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On July 30, 1914, Boston owner [[Joseph Lannin]] had purchased the minor-league [[Providence Grays (minor league)|Providence Grays]], members of the International League.<ref>{{harvp|Montville|2006|p=44}}</ref> The Providence team had been owned by several people associated with the [[Detroit Tigers]], including star hitter [[Ty Cobb]], and as part of the transaction, a Providence pitcher was sent to the Tigers. To soothe Providence fans upset at losing a star, Lannin announced that the Red Sox would soon send a replacement to the Grays. This was intended to be Ruth, but his departure for Providence was delayed when Cincinnati Reds owner [[Garry Herrmann]] [[Waivers (MLB)|claimed him off waivers]]. After Lannin wrote to Herrmann explaining that the Red Sox wanted Ruth in Providence so he could develop as a player, and would not release him to a major league club, Herrmann allowed Ruth to be sent to the minors. Carrigan later stated that Ruth was not sent down to Providence to make him a better player, but to help the Grays win the International League [[pennant (sports)|pennant]] (league championship).<ref>{{harvp|Creamer|1992|pp=92–93}}</ref>
Ruth joined the Grays on August 18, 1914. After Dunn's deals, the Baltimore Orioles managed to hold on to first place until August 15, after which they continued to fade, leaving the pennant race between Providence and [[Rochester Red Wings|Rochester]]. Ruth was deeply impressed by Providence manager [[Bill Donovan|"Wild Bill" Donovan]], previously a star pitcher with a 25–4 [[Win–loss record (pitching)|win–loss record]] for Detroit in 1907; in later years, he credited Donovan with teaching him much about pitching. Ruth was often called upon to pitch, in one stretch starting (and winning) four games in eight days. On September 5 at [[Maple Leaf Park]] in Toronto, Ruth pitched a one-hit 9–0 victory, and hit his first professional home run, his only one as a minor leaguer, off [[Ellis Johnson (baseball)|Ellis Johnson]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://m.mlb.com/news/article/83873114/ten-facts-for-100th-anniversary-of-babe-ruths-debut/|title=Ten facts for 100th anniversary of the Babe's debut|last=Castrovince|first=Anthony|
In March 1915, Ruth reported to [[Hot Springs, Arkansas]], for his first major league [[spring training]]. Despite a relatively successful first season, he was not slated to start regularly for the Red Sox, who already had two "superb" left-handed pitchers, according to Creamer: the established stars [[Dutch Leonard (left-handed pitcher)|Dutch Leonard]], who had broken the record for the lowest [[earned run average]] (ERA) in a single season; and [[Ray Collins (baseball)|Ray Collins]], a 20-game winner in both 1913 and 1914.{{sfnp|Creamer|1992|p=104}} Ruth was ineffective in his first start, taking the loss in the third game of the season. Injuries and ineffective pitching by other Boston pitchers gave Ruth another chance, and after some good [[relief pitcher|relief]] appearances, Carrigan allowed Ruth another start, and he won a rain-shortened seven inning game. Ten days later, the manager had him start against the New York Yankees at the [[Polo Grounds]]. Ruth took a 3–2 lead into the ninth, but lost the game 4–3 in 13 innings. Ruth, hitting ninth as was customary for pitchers, hit a massive home run into the upper deck in [[right fielder|right field]] off of [[Jack Warhop]]. At the time, home runs were rare in baseball, and Ruth's majestic shot awed the crowd. The winning pitcher, Warhop, would in August 1915 conclude a major league career of eight seasons, undistinguished but for being the first major league pitcher to give up a home run to Babe Ruth.<ref>{{harvp|Creamer|1992|p=106}}</ref>
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Carrigan was sufficiently impressed by Ruth's pitching to give him a spot in the starting rotation. Ruth finished the 1915 season 18–8 as a pitcher; as a hitter, he batted .315 and had four home runs. The Red Sox won the [[List of American League pennant winners|AL pennant]], but with the pitching staff healthy, Ruth was not called upon to pitch in the [[1915 World Series]] against the Philadelphia Phillies. Boston won in five games; Ruth was used as a pinch hitter in Game Five, but [[Ground out (baseball)|grounded out]] against Phillies ace [[Grover Cleveland Alexander]].<ref>{{harvp|Montville|2006|pp=50–52}}</ref> Despite his success as a pitcher, Ruth was acquiring a reputation for long home runs; at [[Sportsman's Park]] against the [[St. Louis Browns]], a Ruth hit soared over Grand Avenue, breaking the window of a [[Chevrolet]] dealership.<ref>{{harvp|Wagenheim|1974|pp=33}}</ref>
In 1916, there was attention focused on Ruth for his pitching, as he engaged in repeated pitching duels with the ace of the Washington Senators, [[Walter Johnson]]. The two met five times during the season, with Ruth winning four and Johnson one (Ruth had a [[Win–loss record (pitching)|no decision]] in Johnson's victory). Two of Ruth's victories were by the score of 1–0, one in a 13-inning game. Of the 1–0 [[Shutouts in baseball|shutout]] decided without extra innings, AL President [[Ban Johnson]] stated, "That was one of the best ball games I have ever seen."<ref>{{harvp|Montville|2006|pp=56–57}}</ref> For the season, Ruth went 23–12, with a 1.75 ERA and nine shutouts, both of which led the league.<ref>{{harvp|Montville|2006|pp=55}}</ref> Ruth's nine shutouts in 1916 set a league record for left-handers that would remain unmatched until [[Ron Guidry]] tied it in 1978.<ref>{{cite web|last=Schlueter|first=Roger|title=Verlander's 2011 was epic|
