Buddy Napier Buddy Napier Skelton Le Roy "Buddy" Napier (18 December 1889 – 29 March 1968), Major League baseball pitcher from 1912 to 1921. He was born in Byromville, Georgia. Napier played his first major league game with the St. Louis Browns, on August 14, 1912, versus the Boston Red Sox, which the Browns lost 0-8. He signed on with the Chicago Cubs in 1918, eventually pitching for them during that season's World Series game versus the Boston Red Sox (a team which included baseball legend Babe Ruth), a series of games which the Red Sox won. In 1920 he signed on
Babe Ruth Ruth concentrating on his hitting, if only because it drew people to the ballpark. Ruth had hit a home run against the Yankees on Opening Day, and another during a month-long batting slump that soon followed. Relieved of his pitching duties, Ruth began an unprecedented spell of slugging home runs, which gave him widespread public and press attention. Even his failures were seen as majestic—one sportswriter noted, "When Ruth misses a swipe at the ball, the stands quiver". Two home runs by Ruth on July 5, and one in each of two consecutive games a week later, raised his season