<Tr> <Th> Induction </Th> <Td> 1936 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Vote </Th> <Td> 95.13% </Td> </Tr> <P> George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr . (February 6, 1895--August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935 . Nicknamed "The Bambino" and "The Sultan of Swat", he began his MLB career as a stellar left - handed pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, but achieved his greatest fame as a slugging outfielder for the New York Yankees . Ruth established many MLB batting (and some pitching) records, including career home runs (714), runs batted in (RBIs) (2,213), bases on balls (2,062), slugging percentage (. 690), and on - base plus slugging (OPS) (1.164); the latter two still stand as of 2018 . 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 into the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of its "first five" inaugural members . </P> <P> At age seven, Ruth was sent to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, a reformatory where he learned life lessons and baseball skills from Brother Matthias Boutlier of the Xaverian Brothers, the school's disciplinarian and a capable baseball player . In 1914, Ruth was signed to play minor - league baseball for the Baltimore Orioles but was soon sold to the Red Sox . By 1916, he had built a reputation as an outstanding pitcher who sometimes hit long home runs, a feat unusual for any player in the pre-1920 dead - ball era . Although Ruth twice won 23 games in a season as a pitcher and was a member of three World Series championship teams with the Red Sox, he wanted to play every day and was allowed to convert to an outfielder . With regular playing time, he broke the MLB single - season home run record in 1919 . </P>

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