On October 26, 1919, the Boston Red Sox completed a sale of outfielder-pitcher George Herman “Babe” Ruth to the New York Yankees. Owner Harry Frazee negotiated the transaction, sending Ruth and the rights to his contract to the Yankees for a sum reported at $100,000 and a $300,000 loan secured by Fenway Park. The deal was part of a broader business context: Frazee, a theatrical producer turned team owner, faced financial pressures and sold several key players during his tenure. Contemporaneously, the sale was controversial but not uniformly viewed as cataclysmic. Ruth had already altered his role from pitcher to the game's premier slugger, and his record—he had hit 29 home runs in 1919—made him a transformative talent. For Boston, the loss contributed to a decline: the Red Sox would not win another World Series until 2004. For New York, Ruth's arrival catalyzed the Yankees' ascent into a dynasty; he led the team to its first pennant in 1921 and transformed the sport with unprecedented home run totals. Over ensuing decades, fans and commentators framed the prolonged Boston championship drought as the "Curse of the Bambino," a cultural narrative linking the 1919 sale to the Red Sox's failures. The term emerged gradually and was popularized in the late 20th century by sportswriters and authors who emphasized the symbolic weight of losing Ruth. Historians note that while the sale was pivotal, attributing eight-plus decades of variable team performance solely to a curse oversimplifies complex factors—owner decisions, player development, economic conditions, and chance all shaped outcomes. Primary records confirm the transaction and its financial terms as widely reported at the time, though exact figures and side arrangements have been subject to differing accounts. Some historians emphasize Frazee’s debt and theater investments as motives; others point to routine player trading and the financial structures of early 20th-century baseball. Regardless, the Ruth sale stands as a clear turning point: it shifted the balance of power in American baseball and entered the sport’s folklore. The cultural power of the "curse" concept matters as much as the transaction itself. For generations of Red Sox fans, the story provided a narrative framework for disappointment and hope. It influenced media coverage, fan rituals, and the identity of the franchise until the Red Sox finally won the World Series in 2004, a victory widely described as the end of the curse. Even after 2004, the 1919 sale remains a focal historical moment when discussing the origins of Boston’s early 20th-century success followed by long-term struggles. In sum, the Oct. 26, 1919, sale of Babe Ruth to the Yankees is a historically documented event that had major sporting and cultural repercussions. While the "curse" label is a retrospective interpretation rather than a causal explanation, the transaction undeniably reshaped Major League Baseball and the fortunes of both the Red Sox and Yankees.