportswriter [[Joe Vila]] called him, "an exploded phenomenon".<ref>{{harvp|Stout|2002|pp=103–104}}</ref>

After the season, Ruth was a guest at an [[Elks Club]] banquet, set up by Ruth's agent with Yankee team support. There, each speaker, concluding with future New York mayor [[Jimmy Walker]], censured him for his poor behavior. An emotional Ruth promised reform, and, to the surprise of many, followed through. When he reported to spring training, he was in his best shape as a Yankee, weighing only {{convert|210|lb}}.<ref name="s104">{{harvp|Stout|2002|p=104}}</ref>

[[File:Babe ruth first homerun yankee stadium.jpg|thumb|left|Babe Ruth hits the first home run at Yankee Stadium, April 18, 1923]]
The Yankees' status as tenants of the Giants at the Polo Grounds had become increasingly uneasy, and in 1922, Giants owner [[Charles Stoneham]] said the Yankees' lease, expiring after that season, would not be renewed. Ruppert and Huston had long contemplated a new stadium, and had taken an option on property at 161st Street and River Avenue in [[the Bronx]]. [[Yankee Stadium (1923)|Yankee Stadium]] was completed in time for the home opener on April 18, 1923,<ref>Graham, pp. 75–76</ref> at which Ruth hit the first home run in what was quickly dubbed "the House that Ruth Built".<ref name="s105">{{harvp|Stout|2002|p=105}}</ref> The ballpark was designed with Ruth in mind: although the venue's left-field fence was further from home plate than at the Polo Grounds, Yankee Stadium's right-field fence was closer, making home runs easier to hit for left-handed batters. To spare Ruth's eyes, right field—his defensive position—was not pointed into the afternoon sun, as was traditional; left fielder Meusel soon developed headaches from squinting toward home plate.<ref name="s104" />

During the 1923 season, the Yankees were never seriously challenged and won the AL pennant by 17 games. Ruth finished the season with a career-high .393 batting average and 41 home runs, which tied [[Cy Williams]] for the most in the major-leagues that year. Ruth hit a career-high 45 doubles in 1923, and he reached base 379 times, then a major league record.<ref name="s105" /> For the third straight year, the Yankees faced the Giants in the [[1923 World Series|World Series]], which Ruth dominated. He batted .368, walked eight times, scored eight runs, hit three home runs and slugged 1.000 during the series, as the Yankees christened their new stadium with their first World Series championship, four games to two.<ref name="stats" /><ref name="s105" />

====Batting title and "bellyache" (1924–1925)====
[[File:Babe Ruth Knocked Out (retouched).jpg|thumb|Ruth after losing consciousness from running into the wall at [[Griffith Stadium]] during a game against the [[Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senators]] on July 5, 1924. Ruth insisted on staying in the game despite evident pain and a bruised pelvic bone. He hit a double in his next at-bat. Note the absence of a warning track along the outfield wall.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=May 16, 2014|title=Babe Ruth Knocked Out|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/17/upshot/babe-ruth-unconscious.html|last=Beschloss|first=Michael|access-date=January 31, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180219105342/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/17/upshot/babe-ruth-unconscious.html|archive-date=February 19, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>]]

In 1924, the Yankees were favored to become the first team to win four consecutive pennants. Plagued by injuries, they found themselves in a battle with the Senators. Although the Yankees won 18 of 22 at one point in September, the Senators beat out the Yankees by two games. Ruth hit .378, winning his only AL [[List of Major League Baseball batting champions|batting title]], with a league-leading 46 home runs.<ref>{{harvp|Graham|1943|pp=101–102}}</ref>