Carrigan retired as player and manager after 1916, returning to his native Maine to be a businessman. Ruth, who played under four managers who are in the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|National Baseball Hall of Fame]], always maintained that Carrigan, who is not enshrined there, was the best skipper he ever played for.<ref>{{harvp|Creamer|1992|pp=33, 85}}</ref> There were other changes in the Red Sox organization that offseason, as Lannin sold the team to a three-man group headed by New York theatrical promoter [[Harry Frazee]].<ref>{{harvp|Creamer|1992|p=133}}</ref> [[Jack Barry (baseball)|Jack Barry]] was hired by Frazee as manager.<ref>{{harvp|Creamer|1992|p=134}}</ref>
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Ruth met Helen Woodford (1897–1929), by some accounts, in a coffee shop in Boston where she was a waitress, and they were married as teenagers on October 17, 1914.<ref>{{harvp|Creamer|1992|pp=84, 100}}</ref> Although Ruth later claimed to have been married in [[Elkton, Maryland]], records show that they were married at [[Saint Paul Catholic Church (Ellicott City, Maryland)|St. Paul's Catholic Church]] in [[Ellicott City, Maryland|Ellicott City]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Shoken |first=Fred |url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/readersrespond/bs-ed-elkton-marriage-20120103-story.html |title=Babe Ruth, Elkton, and the Battle of Waterloo |newspaper=The Baltimore Sun |date=January 3, 2012 |access-date=June 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023175304/http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/readersrespond/bs-ed-elkton-marriage-20120103-story.html |archive-date=October 23, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> They adopted a daughter, [[Dorothy Ruth|Dorothy]] (1921–1989), in 1921. Ruth and Helen separated around 1925, reportedly due to his repeated [[Adultery|infidelities]] and neglect.<ref>{{harvp|Creamer|1992|p=281}}</ref> They appeared in public as a couple for the last time during the 1926 World Series.<ref>{{harvp|Creamer|1992|p=336}}</ref> Helen died in January 1929 at age 31 in a house fire in [[Watertown, Massachusetts]], in a house owned by Edward Kinder, a dentist with whom she had been living as "Mrs. Kinder". In her book, ''My Dad, the Babe'',<ref>{{Cite book |title=My Dad, The Babe: Growing up with an American Hero |last1=Pirone |first1=Dorothy |last2=Martens |first2=Chris |publisher=Quinlan Press |year=1988 |isbn=978-1-55770-031-5 |location=Boston |page=250 |oclc=17652057}}</ref> Dorothy claimed that she was Ruth's biological child by a mistress named Juanita Jennings.<ref name="Dorothy obit">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/20/obituaries/dorothy-r-pirone-68-babe-ruth-s-daughter.html|title=Dorothy R. Pirone, 68, Babe Ruth's Daughter|work=The New York Times|date=May 20, 1989|accessdate=May 21, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404155119/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/20/obituaries/dorothy-r-pirone-68-babe-ruth-s-daughter.html|archive-date=April 4, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Juanita admitted to this fact to Dorothy and Julia Ruth Stevens, Dorothy's stepsister, in 1980, who was at the time already very ill.<ref name=":1" />
On April 17, 1929 (only three months after the death of his first wife) Ruth married actress and model [[Claire Merritt Hodgson]] (1897–1976) and adopted her daughter Julia (1916–2019).<ref>{{cite news|last=Goldstein|first=Richard|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/09/obituaries/julia-ruth-stevens-dead-babe-ruth.html|title=Julia Ruth Stevens, Babe Ruth's Daughter, Dies at 102|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 9, 2019|accessdate=March 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190310163514/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/09/obituaries/julia-ruth-stevens-dead-babe-ruth.html|archive-date=March 10, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> It was the second and final marriage for both parties.<ref>{{cite news |last=Wiessner |first=Christian |title=Baseball says goodbye as Yankee Stadium retired |date=September 22, 2008 |
By one account, Julia and Dorothy were, through no fault of their own, the reason for the seven-year rift in Ruth's relationship with teammate Lou Gehrig. Sometime in 1932, during a conversation that she assumed was private, Gehrig's mother remarked, "It's a shame [Claire] doesn't dress Dorothy as nicely as she dresses her own daughter." When the comment inevitably got back to Ruth, he angrily told Gehrig to tell his mother to mind her own business. Gehrig, in turn, took offense at what he perceived as Ruth's comment about his mother. The two men reportedly never spoke off the field until they reconciled at Yankee Stadium on Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day, July 4, 1939, which was shortly after Gehrig's retirement from baseball.<ref>{{harvp|Creamer|1992|p=415}}</ref>
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