Ruel was an American professional baseball player, coach, manager and general manager. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball for 19 seasons with the St. Louis Browns, New York Yankees, Washington Senators, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers and the Chicago White Sox.

Ruel was one of the top defensive catchers of his era, and is best remembered for scoring the winning run for the Washington Senators in Game 7 of the 1924 World Series. He was also the battery-mate of Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher, Walter Johnson.