Ruth did not look like an athlete; he was described as "toothpicks attached to a piano", with a big upper body but thin wrists and legs.{{r|menand20200525}} Ruth had kept up his efforts to stay in shape in 1923 and 1924, but by early 1925 weighed nearly {{convert|260|lb}}. His annual visit to [[Hot Springs, Arkansas]], where he exercised and took saunas early in the year, did him no good as he spent much of the time carousing in the resort town. He became ill while there, and relapsed during spring training. Ruth collapsed in [[Asheville, North Carolina]], as the team journeyed north. He was put on a train for New York, where he was briefly hospitalized.<ref name="s112">{{harvp|Stout|2002|p=112}}</ref> A rumor circulated that he had died, prompting British newspapers to print [[List of premature obituaries|a premature obituary]].<ref>{{harvp|Montville|2006|p=202}}</ref> In New York, Ruth collapsed again and was found unconscious in his hotel bathroom. He was taken to a hospital where he had multiple convulsions.<ref>{{harvp|Montville|2006|p=203}}</ref> After sportswriter [[W. O. McGeehan]] wrote that Ruth's illness was due to binging on hot dogs and soda pop before a game, it became known as "the bellyache heard 'round the world".<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=233980 |title=Freak sports injuries: Now that's a bad break! |last=McCoppin |first=Robert |date=September 11, 2008 |work=Daily Herald |access-date=August 31, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609022404/http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=233980 |archive-date=June 9, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> However, the exact cause of his ailment has never been confirmed and remains a mystery.<ref>{{harvp|Montville|2006|p=204}}</ref> Glenn Stout, in his history of the Yankees, writes that the Ruth legend is "still one of the most sheltered in sports"; he suggests that alcohol was at the root of Ruth's illness, pointing to the fact that Ruth remained six weeks at [[St. Vincent's Hospital (Manhattan)|St. Vincent's Hospital]] but was allowed to leave, under supervision, for workouts with the team for part of that time. He concludes that the hospitalization was behavior-related.<ref>{{harvp|Stout|2002|pp=112–113}}</ref> Playing just 98 games, Ruth had his worst season as a Yankee; he finished with a .290 average and 25 home runs. The Yankees finished next to last in the AL with a 69–85 record, their last season with a losing record until 1965.<ref>{{harvp|Stout|2002|pp=113, 460–462}}</ref>

====Murderers' Row (1926–1928)====
[[File:Babecomeshome-poster-1927.jpg|upright|thumb|Ruth took time off in 1927 to star with [[Anna Q. Nilsson]] in this [[First National Pictures|First National]] [[silent film|silent]] production ''[[Babe Comes Home]]''. This film is now [[lost film|lost]]. ]]
Ruth spent part of the offseason of 1925–26 working out at [[Artie McGovern]]'s gym, where he got back into shape. Barrow and Huggins had rebuilt the team and surrounded the veteran core with good young players like [[Tony Lazzeri]] and [[Lou Gehrig]], but the Yankees were not expected to win the pennant.<ref>{{harvp|Stout|2002|pp=116–117}}</ref>

Ruth returned to his normal production during 1926, when he batted .372 with 47 home runs and 146 RBIs.<ref name = "stats" /> The Yankees built a 10-game lead by mid-June and coasted to win the pennant by three games. The [[St. Louis Cardinals]] had won the National League with the lowest winning percentage for a pennant winner to that point (.578) and the Yankees were expected to win the [[1926 World Series|World Series]] easily.<ref>{{harvp|Creamer|1992|pp=304–305}}</ref> Although the Yankees won the opener in New York, St. Louis took Games Two and Three. In Game Four, Ruth hit three home runs—the first time this had been done in a World Series game—to lead the Yankees to victory. In the fifth game, Ruth caught a ball as he crashed into the fence. The play was described by baseball writers as a defensive gem. New York took that game, but [[Grover Cleveland Alexander]] won Game Six for St. Louis to tie the Series at three games each, then got very drunk. He was nevertheless inserted into Game Seven in the seventh inning and shut down the Yankees to win the game, 3–2, and win the Series.<ref>{{harvp|Wagenheim|1974|pp=154–155}}</ref> Ruth had hit his fourth home run of the Series earlier in the game and was the only Yankee to reach base off Alexander; he walked in the ninth inning before being thrown out to end the game when he attempted to steal second base. Although Ruth's attempt to steal second is often deemed a baserunning blunder, Creamer pointed out that the Yankees' chances of tying the game would have been greatly improved with a runner in scoring position.<ref>{{harvp|Creamer|1992|p=306}}</ref>

