The Babe’s Brave new world

The rapidly declining and ever-physically expanding Babe Ruth makes his National League debut 90 years ago today with the Boston Braves.

The 40-year-old Ruth promptly drives in a run with a single off New York Giants future Hall of Famer Carl Hubbell in the bottom of the first inning at Braves Field.

Ruth, the longtime Yankee but recently cast aside by them after 15 seasons with them, then drills a two-run homer off the left-handed Hubbell in the fifth, giving the Braves a 4-0 lead in a game they win 4-2 before a Tuesday afternoon crowd of 20,000 fans.

“Listen, kid,” Ruth tells New York columnist Jimmy Powers after the game, “you can tell the world ‘Papa’ is happy.’ I said I might hit 40 home runs this summer, didn’t I? Well, change that. If I’m lucky, I’ll hit 50.”

Alas, for Ruth, there is no such luck.

Ruth – seen here reaching the plate after his homer off Hubbell – manages only 11 more hits in the final 69 at-bats of his Hall of Fame career before walking away from the game at the end of May.

Ruth’s final four hits come on May 25, 1935, when he goes 4-for-4 with three homers and a single during Boston’s 11-7 loss to the Pirates at Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field.

The last of those three homers off Pirates right-hander Guy Bush is the 714th and last one of Ruth’s career.

The final game of Ruth’s storied 21-year career comes a few days later on May 30 at Philadelphia’s Baker Bowl.

Ruth knows when the time comes to retire, saying, “All ballplayers should quit when it starts to feel as if all the baselines run uphill.”