12 things you probably don’t know about Babe Ruth

While Ruth’s jersey number, 3, is well known, the reason he wore it is not common knowledge. Until 1929 neither the Yankees nor any other team wore numbers on the back of their jerseys, though there had been a few earlier experiments with numbers on sleeves. The Yankees and Indians debuted the back-of-jersey numbers, and Ruth wore No. 3 because he usually batted third. Other regular players were given numbers on the same basis, which is why Yankee cleanup hitter Lou Gehrig wore No. 4. Gehrig’s number was the first retired by any major-league team, in 1939, a decision that grew out of the team’s desire to hold a special appreciation day for him after he fell ill and was forced to retire prematurely. The Yankees didn’t retire Ruth’s number until 11 years later, in 1948, about two months before he died. Ruth, however, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in its inaugural class enshrinement in 1936, with Gehrig entering three years later.