The 1926 World Series was also known for Ruth's promise to [[Johnny Sylvester]], a hospitalized 11-year-old boy. Ruth promised the child that he would hit a home run on his behalf. Sylvester had been injured in a fall from a horse, and a friend of Sylvester's father gave the boy two autographed baseballs signed by Yankees and Cardinals. The friend relayed a promise from Ruth (who did not know the boy) that he would hit a home run for him. After the Series, Ruth visited the boy in the hospital. When the matter became public, the press greatly inflated it, and by some accounts, Ruth allegedly saved the boy's life by visiting him, emotionally promising to hit a home run, and doing so.<ref>{{harvp|Creamer|1992|pp=327–328}}</ref> Ruth's 1926 salary of $52,000 was far more than any other baseball player, but he made at least twice as much in other income, including $100,000 from 12 weeks of [[vaudeville]].{{r|menand20200525}}

The 1927 New York Yankees team is considered one of the greatest squads to ever take the field. Known as [[Murderers' Row]] because of the power of its lineup,<ref>{{harvp|Stout|2002|pp=126–131}}</ref> the team clinched first place on Labor Day, won a then-AL-record 110 games and took the AL pennant by 19 games.<ref>{{harvp|Graham|1943|pp=127–134}}</ref> There was no suspense in the pennant race, and the nation turned its attention to Ruth's pursuit of his own single-season home run record of 59 round trippers. Ruth was not alone in this chase. Teammate Lou Gehrig proved to be a slugger who was capable of challenging Ruth for his home run crown; he tied Ruth with 24 home runs late in June. Through July and August, the dynamic duo was never separated by more than two home runs. Gehrig took the lead, 45–44, in the first game of a doubleheader at Fenway Park early in September; Ruth responded with two blasts of his own to take the lead, as it proved permanently—Gehrig finished with 47. Even so, as of September 6, Ruth was still several games off his 1921 pace, and going into the final series against the Senators, had only 57. He hit two in the first game of the series, including one off of [[Paul Hopkins (baseball)|Paul Hopkins]], facing his first major league batter, to tie the record. The following day, September 30, he broke it with his 60th homer, in the eighth inning off [[Tom Zachary]] to break a 2–2 tie. "Sixty! Let's see some son of a bitch try to top that one", Ruth exulted after the game.<ref>{{harvp|Montville|2006|pp=255–261}}</ref> In addition to his career-high 60 home runs, Ruth batted .356, drove in 164 runs and slugged .772.<ref name = "stats" /> In the [[1927 World Series]], the Yankees swept the [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] in four games; the National Leaguers were disheartened after watching the Yankees take batting practice before Game One, with ball after ball leaving [[Forbes Field]].<ref>{{harvp|Graham|1943|pp=134–137}}</ref> According to Appel, "The 1927 New York Yankees. Even today, the words inspire awe{{nbsp}}... all baseball success is measured against the '27 team."<ref>{{harvp|Appel|2012|p=151}}</ref>

[[File:1928 Gehrig Speaker Cobb Ruth.jpg|thumb|[[Lou Gehrig]], [[Tris Speaker]], [[Ty Cobb]], and Ruth, 1928]]
The following season started off well for the Yankees, who led the league in the early going. But the Yankees were plagued by injuries, erratic pitching and inconsistent play. The [[Philadelphia Athletics]], rebuilding after some lean years, erased the Yankees' big lead and even took over first place briefly in early September. The Yankees, however, regained first place when they beat the Athletics three out of four games in a pivotal series at Yankee Stadium later that month, and clinched the pennant in the final weekend of the season.<ref>{{harvp|Graham|1943|pp=144–146}}</ref> Ruth's play in 1928 mirrored his team's performance. He got off to a hot start and on August 1, he had 42 home runs. This put him ahead of his 60 home run pace from the previous season. He then slumped for the latter part of the season, and he hit just twelve home runs in the last two months. Ruth's batting average also fell to .323, well below his career average. Nevertheless, he ended the season with 54 home runs. The Yankees swept the favored Cardinals in four games in the [[1928 World Series|World Series]], with Ruth batting .625 and hitting three home runs in Game Four, including one off Alexander.<ref name = "stats" /><ref>{{harvp|Montville|2006|pp=273–277}}</ref>

===="Called shot" and final Yankee years (1929–1934)====
{{Further|Babe Ruth's called shot}}
[[File:1933 Goudey Sport Kings 02 Babe Ruth.jpg|thumb|upright|right|1933 Goudey Sport Kings baseball card]]

