It proved to be one of the most illjudged deals in sporting history.
Ruth hit 54 home runs in his first season wearing the pinstripe uniform of the Yankees, and the team from the Big Apple have since won 26 World Series titles.
Boston? In the wake of Ruth's transfer they have made the play-offs on four occasions before this season's climax, but lost each time in game seven.
Now, after 86 years of frustration, the Red Sox are closer than ever to lifting the so-called "Curse of the Bambino", named after the book of that title penned by acclaimed Boston sports writer Dan Shaughnessy.
And victory will never have tasted sweeter. The Cardinals may boast the most vocal fans in American baseball and the Yankees may be the game's glamour team, but the Red Sox enjoy an enduring world-wide appeal that extends far beyond their Fenway Park home.
Visitors come from Poland, Vietnam and Uzbekistan, where there is a thriving Tashkent Red Sox Fan Club.
Right now, the most high-profile supporter is John Kerry, the Democratic Party's Presidential candidate who has taken to wearing a Red Sox cap on the campaign trail. "Keep your eyes on the prize," said Kerry. "They'll do that and I'll do this. I'd love to welcome the World Series Champion Red Sox to the White House."
Maybe Kerry is getting a little ahead of himself. After all, the Red Sox were 2-0 up in their last World Series appearance in 1986, yet lost to the New York Mets.
They have also clashed with the Cardinals in the World Series twice before, in 1946 and 1967, and twice lost in seven.
But this time they have players of the calibre of Martinez, Ramirez and Curt Schilling.
Schilling, nicknamed "Ol' Blood and Guts" for good reason, sat out the third game. But the star pitcher has already made his contribution by taking the mound in Game Two with a stitched ankle tendon that seeped blood as the innings wore on, turning his socks an appropriate colour.
The 37-year-old is now just one game from the largest bonus windfall in baseball history. If the Red Sox win the World Series his salary for next year increases from £7m to £8m, and an option on his contract in 2007 worth a further £7.2m becomes guaranteed.
Game Seven is tentatively scheduled to take place on Sunday when the United States celebrate Halloween but the Red Sox look like exorcising their own personal ghost long before then.
