Athletes - Babe Ruth

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	Athletes - Babe Ruth

George Herman Ruth (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948), better known as Babe Ruth, also commonly known by the nicknames The Bambino and The Sultan of Swat, was an American baseball player and United States national icon. Consistently chosen as the greatest baseball player in history, his home run hitting exploits and titanic appetite for living have made him one of the representative figures of the Roaring Twenties. He was one of the first five players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and he was the first player to hit over 30, 40 and 50 home runs in one season. His record of 60 home runs in the 1927 season stood for 34 years until it was broken by Roger Maris in 1961. He was a member of the original American League All-Star team in 1933. In 1969, Ruth was named baseball's Greatest Player Ever in a ballot commemorating the 100th anniversary of professional baseball. In 1998, The Sporting News named Ruth as Number One in its list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players." In 1999, Ruth was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in fan balloting.

As discussed in the book The Babe: A Life in Pictures, by Lawrence Ritter and Mark Rucker, it is more than mere statistical records that make Babe Ruth unequivocally the greatest baseball player of all time. In several ways, he changed the nature of the game itself. His exploitation of the "power game" compelled other teams to follow suit, breaking the monopoly of the "inside game" that had been the primary strategy for decades. Ruth was the focal point of the start of what has become statistically the greatest sports dynasty in history, the New York Yankees. His international fame helped to fuel the rising interest in sports in the 1920s and 30s. He significantly expanded the fan base of baseball and triggered the major expansion of nearly all of the ballparks in the major leagues, and Yankee Stadium is often called "The House That Ruth Built".

Early days

Ruth was born at 216 Emory Street in south Baltimore, Maryland. The house, which was only a block from where Oriole Park at Camden Yards now stands, was rented by his maternal grandfather, Pius Schamberger, a German immigrant who eked out a living as an upholsterer. Babe's parents, Kate and George, Sr., lived above the saloon they owned and operated on Camden Street. Kate would walk to her father's home each time she gave birth to a child, eight in all. Only Babe and his sister, Mary (some sources give her name as Marnie), survived infancy.

Young George was known for mischievous behavior. He skipped school, ran the streets, and committed petty crimes. By age seven, he was drinking, chewing tobacco, and had become difficult for his parents to control. Mary recalled how their father would beat Babe in a desperate attempt to bring the boy into line, but to no avail. He was finally sent to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, a school run by Catholic brothers. Brother Matthias, a Roman Catholic brother and the school's disciplinarian, became the major influence in his life, the one man Babe respected above all others. It was Brother Matthias who taught him baseball, working with him for countless hours on hitting, fielding and, later, pitching.

Because of his "toughness," George became the team's catcher. He liked the position because he was involved in every play. One day, as his team was losing, George started mocking his own pitcher. Brother Matthias promptly switched him from catcher to pitcher to teach him a lesson, but instead of getting his comeuppance, George shut the other team down.

Brother Gilbert brought Ruth to the attention of Jack Dunn, owner and manager of the minor-league Baltimore Orioles, and the man often credited with discovering him. In 1914 Dunn signed 19-year-old Ruth to pitch for his club, and took him to spring training in Florida, where a strong performance with both bat and ball saw him make the club, while his precocious talent and childlike personality saw him nicknamed "Dunn's Babe." On April 22, 1914, "The Babe" pitched his first professional game, a six-hit, 6-0 victory over the Buffalo Bisons, also of the International League.

On July 4 the Orioles had a record of 47-22, but their finances were in poor condition. In 1914 the breakaway Federal League, a rebel major league which would last only two years, placed a team in Baltimore, just across the street from the minor league Orioles, and the competition hit Orioles' attendance significantly. To make ends meet, Dunn was obliged to dispose of his stars for cash, and he sold Ruth's contract with two other players to Joseph Lannin, owner of the Boston Red Sox, for a sum rumored to be between $20,000 and $35,000.

The Red Sox years

Ruth the pitcher

Ruth was a skillful pitcher, but the Red Sox's starting rotation was already stacked with lefties, so they initially made little use of him. With a 1–1 record, he sat on the bench for several weeks before being sent down to the minor league Providence Grays of Providence, Rhode Island. Pitching in combination with the young Carl Mays, Ruth helped the Grays win the pennant. At the end of the season, the Red Sox called him back to the majors, and Ruth would stay in the majors permanently. Shortly after the season, Ruth proposed to Helen Woodford, a waitress he met in Boston, and they were married in Baltimore on October 14, 1914.

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