by Denise I Smithson
Who doesn’t remember Babe Ruth? Even if you are too young, and are a baseball fan, we bet you’ve heard of Babe and the House That Ruth Built. Even one of his superstitions remains popular among Major League players-”whenever I hit a homerun, I always make sure I touch all four bases.” Babe was a curious man, ferocious in baseball, women, and ideals, and we remember his as “The Babe,” fondly so, because there will never be another man like him, in any sport.
George Herman Ruth Jr. was born in 1895 in Baltimore, MD, the son of George H. Ruth Sr. and Kate Schamberger-Ruth. One of two surviving children of eight (the other was his sister Mamie), Babe Ruth has a tough childhood, often being left to care for himself. At the tender age of seven, he was sent to the St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys, which he recalls more as a reformatory than a school. Deprived of parental guidance except on occasions, Ruth quickly earned a reputation among the nuns at the school as an incorrigible.
The Babe never like rules, especially regimented rules and was not good at adapting to what was correct-he had his own way, a uniqueness that would follow him to baseball. Perhaps the biggest thing Ruth learned to love at St. Mary’s would be his fondness for children; as an adult, he was charitably involved with them as much as he could be. George Jr. shined with talent at a young age and played numerous positions at St. Mary’s, often, however, he excelled in catching and pitching. When Babe reached nineteen, Jack Dunn, the manager and owner of the then Baltimore Orioles which was a Boston Red Sox minor league team, was awed at Babe’s talent and signed him right away. Once Jack signed him, he was dubbed by his teammates as “Jack’s newest babe.” From then on, he would be forever known as simply “Babe.”
With the Orioles for only five months, the Boston Red Sox purchased his contract and at 19, he both pitched and played the outfield for six years. During this period, fans took note of Babe’s performance on and off the field, with his off the field stories being more colorful through his eating and drinking all-night parties that included many women. Playing in his first World Series Game in 1916, he set a record that still stands today, a fourteen inning game that became the longest in the history of the World Series. His pitching skills at this time left him an astounding record of 29 2/3 scoreless innings in World Series bouts alone, a record that stood for forty-three years. In December of 1919, a weird trade of sorts would land him with the Yankees-leaving the Red Sox in a World Series denial until 2004!
In 1920, he began his Major League career with the New York Yankees where Babe and his teammates would win 7 American League Pennants and 4 World Series Titles, a legacy called “The Curse of the Bambino.” Babe hit an amazing 54 home runs in 1920 and was both a fan and player favorite not just for his home run hitting skills, but also for his candor. In 1923, mostly due to the popularity of The Babe, the Yankees opened Yankee Stadium that would eventually be named, The House That Ruth Built-how appropriate that The Babe would hit a home run on opening day, along with yet another World Series Title. Married to Helen Woodford in October of 1914, by 1919, Babe had enough money to buy them a country house and adopt a daughter they named Dorothy. After a separation, but no divorce in 1925, Babe did not remain the good boy when it came to women and continued an affair with model Claire Hodgson. Upon Helen’s death by fire in 1929, Babe married Claire and hit her an out-of-the-park homerun in his first at bat in April of that same year.
The achievement that Babe Ruth will be remembered for more than any other is hi s60 home runs in 1927 – this record was finally broken by Roger Maris in 1961. This record continues to be disputed, since Ruth hit his 60 home runs in 154 games as opposed to Maris’ 162 games and 61 home runs. Regardless, there is no dispute about Ruth’s .690 batting average, something which has not been equaled since. This is why Babe Ruth is also known as the Great Bambino and the Sultan of Swat.
Babe’s famous moment in baseball came in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series where the Yankees played the Chicago Cubs. In the 5th inning, after he already had one home run, Babe came to bat and was at a count of two balls and two strikes. Before the next pitch came his way, Babe pointed to the center of the field bleachers and slammed that puppy right where he pointed and some believe it is the longest home run ever hit out of Wrigley Field.
Ruth left the Yankees in 1935 – he had wanted to be manager of the team and he decided to leave rather than stay in another capacity. He instead signed on with the Boston Braves as first base coach and player, with the promise of the manager’s chair in the following year. Seeing that the Braves were unlikely to keep this promise, Ruth went out in style. In one of his final games, Ruth hit three home runs against the Pittsburgh Pirates for a career total of 714 home runs. The Babe’s 2,211 RBIs, 2.28 career ERA as a left-handed pitcher and his 8,399 at-bats along with all of his many achievements have made him a player who will always be remembered as long as there is a game called baseball.
