Iconic America

- Red Sox fans got spoiled after 1912.

The Red Sox were in the World Series in 1912.

They were also in the World Series in '15, '16, and 1918.

The big star, of course, during this era was Babe Ruth, who joined the team in 1915.

- He was a great pitcher, you know, he was a 23-game winner, and that's where he is doing most of his damage then, but the hitting's starting to take hold.

And then the Red Sox committed the original sin of baseball.

That is, they traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees for cash.

They won five of the first 15 World Series.

They were the greatest team in all of baseball.

And after the trade of Ruth, they don't win again for 86 years.

That became what the Red Sox carried around, the curse of the Bambino.

- Babe Ruth was a incredibly talented player.

No one, however, could have predicted at the time that Babe Ruth, in lowercase letters, would be Babe Ruth, in neon with lights flashing on it.

When he got to New York, he became Babe Ruth.

The paperwork detailing the sale of Ruth from the Red Sox to the Yankees is now in Cooperstown at the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

- It's fascinating to see the impact Babe Ruth had on American life.

He grew up a poor kid in my hometown of Baltimore, but after he was sold to the Yankees, he became the most famous person in America.

It seems like baseball itself exploded in popularity once Ruth started hitting home runs.

So what was the curse of the bambino?

- Well, it is the superstition that when Babe Ruth was sold to the Yankees, that he cursed the Red Sox to not win another World Series.

And they didn't for another 84 years.

And in that time, the Yankees not only won their first World Championship, they won a total of 26 World Championships before the Red Sox broke their curse.

- Do you think that was a pretty good curse then?

- Well, I can't say I'm a believer in curses, but it does make for a good story.

- So as good as he was, why would the owner of the Red Sox wanna sell 'em to the New York Yankees?

- Well, it has a lot of things in baseball.

It all comes down to money, and well, Babe Ruth wanted more money.

- So what did the owner of the Red Sox say?

- He put his foot down and he wasn't willing to renegotiate, and so he decided to sell him to the Yankees.

Right here, this is his transfer agreement.

So this is the American League okaying the sale from Boston to New York.

- So it was $100,000, 25,000 each year.

I see.

Would you say that was the best investment in baseball history?

- It is definitely a pretty good one.

I think the Yankees took a gamble and they, I think they won that gamble.

(offbeat uplifting music)