Babe Ruth debuted vs. Cleveland Naps on July 11, 1914; hit 500th homer vs. Indians in 1929

Jul. 11—July 11 is a notable date around the world for many reasons, among them:

Aaron Burr fatally shot Alexander Hamilton in a duel on July 11, 1804. Famed British actor Laurence Olivier died on July 11, 1989. The late David Bowie released his classic "Space Oddity" on July 11, 1969 — nine days before Apollo 11 landed on the moon.

And on July 11, 1914, Babe Ruth made his MLB debut, pitching for the Boston Red Sox against the Cleveland Naps at Fenway Park.

Ruth, 19 years old, was the winning pitcher in his debut, though he fizzled at the plate. He allowed eight hits, two runs, posted one strike out and did not walk a batter. He was 0-for-2 batting and struck out once.

Ruth's first appearance was highly anticipated.

Ruth started the 1913 season playing for the Baltimore Orioles of the International League. He fared well against Major League teams in exhibition games. A story in the April 13, 1914 edition of the Baltimore Sun described him as "a sterling southpaw who (was) a terror to the big league clubs."

Orioles owner Jack Dunn sold Ruth, along with Ernie Shore and Ben Egan, to the Red Sox on July 9, 1914. Ruth arrived in Boston on July 11 and was on the mound that afternoon. The Naps were a good opponent for Ruth to face, because at 26-49 they had the worst record of 16 Major League teams.

The Sun ran a story about Ruth's difficult childhood and how he turned his life around at St. Mary's Industrial School in Baltimore. The story in the Sun described Ruth as someone "heralded from one end of the country to the other as a wonderful man (whose) whole heart was put into baseball."

Of course, there was no television in 1914. The first radio broadcast of a game didn't occur until 1921. Everything fans learned about athletes 110 years ago was gleaned from reading newspapers. Sports writers were free to embellish and decorate players with colorful nicknames like those later given to Ruth — The Sultan of Swat, the Colossus of Clout or the Great Bambino. But he was "Babe" before his first game.

Ruth won nine straight games before he was sold to Boston. According to an item at newspapers.com, Ruth's first game "was covered in sports pages around the United States." Papers got their stories via telegraph if reporters were not there in person.

Here is a word-for-word description of of Ruth's debut from the July 12, 1914 Charlotte News:

"Boston, July 11. — With 'Babe' Ruth, the Red Sox new $20,000 southpaw in the debut Boston downed the Cleveland Naps this afternoon 4 to 3. Poor base work in the early innings lost for the Naps.

The box score:"

That was the total recap in Charlotte, N.C. Reporters from the Boston Globe and Cleveland Plain Dealer were in the Fenway park press box that day.

The Globe described Ruth's first at-bat, albeit a strikeout, in a colorful way, noting he "received a perfect ovation when he went to the bat, and shaped up like a good batsman."

Ruth did not live up to his ballyhooed entrance to Major League Baseball — at least not the first time. He was the losing pitcher in a game with the Tigers on July 16 and spent the next month on the bench.

Ruth was sent to the minors on Aug. 18. The Boston Globe noted it with one sentence at the bottom of its Aug. 18, 1914, sports page: "'Babe' Ruth, the 'Southpaw' pitcher who came to Boston from Baltimore, has been released to the Providence club of the International League."

Fifteen years later, almost to the day (Aug. 11, 1929), Cleveland was the foe in another milestone in Ruth's career.

Ruth was strictly an outfielder from 1922-29. The Babe hit the 500th home run of his career, his 30th of 1929, in his first at-bat in a game played at League Park in Cleveland off a fastball thrown by Wilis Hudlin "which left home plate much higher and ten times faster than it arrived," is how William Brandt of the New York Times described it, according to an account written by Chad Osborne at sabr.org.

The ball sailed out of the stadium and landed on Lexington Avenue at the feet of a man waiting to board a bus.

Gordon Cobbledick covered the Indians for The Plain Dealer in Ruth's heyday. Cobbledick wrote about a conversation Ruth had with the League Park security chief, a man named H. Clay Folger, before the game between the Yankees and the Indians.

"Listen," Ruth told Folger, "I'm going to hit No. 500 today and I tell you what I wish you'd do. I wish you'd find the kid who gets the ball and bring him to me. I'd kinda like to save that one."

Jake Geiser was the name of the man waiting for a bus at an opportune time. Folger's security crew tracked him down. Geiser was taken to the New York dugout, where he got to meet Ruth and other famous Yankees on the 1929 roster, including Lou Gehrig, Bob Meusel, Tony Lazzeri and Earle Combs.

Geiser handed Ruth the historic 500th home run ball in exchange for a baseball Ruth autographed for him and a $20 bill to sweeten the deal.

To put in perspective what a prodigious feat hitting 500 home runs was when Ruth played, the man who was second in career home runs on Aug. 11, 1929, was Cy Williams of the Philadelphia Phillies. Williams, a center fielder, made his debut with the Cubs in 1912 — two years before Ruth started playing. Williams had 249 career home runs on the day Ruth hit No. 500.