Babe Ruth war, Barrow had many holes in the Red Sox lineup to fill. Ruth also noticed these vacancies in the lineup; he was dissatisfied in the role of a pitcher who appeared every four or five days and wanted to play every day at another position. Barrow used Ruth at first base and in the outfield during the exhibition season, but he restricted him to pitching as the team moved towards Boston and the season opener. At the time, Ruth was possibly the best left-handed pitcher in baseball, and allowing him to play another position was an experiment that could have
1923 World Series them to get John McGraw's permission. McGraw and the Yankees had a long history of disdain after both teams had shared a stadium and the Giants had won both the 1921 and 1922 World Series from New York. Therefore, he declined permission and Gehrig would not be allowed to participate in the series which otherwise would have been his first World Series. As noted baseball historian John Thorn said, "As if the Yankees needed any more reason to hate John McGraw." A ninth-inning inside-the-park homer by Casey Stengel beat the Yankees on their home field. Babe Ruth scored in the