Baseball History: Babe Ruth could have had another legacy
Babe Ruth made a mark on baseball history. If he had a chance to manage, that mark may have been even greater.
There is no question that Babe Ruth made a major impression on baseball history. He singlehandedly changed the game, changing baseball from being more contact and speed oriented into a game where power hitters could thrive. Ruth hit home runs at a never before seen clip, his powerful swing making him an instant legend. To his day, his feats with the lumber lead to impressive power displays being called Ruthian in nature.
Yet, for all of his accomplishments on the diamond, there was one area where Ruth was unable to succeed. He desperately wanted to manage, lobbying for years to become the manager of the New York Yankees. When he was sent to the Boston Braves, it was with the understanding that he would eventually take over the reins of the team. However, that proved to be yet another hollow promise made by Judge Emil Fuchs, who regarded the faded Bambino as a box office drawing card and nothing more.
When Ruth passed away in 1948, he had been unable to fulfill that dream of managing. While the general line was that he was not serious enough to be a manager, there may have been other forces at work. As Ruth’s daughter, Julia Ruth Stevens, said in an interview back in 2014, Ruth would have looked to integrate the game had he been given the chance to skipper a franchise.
“Daddy would have had blacks on his team, definitely,” Stevens said.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
It certainly makes sense that Ruth would have looked to change the course of baseball history when it came to integration. He was known to frequent the Cotton Club, a popular black hangout. He befriended black athletes and celebrities, with one of them, Bill Robinson, who was known as Bojangles, serving as one of his pallbearers.
It certainly opens up a new window into why Ruth was never given his chance to manage. Imagine the powerful slugger recruiting some of the top talent in the Negro Leagues from those days, seeking out the talents of players like Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, and Satchel Paige. And who was going to insult those players when someone of Ruth’s stature was behind them all the way, instrumental in integrating baseball for the first time since 1884?
Ruth would have, potentially, become the greatest figure in baseball history. The credit given to Branch Rickey for making sure that Jackie Robinson was given every chance to succeed would have, instead, gone to Ruth. Add in his legacy as the greatest slugger the game had seen, one of the more legendary players in he history of the game, and there would have been none greater than Ruth.
Next: Top ten Negro Leagues players
Babe Ruth would have likely integrated the game a decade before it happened. As we celebrate his legacy on what would have been his 123rd birthday, let us also remember the type of person he was, and the changes he could have made in baseball history.