Babe Ruth was a professional Major League baseball player.
George Herman `` Babe '' Ruth Jr. ( February 6 , 1895 -- August 16 , 1948 ) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball ( MLB ) spanned 22 seasons , from 1914 through 1935 . Ruth established many MLB batting ( and some pitching ) records , including career home runs ( 714 ) , runs batted in ( RBIs ) ( 2,213 ) , bases on balls ( 2,062 ) , slugging percentage ( .6897 ) , and on-base plus slugging ( OPS ) ( 1.164 ) ; the latter two still stand today . In , Ruth was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of its `` first five '' inaugural members . With regular playing time , he broke the MLB single-season home run record in 1919 .