The Babe’s final day as a Yankee

A day after hitting his 659th and final home run with the Yankees, Babe Ruth plays his final game for New York 89 years ago today in a 5-3 loss at Washington.

Before a Sunday afternoon crowd of 15,000 at Griffith Stadium, Ruth goes 0-for-3 with a walk.

He flies out to center, walks and grounds out to second against Washington starter Orville Armbrust before finally flying out again to center against reliever Tommy Thomas in the eighth inning.

Ruth finishes the season batting .288, his lowest mark since hitting .290 for the Yankees in 1925.

The 39-year-old Ruth then spends a winter of uncertainty with the Yankees, who unceremoniously will release him in February 1935 so Ruth can sign with the Boston Braves.

Ruth’s stay with the Braves is a short one as he plays in only 28 games, batting a woeful .181 before leaving the team after his last game on May 30, 1935.

As for his stay in New York, all Ruth does in 15 seasons there is hit .349 with the aforementioned 659 homers and 1,852 runs batted in over 2,084 games. He also leads the Yankees to seven World Series appearances and, perhaps most important, turns them into the most recognizable brand in American sports history.