This day in baseball: Ruth’s 1933 contract

Babe Ruth signed his 1933 contract with the Yankees on March 24th of that year.  In the face of the Great Depression, Ruth found himself forced to take quite a pay cut from his previous year’s salary of $75,000.

Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert had initially proposed a $25,000 cut down to $50,000 for the year, which Ruth refused to signed.  Nevertheless, the Babe reported to Spring Training hoping to work out a better deal for himself in the meantime.

Finally, however, Ruppert issued an ultimatum, telling Ruth that if he did not sign by March 29th, he would not be permitted to travel back north with the team.  Ruth finally settled for a $52,000 contract, stating, “I expected a cut, but $25,000 is no cut, that’s an amputation.”