On This Day in Sports: February 26, 1935
On February 26, 1935, the New York Yankees released Babe Ruth, ending his 15-season tenure with the club. Ruth had arrived from the Boston Red Sox before the 1920 season and transformed both the Yankees and the sport. His home runs helped make the franchise a national attraction, filled the new Yankee Stadium and shifted baseball toward the power-driven style that defined the live-ball era.
By 1935, Ruth was 40 and no longer the player who had dominated the previous decade. He still wanted an opportunity to manage, but the Yankees were unwilling to place him in that role. The release allowed him to negotiate elsewhere rather than spend another season with a reduced position in New York. For the Yankees, the move formally transferred leadership to a younger roster built around Lou Gehrig.
Ruth signed with the Boston Braves the following day in an arrangement that included executive and coaching titles as well as a place on the roster. The promised authority proved limited, and the team struggled. Yet Ruth produced one last extraordinary display on May 25, hitting three home runs at Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field. The third was the 714th and final home run of his major-league career.
He retired in early June, bringing one of baseball’s most influential playing careers to a close. Ruth left the Yankees with seven American League pennants, four World Series championships and a franchise identity inseparable from his power and personality. The February release was not a rejection of that legacy; it was the difficult final transition between the era he created and the institution that continued after him.
Ruth spent 15 seasons with the Yankees after arriving from Boston before the 1920 season.
His power helped make Yankee Stadium and the franchise national attractions.
The Yankees declined to give Ruth the managerial opportunity he wanted.
He signed with the Boston Braves one day after his New York release.
Ruth hit the final three home runs of his career in one game on May 25, 1935.
He retired with 714 home runs, a record that stood for nearly four decades.
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