This Date in Baseball History: January 3rd

In 1920, on this date, the secret deal made on December 26 to sell Babe Ruth to New York for $125,000 (twice the amount ever paid previously for a player) is announced publicly. Harry Frazee, the cash-strapped owner of the Red Sox, also secures a $300,000 loan from the Yankees as part of the deal.

The rest as they say is history. The Red Sox had to wait for another 84 years after that ill-fated deal to win another World Series, and if I recall Ruth did alright for the "Bombers". Having hit a total of 49 home runs for the Red Sox over the course of 6 years with the Red Sox, the Babe hit 54 in his first year ALONE with the Yankees. Of course Ruth would go on to hit another 605 home runs with the Yankees over the course of his career, setting records for both the most home runs hit in a single season as well as the most career home runs.

But hey, I’m sure that $125,000 was well worth it…