Before the 1929 season, Ruppert (who had bought out Huston in 1923) announced that the Yankees would wear uniform numbers to allow fans at cavernous Yankee Stadium to easily identify the players. The Cardinals and Indians had each experimented with uniform numbers; the Yankees were the first to use them on both home and away uniforms. Ruth batted third and was given number 3.<ref>{{harvp|Appel|2012|pp=162–163}}</ref> According to a long-standing baseball legend, the Yankees adopted their now-iconic pinstriped uniforms in hopes of making Ruth look slimmer.<ref name = "sh9">{{harvp|Sherman|2014|p=9}}</ref> In truth, though, they had been wearing pinstripes since 1915.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Edmondson |first=Rubie |url=http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/04/yankees-pinstripes-origin-babe-ruth |title=The Yankees permanently adopted pinstripes 98 years ago today |work=USA Today |date=April 22, 2013 |access-date=February 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106205229/https://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/04/yankees-pinstripes-origin-babe-ruth |archive-date=November 6, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Although the Yankees started well, the Athletics soon proved they were the better team in 1929, splitting two series with the Yankees in the first month of the season, then taking advantage of a Yankee losing streak in mid-May to gain first place. Although Ruth performed well, the Yankees were not able to catch the Athletics—Connie Mack had built another great team.<ref>{{harvp|Stout|2002|pp=140–141}}</ref> Tragedy struck the Yankees late in the year as manager Huggins died at 51 of [[erysipelas]], a bacterial skin infection, on September 25, only ten days after he had last directed the team. Despite their past differences, Ruth praised Huggins and described him as a "great guy".<ref>{{harvp|Appel|2012|pp=164–165}}</ref> The Yankees finished second, 18 games behind the Athletics.<ref name="s461"/> Ruth hit .345 during the season, with 46 home runs and 154 RBIs.<ref name = "stats" />

{{quote box
| align = right
| width = 24em
| salign = right
| quote = A few seasons ago I used a 54 ounce bat, long and with the weight well at the end. Now I'm using a 46 ounce club--and each season when I have a new set of bats made, I have an additional ounce taken off.
| source = Ruth in ''Babe Ruth's Own Book of Baseball'' (1928), p. 171}}
On October 17, the Yankees hired [[Bob Shawkey]] as manager; he was their fourth choice.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ocdKAAAAIBAJ&pg=948%2C6044172 |title=Bob Shawkey Is Named Manager of the Yankees: Veteran Pitcher Gets Job When Fletcher Prefers to Remain as Coach of Club; Appointment of Shawkey Comes as Surprise in Baseball Circles, Where Three Others Were Predicted |last=Chipman |first=William J. |date=October 18, 1929 |work=The Schenectady Gazette |access-date=November 23, 2016 |agency=Associated Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328063621/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ocdKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xegMAAAAIBAJ&pg=948%2C6044172 |archive-date=March 28, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> Ruth had politicked for the job of player-manager, but Ruppert and Barrow never seriously considered him for the position. Stout deemed this the first hint Ruth would have no future with the Yankees once he retired as a player.<ref>{{harvp|Stout|2002|p=143}}</ref> Shawkey, a former Yankees player and teammate of Ruth, would prove unable to command Ruth's respect.<ref name=GS144>{{harvp|Stout|2002|p=144}}</ref>

