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There was considerable attention as Ruth reported for spring training. He did not hit his first home run of the spring until after the team had left Florida, and was beginning the road north in Savannah. He hit two in an exhibition game against the Bears.<ref>{{harvp|Montville|2006|p=339}}</ref> Amid much press attention, Ruth played his first home game in Boston in over 16 years. Before an opening-day crowd of over 25,000, including five of New England's six state governors, Ruth accounted for all the Braves' runs in a 4–2 defeat of the [[New York Giants (NL)|New York Giants]], hitting a two-run home run, singling to drive in a third run and later in the inning scoring the fourth. Although age and weight had slowed him, he made a running catch in left field that sportswriters deemed the defensive highlight of the game.<ref>{{harvp|Creamer|1992|p=393}}.</ref>
Ruth had two hits in the second game of the season, but it quickly went downhill both for him and the Braves from there. The season soon settled down to a routine of Ruth performing poorly on the few occasions he even played at all. As April passed into May, Ruth's physical deterioration became even more pronounced. While he remained productive at the plate early on, he could do little else. His conditioning had become so poor that he could barely trot around the bases. He made so many errors that three Braves pitchers told McKechnie they would not take the mound if he was in the lineup. Before long, Ruth stopped hitting as well. He grew increasingly annoyed that McKechnie ignored most of his advice. McKechnie later said that Ruth's presence made enforcing discipline nearly impossible.<ref>{{harvp|Neyer|2000|pp=43–45}}</ref>
Ruth soon realized that Fuchs had deceived him, and had no intention of making him manager or giving him any significant off-field duties. He later said his only duties as vice president consisted of making public appearances and autographing tickets.<ref>{{harvp|Montville|2006|pp=340}}</ref> Ruth also found out that far from giving him a share of the profits, Fuchs wanted him to invest some of ''his'' money in the team in a last-ditch effort to improve its balance sheet.<ref name = "neyer44">{{harvp|Neyer|2000|p=44}}</ref> As it turned out, Fuchs and Ruppert had both known all along that Ruth's non-playing positions were meaningless.<ref>{{harvp|Creamer|1992|pp=388–390}}</ref>
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[[File:Claire Ruth.jpg|thumb|The unveiling of a Babe Ruth memorial plaque in Baltimore's old [[Memorial Stadium (Baltimore)|Memorial Stadium]] in 1955 with Claire Ruth, his widow, present.]]
Creamer describes Ruth as "a unique figure in the social history of the United States".<ref name = "c16" /> Thomas Barthel describes him as one of the first [[celebrity]] athletes; numerous biographies have portrayed him as "larger than life".<ref>{{cite book |last=Barthel |first=Thomas |title=Babe Ruth and the Creation of the Celebrity Athlete |date=2018 |publisher=McFarland |location=Jefferson, N.C. |isbn=978-1-47-666532-0 |pages=1–2 |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Babe_Ruth_and_the_Creation_of_the_Celebr.html?id=Ia9mDwAAQBAJ&q=%22larger+than+life%22 |ref=harv |access-date=August 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820080614/https://books.google.com/books/about/Babe_Ruth_and_the_Creation_of_the_Celebr.html%3Fid%3DIa9mDwAAQBAJ%26q%3D%2522larger%2Bthan%2Blife%2522 |archive-date=August 20, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> He entered the language: a dominant figure in a field, whether within or outside sports, is often referred to as "the Babe Ruth" of that field.<ref name="c16" /> Similarly, "Ruthian" has come to mean in sports, "colossal, dramatic, prodigious, magnificent; with great power".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Dickson Baseball Dictionary|edition=3rd|first=Paul|last=Dickson|page=731|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ceeU7xSLw5kC&lpg=PA373&dq=ruthian%20definition&pg=PA731#v=onepage&q=ruthian|publisher=W.W. Norton & Co.|location=New York|isbn=978-0-393-07349-2|year=2011|access-date=November 26, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529012621/https://books.google.com/books?id=ceeU7xSLw5kC&lpg=PA373&dq=ruthian%20definition&pg=PA731#v=onepage&q=ruthian|archive-date=May 29, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> He was the first athlete to make more money from endorsements and other off-the-field activities than from his sport.{{r|menand20200525}}
In 2006, Montville stated that more books have been written about Ruth than any other member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. At least five of these books (including Creamer's and Wagenheim's) were written in 1973 and 1974. The books were timed to capitalize on the increase in public interest in Ruth as [[Hank Aaron|Henry Aaron]] approached his career home run mark, which he broke on April 8, 1974.<ref>{{harvp|Montville|2006|pp=1–6}}</ref> As he approached Ruth's record, Aaron stated, "I can't remember a day this year or last when I did not hear the name of Babe Ruth."<ref name="c16" />
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{{Sisterlinks|d=Q213812|commonscat=yes|species=no|voy=no|v=no|b=no|s=no|wikt=no|n=no}}
* [http://www.baberuth.com/ BabeRuth.com] – Official site
* {{
{{bbhof|ruth-babe}}
* [http://baberuthmuseum.org/ Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruth, Babe}}
[[Category:Babe Ruth| ]]▼
[[Category:1895 births]]
[[Category:1948 deaths]]
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[[Category:American Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:American sportsmen]]
▲[[Category:Babe Ruth| ]]
[[Category:Baltimore Orioles (IL) players]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Maryland]]
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