Saying no to the Babe

Safe bet that Babe Ruth and Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert are not exchanging handshakes and pleasantries 91 years ago today as Ruppert refuses to release Ruth from his contract so his prized, if aging, gate attraction reportedly can replace Donie Bush as the Cincinnati Reds’ manager.

Ruth spends another season with the Yankees before, at age 40, he is released in late February 1935.

Ruth quickly finds another team with the woeful Boston Braves. He opens the ’35 season with them before struggling both at the plate and in the field, and retiring at the end of May.

Ruth hopes to get a chance to manage the Braves when he signs with Boston, but owner Emil Fuchs sees Ruth as nothing more than a gate attraction for his financially challenged team.

Ruth resurfaces three years later as a coach for the 1938 Brooklyn Dodgers, hoping to eventually replace manager Burleigh Grimes there.

When Grimes leaves after the 1938 season, though, the Dodgers hire Leo Durocher to replace him as a player-manager.

Durocher’s promotion leads to Ruth’s departure from Brooklyn.

Alas for Ruth, he never gets another serious chance to manage in the majors after Ruppert 91 years ago today denies him the opportunity to run the Reds in 1934.