The Selling of the Babe (41 page)

Walsh finally worked a ruse to get an audience with Ruth, making a delivery of beer. Once inside, he got Ruth's ear and peppered him with questions about his business deals. When he discovered Ruth was putting his name to a small, syndicated series of stories for only $5 an article, Walsh told Ruth he could get him at least 500 bucks to put his name on anything.

That got Ruth's attention. Walsh went off with Ruth's tacit permission to act as his agent, and came back the next day with a contract, pushing it through the gated door. Ruth signed it and Walsh left, promising to return with cash. When he did, he produced a more formal document. It promised that Walsh would solicit “syndicated baseball columns” ghostwritten “by qualified sporting writers” and signed “By Babe Ruth.” In return, Walsh indicated “I agree to pay you Fifty (50) Percent of the gross receipts, a special consideration. My profit and all office and syndicating expenses, including printing, postage etc. will come from the balance.” Ruth scrawled his name to the contract.

With that signature, the Babe became the first baseball player to sign with an agent. Walsh eventually became his closest friend and most trusted advisor, protecting both his reputation and his bank account.

From that moment on, the selling of the Babe was a full-fledged business. The modern game—the Babe's game—was now fully in place.

Babe Ruth and Boston teammates Ernie Shore, Rube Foster, and Del Gainer, circa 1915. By 1920, Ruth's days as a pitcher for the Red Sox would almost be forgotten.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Theatrical producer and Red Sox owner Harry Frazee (center), the man who sold Babe Ruth … and had good reason to. Stuffy McInnis is to his right; Jack Barry is to his left.
Leslie Jones Collection. Courtesy of the Trustees of the Boston Public Library

American League founder and President Ban Johnson, rightly referred to as the “Czar” of baseball, and a man who “never forgets an enemy.”
Michael T. “Nuf Ced” McGreevey Collection. Courtesy of the Trustees of the Boston Public Library

Philadelphia Athletic owner and manager Connie Mack. Before the 1918 season, Mack dealt several stars to the Red Sox, delivering a pennant to Boston.
Michael T. “Nuf Ced” McGreevey Collection. Courtesy of the Trustees of the Boston Public Library

Chicago White Sox owner Charles Comiskey joined Frazee and Ruppert in opposition to Ban Johnson.
Michael T. “Nuf Ced” McGreevey Collection. Courtesy of the Trustees of the Boston Public Library

Yankee co-owner Jacob Ruppert, (left), standing next to New York Giants manager John McGraw (center), saw how Ruth performed at the plate in the Polo Grounds and set his sights on the emerging star. With Prohibition on the horizon, the beer baron needed his ballclub to win … and draw fans.
Courtesy of the Trustees of the Boston Public Library

Catholic religious ceremony at Fenway Park, circa 1919. This photo is perhaps the best view of Fenway Park as Ruth transitioned to the outfield. Built in 1912, by 1919 Fenway already looked worn and tired. It was no Polo Grounds, which featured an inviting right field porch.
Boston Sports Temples Collection. Courtesy of the Trustees of the Boston Public Library

Fenway's left field wall circa 1919. Fenway Park didn't suit Ruth, and not until 1919 did he even begin to use the left field wall to his advantage.
Boston Sports Temples Collection. Courtesy of the Trustees of the Boston Public Library

Harry Hooper. Ruth's teammate, Red Sox right fielder, and onfield leader. Hooper, not manager Ed Barrow, had the respect of the players.
George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Babe Ruth with the Red Sox at Fenway Park, 1919.
George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division