On January 7, 1930, salary negotiations between the Yankees and Ruth quickly broke down. Having just concluded a three-year contract at an annual salary of $70,000, Ruth promptly rejected both the Yankees' initial proposal of $70,000 for one year and their 'final' offer of two years at seventy-five—the latter figure equaling the annual salary of then US President [[Herbert Hoover]]; instead, Ruth demanded at least $85,000 and three years.<ref name="BRPrezQuote">{{Cite news |url=http://www.mediafire.com/view/mbioqflkxsmp4cb/Vidmer%2C%20Richards.%20Yanks%20Refuse%20Ruth%27s%20Demand%20for%20a%20Hundred%20Thousand.%20The%20New%20York%20Herald%20Tribune.%20Wednesday%2C%20January%208%2C%201930..jpg |title=Yanks Refuse Ruth's Demand For $100,000; Star Asks That Figure On 3-Year Contract or $85,000 and No Exhibitions |last=Vidmer |first=Richards |date=January 8, 1930 |work=The New York Herald Tribune |access-date=November 23, 2016 |archive-date=July 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726124340/http://www.mediafire.com/view/mbioqflkxsmp4cb/Vidmer%2C%20Richards.%20Yanks%20Refuse%20Ruth%27s%20Demand%20for%20a%20Hundred%20Thousand.%20The%20New%20York%20Herald%20Tribune.%20Wednesday%2C%20January%208%2C%201930..jpg |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7SpPAAAAIBAJ&pg=6185%2C2468109 |title=Babe Ruth Refuses to Sign $75,000 Contract: Asks for Long Term Contract at Huge Figure |last=Bell |first=Brian |date=January 8, 1930 |work=The St. Petersburg Times |access-date=November 23, 2016 |agency=Associated Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170328055401/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7SpPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=400DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6185%2C2468109 |archive-date=March 28, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.mediafire.com/view/7ae5q7cdyiuqdv0/Reuters.%20Baseball%E2%80%94Babe%20Ruth%27s%20Earnings.%20The%20Scotsman.%20January%208%2C%201930.jpg|title=Baseball: Babe Ruth's Earnings|work=The Scotsman|agency=Reuters|date=January 8, 1930|access-date=November 23, 2016|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726122429/http://www.mediafire.com/view/7ae5q7cdyiuqdv0/Reuters.%20Baseball%E2%80%94Babe%20Ruth%27s%20Earnings.%20The%20Scotsman.%20January%208%2C%201930.jpg|url-status=live}}</ref> When asked why he thought he was "worth more than the President of the United States," Ruth responded: "Say, if I hadn't been sick last summer, I'd have broken hell out of that home run record! Besides, the President gets a four-year contract. I'm only asking for three."<ref name="BRPrezQuote" /> Exactly two months later, a compromise was reached, with Ruth settling for two years at an unprecedented $80,000 per year.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=djft3U1LymYC&dat=19300308&printsec=frontpage|title=Ruth Accepts $80,000 Contract|work=The Pittsburgh Press|author=United Press|date=March 8, 1930|access-date=November 23, 2016|archive-date=February 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224232216/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=djft3U1LymYC&dat=19300308&printsec=frontpage|url-status=live}}</ref> Ruth's salary was more than 2.4 times greater than the next-highest salary that season, a record margin {{as of|2025|lc=y}}.<ref name="haupert" /><ref>{{Cite web |last= |title=2025 MLB Salary Rankings |url=https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/rankings/player/_/year/2025/sort/contract_average |access-date=2025-03-17 |website=Spotrac}}</ref>

In 1930, Ruth hit .359 with 49 home runs (his best in his years after 1928) and 153 RBIs, and pitched his first game in nine years, a complete game victory.<ref name = "stats" /> Nevertheless, the Athletics won their second consecutive pennant and [[1930 World Series|World Series]], as the Yankees finished in third place, sixteen games back.<ref name=GS144/> At the end of the season, Shawkey was fired and replaced with Cubs manager [[Joe McCarthy (baseball manager)|Joe McCarthy]], though Ruth again unsuccessfully sought the job.<ref>{{harvp|Montville|2006|pp=303}}</ref>

McCarthy was a disciplinarian, but chose not to interfere with Ruth, who did not seek conflict with the manager.<ref>{{harvp|Montville|2006|pp=304}}</ref> The team improved in 1931, but was no match for the Athletics, who won 107 games, {{frac|13|1|2}} games in front of the Yankees.<ref name = "s148">{{harvp|Stout|2002|p=148}}</ref> Ruth, for his part, hit .373, with 46 home runs and 163 RBIs. He had 31 doubles, his most since 1924.<ref name = "stats" /> In the 1932 season, the Yankees went 107–47 and won the pennant.<ref name = "s148" /> Ruth's effectiveness had decreased somewhat, but he still hit .341 with 41 home runs and 137 RBIs.<ref name = "stats" /> Nevertheless, he was sidelined twice because of injuries during the season.<ref>{{harvp|Sherman|2014|p=41}}</ref>

