Waite Hoyt

Hoyt, who was with the team that trip, said Ruth “came in at sunup.” When Ruth returned to the lineup a week later, following a fine and suspension, he went 1-for-4 with a single and no RBIs.

Teammates knew Ruth was out until early morning. Some later accounts, including Waite Hoyt’s retelling, said Ruth was seen in local bars and that “everyone knew he had broken training.”

Yankees manager Miller Huggins imposed strict curfew and no-alcohol rules during the 1925 road trip because the team was spiraling.

Babe Ruth bends over to retrieve a ground ball.

“Babe’s notion of training rules might have been flimsy, but there never was a minute in which he forgot his responsibilities to baseball and the folks who paid admission.”

Ruth was suspended indefinitely and was fined $5,000. When Ruth returned to the team on September 5, 1925, he apologized privately to Huggins and publicly to the press.

Miller Huggins was under pressure and had lost the clubhouse—Ruth, especially, was ignoring orders. After Ruth broke training rules on the Detroit series (variously reported as drinking, staying out late, or both), Huggins finally snapped.

The 1925 season was a low point for Ruth: He had the infamous “bellyache” illness in April. He was out of shape, drinking heavily, and missing curfew. His performance was well below his usual standard.

Yankees manager Miller Huggins and slugger Babe Ruth shake hands while avoiding eye contact.

“Despite their arguments, Miller Huggins and his Yankee problem child grew to be close friends.”

When Ruth returned to the lineup a week later, following a fine and suspension, he went 1-for-4 with a single and no RBIs.

Some later accounts, including Waite Hoyt’s retelling, said Ruth was seen in local bars and that “everyone knew he had broken training.” Hoyt, who was with the team that trip, said Ruth “came in at sunup.”

Yankees manager Miller Huggins imposed strict curfew and no-alcohol rules during the 1925 road trip because the team was spiraling. Teammates knew Ruth was out until early morning.

He pitched 661-⅓ innings over 178 Pirates games, with a 3.04 ERA, going 35-31.

Hoyt went on to sign with the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he enjoyed a late-career rebound over five seasons, primarily as a relief ace. He became one of the first full-time relief specialists in National League history, pioneering the modern bullpen role.

On November 29, 1932, the New York Giants released Waite Hoyt, who had signed with the Giants on June 23. Hoyt appeared in 18 games for the 72–82 Giants, pitched 97.1 innings, and went 5-7 with a 3.42 ERA.

Waite Hoyt poses for an official portrait with the New York Giants, with his autograph appearing above the Giants insignia on his jersey.

“The Giants were playing in Pittsburgh, and Bill Terry told me to go see Horace Stoneham, the owner of the Giants, and ask him for the contract. I went to see Horace Stoneham … and he let me go.”

Rare footage of 1927 Yankees ace pitcher Waite Hoyt warming up, with a cameo from Babe Ruth. An excerpt from "King of Diamonds," a Lou Gehrig bio. (h/t Curt Sochocki)

He pitched on championship clubs for the 1913 Philadelphia Athletics, 1918 Boston Red Sox, and 1923 New York Yankees, one of the few players to win titles with all three franchises.

Bullet Joe ​​is often credited with inventing or popularizing the forkball grip, a forerunner to the modern split-finger fastball, by wedging his fingers around the seams to create a sharp downward drop.

On November 27, 1892, Leslie Ambrose “Bullet Joe” Bush, was born in Brainerd, Minnesota. He was a right-handed pitcher best known for his lively fastball and long Major-League career that bridged the Deadball and Live-Ball eras.

"Bullet" Joe Bush of the New York Yankees, with a big smile on his face, follows through on a pitch. Teammates and empty stands are visible behind him.

“Colonel Ruppert always called me ‘Hoyts.’ He always put an ‘s’ on the end of my name. He used to call Babe, ‘Baby Ruths.’ He once said to me, ‘Dat lousy pitching you do, Hoyts. Dat 2 to 1 pitching. Why de hell don’t you vin ’em 12–2, like Joe Bush?’”

He also started the first-ever All-Star Game in 1933. His lighthearted personality made him a fan favorite. He once joked that he was the only pitcher to lose a game before noon — because he slept late and missed the team bus.

Vernon Louis “Lefty” Gomez (aka “Goofy” Gomez) was born on November 26, 1908, in Rodeo, California. Gomez was one of the New York Yankees’ most dominant pitchers during the 1930s, helping lead the club to five World Series titles between 1932 and 1939.

Vernon "Lefty" Gomez winds up like a windmill for a pitch.

“Lefty Gomez used to eat a 3-pound steak at the Dutchman’s, a famous restaurant behind Yankee Stadium, every night before he pitched. Back in those days, players believed that if you ate steak the blood content in the meat gave you strength.”

He fundamentally shaped how baseball dealt with integrity issues but also upheld racial segregation by omission, intimidation, and inertia while pretending it was “not his decision.”

In November 1920, he became the first Commissioner of Baseball, taking office to restore public confidence after the 1919 ­“Black Sox” scandal.

Kenesaw Mountain Landis died on November 25, 1944, in Chicago, Illinois. He had been admitted to St. Luke’s Hospital in early October with a severe cold; while hospitalized, he suffered a heart attack.

Baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, in a suit and tie, white hat, and stogie in his mouth, leans forward on his hands as he sits behind a low chain-link fence, probably watching a game.

“Judge Landis met us in the visitors’ clubhouse in Fenway Park and treated us to a shrill dressing down. The subject was betting on races, and Landis would have none of it. Most of his anger was directed at Babe Ruth.”

Newspaper photo of old-timers Babe Ruth and Honus Wagner, in their uniforms, sitting in a baseball dugout.

“I think any of the great old-timers would be great today too, but they would have to play today’s game. I also believe the current heroes are the equal of those I knew, even if the averages do not always say so.”

In 1961, when the Reds won the National League pennant, Waite Hoyt broadcast the 1961 World Series on NBC Radio — a rare alignment of his team’s success and his national exposure.

Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, and Johnny Bench pose with their baseball bats next to a batting cage.

“I was lucky in Cincinnati to have watched a historic effort in 1961 as well as come to know some of the game’s greatest: Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench, and Pete Rose.”