Babe Ruth

You may know George Herman Ruth Jr. as Babe Ruth, who put the “B” in baseball. He was known as the greatest baseball player of his generation.

What you don’t know is how much of a “wild child” he was growing up.

Growing Up Babe Ruth

George Jr. grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, with his two parents, George Herman Ruth and Kate Schamberger.

He and his younger sister (Mamie) were the only two of eight siblings to survive adulthood.

Both of George Jr.’s parents worked long hours, leaving little time to watch over him and his sister.

As a result, George Jr. was out playing in the streets, often cutting school and causing problems.

Because of his discrepancies, his parents intervened when George Jr. turned seven and decided he needed structure.

They enrolled him in St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys. This school gave him a scheduled setting that would help prepare him for future endeavors.

George Jr. learned valuable vocational skills while picking up a love for baseball.

How Babe Got His Name

While at St. Mary’s, Brother Matthias worked with George Jr. to better his baseball capabilities.

He became so talented that the Brothers asked Jack Dunn, the owner of the Baltimore Orioles, to see George Jr. play.

Dunn was so impressed by his performance that he wrote him up a contract after viewing him for less than an hour.

However, George Jr. was only nineteen at the time, so Dunn agreed to be his legal guardian to seal the deal.

When the team’s players first met George Jr., they referred to him as “Jack’s newest babe,” which is how we know him today as Babe Ruth.

Sold to Boston Red Sox in July 1914

Babe started with the Boston Red Sox as a pitcher and was a flamethrowing one, too. He appeared in five games while pitching in four with his new club.

Ruth had a cannon arm, and his fastball was unheard of back then.

He was sold to the team from the Baltimore Orioles for a whopping $25,000 contract, which was a huge upgrade from his six-month, $600 minor league deal.

He won his first game with the Sox on July 11, 1914, but with a loaded roster already, the Sox sent him down to the minors.

The decision worked as the Providence Grays clinched the International League pennant under his golden arm. It then paid off the next season as Ruth became a rotational norm.

He afforded the Red Sox an impressive 18-8 record with an ERA of 2.44. The following year he posted a 23-12 record, controlling the league with a 1.75 ERA.

Then in 1917, Babe went 24-13 with a 2.01 ERA and threw 35 complete games in 38 starts.

By this time, Babe’s hitting ability was getting stronger and stronger in his restricted plate appearances.

It came to the conclusion that his batting abilities were too powerful to be excluded from the daily line-up.

He then started working as a power hitter. In 1918, Ruth tied with 11 home runs for the major-league lead and set a single-season home run record of 29 in 1919.

Sold to New York Yankees in 1919

On December 26, 1919, Ruth was sold to their archrival, the New York Yankees. This was the moment when one team was cursed from winning a World Series.

The other team had Ruth, which began a long dynasty that still lasts even in today’s parity-filled game.

In 1920, Ruth broke his own home run record set in 1919, hitting 54 home runs, while other players hit 19 at best.

He still wasn’t complete, though, as he compiled arguably the best season in MLB history in 1921.

Once again, he set a new home run record with 59, drove in 171 RBIs, and scored 177 runs. He also batted an astonishing .376 and had a fantastic .846 slugging percentage.

With Babe at the helm, the Yankees became the most famous and winningest team in the sport.

When the Yankees moved to the original 1923 Yankee Stadium, it became “The House that Ruth Built.”

Of course he also hit the first home run at that stadium.

Babe Ruth – An American Hero

Ruth and the MLB were so unstoppable that they even helped the economy and solved ugly conflicts.

Ruth played the game the right way even as the White Sox attempted to cheat the outcome of the 1919 World Series, which is known as the “Black Sox” scandal.

Because so many people were living on the streets and waiting in breadlines for food, baseball was an escape from it all.

It gave everyone hope that the economy would recover from it all. And eventually, it did.

As they say, “Seasons Come, Seasons Go,” but America’s Heroes will live forever.

While Ruth may not have had the same impact as President Abraham Lincoln had during the Civil War, he is still up there as one of the most famous men in American history who started from a rough childhood to becoming one of the greatest players in his sport.

His legacy still impacts the game today.

Professional Accolades

Ruth captured 4 World Series (7 total) and 7 Pennants with the New York Yankees
From 1914 through 1935, Ruth hit a record 714 Home runs
Ruth was one of the 1st players inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936
He won the Batting Title once
In 1998, He was No. 1 on the “Baseball’s 100 Greatest Players” list by The Sporting News
Ruth was named the Greatest New York Yankee ever in 2006
He has a career slugging percentage of .690 that still remains the highest in MLB history
He has an on-base percentage of .474, which is still among the highest
Ruth’s last home run ball is in the Baseball Hall of Fame
While retiring from the sport in 1935, Ruth is still considered the greatest player in MLB history

Babe Ruth was a legend in baseball. He impacted the game in a way never seen before.

The Big Bambino will always be a benchmark in which all baseball players measure themselves today.