Harry Frazee owned the Red Sox, and he produced plays. He was also always short of money. That drove Frazee to make a deal with Jacob Ruppert, the owner of the : Ruppert would pay $125,000 and provide a personal loan to Frazee, and the Yankees would get Ruth. While initially reluctant to leave Boston, Ruth signed a two-year contract with the Yankees for $10,000 a year. New York Yankees: 1920–34 Babe Ruth in 1921Babe Ruth at bat for the New York Yankees, 1921.(more)As a full-time outfielder with the Yankees, Ruth quickly established his claim on being the greatest hitter to have ever played the game. Nicknamed by sportswriters the “Sultan of Swat,” in his first season with the Yankees in 1920, he shattered his own single-season record by hitting 54 home runs, 25 more than he had hit in 1919. The next season Ruth did even better: he slammed out 59 homers and drove in 170 runs. In 1922 his salary jumped to $52,000, making him by far the highest-paid player in baseball. That summer he and his wife Helen appeared in public with a new daughter, Dorothy; only in 1980 did Dorothy learn that she had been born to Juanita Jennings, with whom Ruth had an affair. Babe Ruth in 1923Babe Ruth, 1923.(more)In 1922 Ruth’s home run totals dropped to 35, but in 1923—with the opening of the magnificent new , dubbed by a sportswriter “The House That Ruth Built”—he hit 41 home runs, batted .393, and had a record-shattering slugging percentage (total bases divided by at bats) of .764. He continued with a strong season in 1924 when he hit a league-leading 46 home runs, but in 1925, while suffering from an intestinal disorder, his offensive production declined sharply. (The cause of the disorder was, and remains, a source of speculation.) That season, while playing in only 98 games, he hit 25 home runs. Two years earlier Ruth had met and fallen in love with actress Claire Hodgson, and in 1925 he legally separated from Helen Ruth. Helen Ruth died in a fire in 1929, and Babe Ruth then married Hodgson that same year. The couple formally adopted Dorothy Ruth, and Ruth adopted Hodgson’s daughter, Julia. From 1926 through 1932, Ruth averaged 49 home runs per season, had a batting average of .353, and won three World Series. On the field during the 1926 season, Ruth returned to his old form. Indeed, in the 1926–32 seasons Ruth’s offensive output towered over all other players in the game. For those seven seasons he averaged 49 home runs per season, batted in 151 runs, and had a average of .353 while taking the Yankees to four league pennants and three . Babe Ruth in 1927Babe Ruth taking batting practice before a World Series game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in October 1927.(more)In 1927 Ruth’s salary leapt to $70,000. That season he hit 60 , a record that remained unbroken until hit 61 in 1961. (See also .) That same season Ruth teamed with to form the greatest home-run hitting duo in baseball. Ruth and Gehrig were the heart of the 1927 Yankees team—nicknamed Murderer’s Row—which is regarded by many baseball experts as the greatest team to ever play the game. The 1932 World Series revealed not only Ruth’s flair for exploiting the moment but produced his famous “called shot” home run. In the third game of the series against the , while being heckled by the Cubs bench, Ruth, according to a story whose accuracy remains in doubt to this day, responded by pointing his finger to the center-field bleachers. On the very next pitch, Ruth hit the ball precisely into that spot. Boston Braves: 1935 After 1932 Ruth’s playing skills rapidly diminished. Increasingly corpulent and slowed by age, his offensive numbers dropped sharply in both 1933 and 1934. He wanted to manage the Yankees, but Ruppert, the team’s owner, is reported to have said that Ruth could not control his own behavior, let alone that of the other players, and so refused to offer him the post. Hoping eventually to become a manager, in 1935 Ruth joined the as a player and assistant manager. But the offer to manage a big-league team never came., Ruth is regarded as one of the greatest sports heroes in American culture and is considered by many to be the greatest baseball player of all time. In 1936, Ruth was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of its "first five" inaugural members., Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Babe Ruth. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com..