In 1917, Bush led the American League with 112 runs scored, stole 34 bases, and compiled a career-high batting average of .281 with a .370 on-base percentage. Bush also broke up a noteworthy no-hitter on July 11, 1917. With Boston Red Sox pitcher Babe Ruth having allowed no hits, Bush hit a scratch single in the eighth inning. After giving up the single to Bush, Ruth struck out the Tigers' Bobby Veach, Sam Crawford, and Ty Cobb in the ninth inning to secure a 1–0 complete game shutout. In a 1942 speech in Los Angeles‚ Ruth called this game his greatest thrill. At the end of the 1917 season, "Baseball Magazine" rated Bush as the second best shortstop in the American League behind Ray Chapman. Writer F. C. Lane called him "one of the greatest ground coverers and all round fielders on any diamond."