Ruth played with the Red Sox from 1914-1919. He was one of the better pitchers in the league from 1915-17, probably the best lefty in the A.L in a few seasons. Rightfielder Harry Hooper, a minor star of the era, is the one generally credited with the idea of turning Ruth into an outfielder. The Red Sox had a surplus of fine starters in those years, and in 1918, Ruth tied for the league lead in homers as a sort of half outfielder/ half pitcher. The next year, Ruth played even more as an everyday player and hit an unprecedented 29 homers. Ruth wasn't the first power hitter in the game or even at the time- guys like Gavvy Cravath of the Phillies and some 19th century players had hit a lot of homers, but what's most impressive about it is that at that time Fenway, like the stadiums for the Senators and Braves, was one of the hardest parks to hit a homer in- the rest of the Red Sox hit a grand total of 4. Ruth revolutionized the game in 1919, and soon there were other players swinging for the fences- Rogers Hornsby of the Cardinals, Ruth's teammate in New York Bob Meusel, the generally forgotten but highly interesting Browns player Ken Williams, etc. Ruth is best known as a Yankee of course, but he was a star from the get-go. I gave him a 4 simply because he didn't play all that long in Boston. Of course, he was sold to the Yankees by an unscrupulous and greedy theatrical producer masquerading as a team owner, despite what some historical revisionists like author Glenn Stout may claim. Ruth may not have been the BEST player ever ( it's debatable) but he was certainly the most DOMINANT player of all time, humorous and fun loving, and definitely his life is a fascinating, quintessentially American tale that transcends sports.

You can make a pretty good case for Ruth as the top left-hander in Sox history. On the days he wasn't pitching, rumour has it that he could hit a little too.