Ruth's contract was the exception, but the overwhelming majority of ball players of his era needed additional jobs in order to make ends meet.

In the early decades of baseball, few were getting wealthy from the game, and many faced criticism from family members that they could be earning a better wage working than playing baseball. I think you can safely say these players truly played for the love of the game.

I think you'd be astounded at how relatively low salaries were even in the 1970s.

While there were a few million dollar contracts, the big money didn't really come until the mid-80s after the owners' unsuccessful attempt at collusion. I remember how utterly shocked I was when either Rickey Henderson or Don Mattingly was paid $3 million a year. Bigger deals soon followed.