The 1920 Trade of Babe Ruth

Not only was Babe Ruth, the best player at the time, traded from the Boston Red Sox to the rival New York Yankees, but many suspect Red Sox owner, Harry Frazee, had selfish reasons for the trade. Prior to the 1920 season, Babe Ruth was traded from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees, where he would go on to continue his dominance.

While the Babe Ruth trade was highly lucrative for the Red Sox, some believe that the owner took advantage of his position and used some of that money on personal investments, most notably the musical “No, No, Nanette.” Not only did this rub Boston fans the wrong way, but many would consider the trade the start of a curse.

After the trade of Babe Ruth, the Boston Red Sox would go on to experience one of the worst world series droughts in major league baseball. From their last championship, with Babe Ruth, in 1918, the Red Sox would not win another until 2004. Before this, the team had won the 1912, 1915, 1916, and 1918 world series. Making matters even worse, Ruth would go on to hit more home runs than the entire Boston team combined in ten out of the next twelve seasons.