The Yankees faced the Cubs, McCarthy's former team, in the [[1932 World Series]].<ref>{{harvp|Appel|2012|p=177}}</ref> There was bad blood between the two teams as the Yankees resented the Cubs only awarding [[Major League Baseball postseason#Postseason bonuses|half a World Series share]] to [[Mark Koenig]], a former Yankee. The games at Yankee Stadium had not been sellouts; both were won by the home team, with Ruth collecting two singles, but scoring four runs as he was walked four times by the Cubs pitchers. In Chicago, Ruth was resentful at the hostile crowds that met the Yankees' train and jeered them at the hotel. The crowd for Game Three included New York Governor [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], the Democratic candidate for president, who sat with Chicago Mayor [[Anton Cermak]]. Many in the crowd threw lemons at Ruth, a sign of derision, and others (as well as the Cubs themselves) shouted abuse at Ruth and other Yankees. They were briefly silenced when Ruth hit a three-run home run off [[Charlie Root]] in the first inning, but soon revived, and the Cubs tied the score at 4–4 in the fourth inning, partly due to Ruth's fielding error in the outfield. When Ruth came to the plate in the top of the fifth, the Chicago crowd and players, led by pitcher [[Guy Bush]], were screaming insults at Ruth. With the [[Count (baseball)|count]] at two balls and one strike, Ruth gestured, possibly in the direction of [[center fielder|center field]], and after the next pitch (a strike), may have pointed there with one hand. Ruth hit the fifth pitch over the center field fence; estimates were that it traveled nearly {{convert|500|ft}}. Whether or not Ruth intended to indicate where he planned to (and did) hit the ball ([[Charlie Devens]], who, in 1999, was interviewed as Ruth's surviving teammate in that game, did not think so), the incident has gone down in legend as [[Babe Ruth's called shot]].<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{harvp|Sherman|2014|pp=69–87}}</ref> The Yankees won Game Three, and the following day clinched the Series with another victory.<ref>{{harvp|Montville|2006|pp=311}}</ref> During that game, Bush hit Ruth on the arm with a pitch, causing words to be exchanged and provoking a game-winning Yankee rally.<ref>{{harvp|Creamer|1992|p=362}}</ref>

Ruth remained productive in 1933. He batted .301, with 34 home runs, 103 RBIs, and a league-leading 114 walks,<ref name = "stats" /> as the Yankees finished in second place, seven games behind the Senators.<ref name = "s461" /> Athletics manager [[Connie Mack]] selected him to play right field in the first [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game]], held on July 6, 1933, at [[Comiskey Park]] in Chicago. He hit the first home run in the All-Star Game's history, a two-run blast against [[Bill Hallahan]] during the third inning, which helped the AL win the game 4–2.<ref>{{harvp|Creamer|1992|p=371}}</ref> During the final game of the 1933 season, as a publicity stunt organized by his team, Ruth was called upon and pitched a complete game victory against the Red Sox, his final appearance as a pitcher.<ref>{{harvp|Creamer|1992|pp=371–372}}</ref> Despite unremarkable pitching numbers, Ruth had a 5–0 record in five games for the Yankees, raising his career totals to 94–46.<ref name = "stats" />

In 1934, Ruth played in his last full season with the Yankees. By this time, years of high living were starting to catch up with him. His conditioning had deteriorated to the point that he could no longer field or run.<ref name=Neyer42>{{harvp|Neyer|2000|p=42}}</ref> He accepted a pay cut to $35,000 from Ruppert, but he was still the highest-paid player in the major leagues.<ref>{{harvp|Wagenheim|1974|p=221}}</ref> He could still handle a bat, recording a .288 batting average with 22 home runs,<ref name="Reisler256"/> and on July 13, 1934, he hit his 700th career home run.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/july-13-1934-the-babe-bashes-700th-career-home-run/ |title=July 13, 1934: The Babe bashes 700th career home run |last=Larkin |first=Kevin |date= |website=Society for American Baseball Research |access-date=December 30, 2024 |quote=}}</ref> However, Reisler described these statistics as "merely mortal" by Ruth's previous standards.<ref name="Reisler256">{{harvp|Reisler|2004|p=256}}</ref> Ruth was selected to the AL All-Star team for the second consecutive year, even though he was in the twilight of his career. During the game, New York Giants pitcher [[Carl Hubbell]] struck out Ruth and four other future [[Baseball Hall of Fame|Hall-of-Famers]] consecutively.<ref>{{harvp|Appel|2012|p=170}}</ref> The Yankees finished second again, seven games behind the Tigers.<ref name = "s461" >{{harvp|Stout|2002|p=461}}</ref>