Ninety years ago on this date, George Herman Ruth was sold from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees for $125,000 in cash.

And as everyone else says, the rest is history. Under Ruth’s mega-sized sports celebrity status, the Yankees went to the World Series in 1921-1923, winning the 1923 series in the spankin’ new Stadium that was called “The House that Ruth Built.”

Mark Newman at MLB.com writes up this brief story about Ruth’s sale.

Ruth wasn’t sold by Sox owner Henry Frazee because he was bankrupt or needed to finance his Broadway show. These were myths. Colonel Jacob Ruppert, the owner of the Yankees, needed a marquee player to compete against John McGraw’s Giants, and Ruth was that person. He offered a price that Frazee could not turn down. Funny because Ruth had led the majors with 29 home runs during the 1919 season.

Only a few athletes deserve to be called immortal. Babe Ruth is one of them.

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