The 1922 World Series was over, but the drama wasn’t. Babe Ruth had just survived a suspension that cost him the postseason. Instead of resting, he hit the road for another barnstorming tour. It was a move that would test the patience of the league’s newly appointed power broker.
Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis believed he had made his point about player conduct. He pushed owners to change the rules, though the logic behind punishing Ruth for appearing in Iowa and North Dakota still baffles historians. Did officials really think small-town fans would confuse a local exhibition for the World Series? Probably not. But Landis’s harsh stance worked. It cemented his control over baseball.
Wooing New York Fans
Ruth returned to New York, and his manager Christy Walsh saw an opportunity. They needed to show the city that the Bambino was straightening out. Walsh organized a dinner at the New York Elks Club. The theme? “Back to the Farm.”
There was a papier-mâché cow. There was a Q&A session. It was supposed to be wholesome.
Then Jimmy Walker took the stage.
Walker, who would soon become New York’s mayor and face his own scandals, didn’t hold back. He shredded Ruth’s reputation for late-night antics and his legendary appetite. He called out the Babe for keeping himself out of shape. Then came the killer line: “Are you going to keep letting down those dirty-faced little kids?”
It hit hard. Reports say Ruth wept. He made a public vow to go to his Sudbury farm with his wife Helen and daughter Dorothy. He promised to work hard, swear off alcohol, and clean up his act.
He actually did it.
At 27, Ruth whipped his body into shape. He reported to training camp at a healthy 215 pounds. For a 6’ 2” frame, that was normal, not overweight. He lost another 13 pounds to a spring flu bug before heading north. The result was one of his greatest seasons and the debut of a new ballpark.
The House That Ruth Built
The story of Yankee Stadium starts with the Giants. After the 1920 season, Giants owner Charles Stoneham grew jealous of the Yankees’ rising success. He told the Yanks they were no longer welcome at the Polo Grounds.
Yankee management tried to buy half the park, raze it, and build a massive “all-sports pleasure palace” seating 100,000. Stoneham refused.
So the Yankees bought land across the Harlem River for $600,000. They spent $2.5 million to build it. Construction began in early 1922. It was the first new major league park in nine years, despite a boom in stadium construction between 1909 and 1914.
Opening Day was April 17, 1923. The weather was cloudy and cool, but the atmosphere was electric. The Yankees beat the Red Sox 4-1. Ruth hit a three-run homer. It was the first home run in the new stadium.
Sportswriter Fred Lieb immediately dubbed it “The House that Ruth Built.”
Yankee GM Ed Barrow announced attendance of 74,217. Estimates said 25,000 were turned away. A month later, it was revealed the stadium only seated 62,000. There hadn’t been 12,000 standing-room tickets sold. Barrow’s response? “It was an estimate.”
“It was an estimate.”
The number didn’t matter. The stadium was a phenomenon.
New Influences
1923 changed Ruth’s life in two distinct ways.
First, the Yankees signed Lou Gehrig. The big kid from Columbia University became the quiet counterweight to Ruth’s excess. They were nearly matchless as batters. Gehrig wouldn’t play full-time until 1925, but his presence shifted the team’s dynamic.
Second, Claire Hodgson entered his life.
Helen Ruth was nervous and plain-looking. Claire was poised, self-confident, and strikingly attractive. She had left a bad marriage in Georgia in 1920. She came to New York with her daughter, Julia, and started a career as a model for famous illustrators. Her husband died two years later.
She moved into acting. While in Washington for a play opening, a friend invited her to see the Yankees play the Senators. Claire knew baseball. She knew Ty Cobb through modeling. Her friend knew Babe Ruth.
They met briefly before the game. Ruth was smitten.
He invited her to dinner that night. She asked if she could bring a lady friend, knowing his reputation. Ruth agreed but insisted on dining in his hotel suite to avoid a mob. He told her not to worry. “The place will be full of people. It always is.”
By the time the show moved to New York, Claire’s mother and brothers had joined her. Ruth spent his free time with them. He charmed Claire. He entertained her mother.
Helen and Dorothy stayed on the Sudbury farm throughout 1923, aside from spring training and one city visit. It kept the child away from the circus atmosphere.
Ruth was wrapped up in courting Claire. She was different. She could handle the bright lights. She could rein him in. Divorce from Helen wasn’t an option; Ruth was raised Catholic. But the shift was undeniable.
The stadium opened. The records were broken. The Babe was changing. The rest of the story remains to be seen.
The Yankees weren’t just winning; they were absorbing. The roster was a graveyard of Red Sox talent. When Herb Pennock and George Pipgras arrived from Boston during the preseason, the team’s starting eight featured four former Boston players. Six of the eight pitchers on the mound? All originally Boston property. Harry Frazee had dismantled his own roster, selling them off that August to complete the devastation.
So, amidst all the off-field drama, how did Babe Ruth actually perform?
We look at the 1923 and 1924 seasons next.
For more on the sport, check the Baseball section, Minor League Baseball, and the Baseball Hall of Fame.
