This day in 1935, Phillies send Babe Ruth to retirement

There may be no more famous name in baseball than Babe Ruth. Anyone with any level of knowledge of baseball should be aware of the name Babe Ruth, The Great Bambino…

Ruth is one of the biggest legends in the sport of baseball, but it was on this day in 1935 he played his final game of his Hall of Fame career, and it was the Philadelphia Phillies that sent him into retirement.

Jim Bivin played just one season in the majors. He went just 2-9 in his lone season with the Phillies in 1935, accumulating a 5.79 ERA while walking 65 batters and striking out just 54 in 161.2 innings of work. But he happens to be part of a little trivia regarding Ruth. Bivin was the last pitcher Ruth faced in the majors.

Ruth ended his career with the Boston Braves and it was fairly obvious the end of the line had come for Ruth. Ruth had gone without a hit in the four games leading up to the start of a doubleheader in the Baker Bowl in Philadelphia, but he had hit three home runs against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Forbes Field just five days prior. But the writing was on the wall for Ruth. At 40 years old Ruth’s time as the star of the sport had passed and cleared a path for other greats of the era.

In his first at-bat against the Phillies in game one of a doubleheader, Bivin forced Ruth to groundout to first base. Ruth had enough, pulled himself out of the game and never stepped in the batter’s box again.