Babe Ruth

George Herman "Babe" Ruth was born on February 6, 1895, and died on August 16, 1948. He played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1914 to 1935. Known as "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat," Ruth started his MLB career as a standout left-handed pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. He later became most famous as a power-hitting outfielder for the New York Yankees. Many consider him the greatest baseball player ever, and he is a major sports hero in American culture. In 1936, he was chosen as one of the first five members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Ruth was sent to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys at age seven. In 1914, he signed a minor league contract with the Baltimore Orioles but was quickly sold to the Red Sox. By 1916, he was known as an excellent pitcher who occasionally hit long home runs—unusual during the dead-ball era. He twice won 23 games in a season as a pitcher and won three World Series with the Red Sox, but he wanted to play every day and switched to outfield. With regular playing time, he set the MLB single-season home run record in 1919 with 29. After that season, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Ruth to the Yankees, a controversial move that many believe caused Boston's 86-year championship drought and led to the "Curse of the Bambino" legend. Over 15 years with the Yankees, Ruth helped the team win seven American League pennants and four World Series. His powerful swing produced rising home run totals that drew fans, boosted baseball's popularity, and helped start the live-ball era, where home runs became a major part of the game. In 1927, as part of the Yankees' "Murderers' Row," he hit 60 home runs, breaking his own single-season record by one. His last season with the Yankees was 1934, and he retired after a short time with the Boston Braves in 1935. He led the American League in home runs 12 times. During his career, Ruth faced intense media and public attention for both his baseball feats and his off-field drinking and womanizing. After retiring as a player, he was not allowed to manage a major league team, likely due to his behavior during his playing days. In his final years, he made many public appearances, especially to support American efforts in World War II. In 1946, he became ill with nasopharyngeal cancer and died from it two years later. Ruth remains an important figure in American culture. Ruth was born at 216 Emory Street in Baltimore's Pigtown neighborhood, in a house owned by his maternal grandfather, a German immigrant and unionist. His parents, Katherine and George Herman Ruth Sr., were both of German descent. His father worked as a lightning rod salesman and streetcar operator before running a family grocery and saloon. Only one of Ruth's seven siblings, his younger sister Mamie, lived past infancy. Much of Ruth's childhood is unknown. He spoke German as a child. When he was a toddler, his family moved to 339 South Woodyear Street; by age six, his father owned a saloon with an upstairs apartment at 426 West Camden Street. Why Ruth was sent to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys at age seven is unclear. According to his daughter Julia Ruth Stevens in 1999, his father was a saloon owner who gave him little supervision, and Ruth became a delinquent. As an adult, Ruth admitted he ran the streets, rarely went to school, and drank beer when his father wasn't looking. Some accounts say city authorities decided the saloon environment was unsuitable after a violent incident there. Ruth entered St. Mary's on June 13, 1902, labeled "incorrigible," and spent most of the next 12 years there. At St. Mary's, boys received an education and learned work skills, especially after turning 12. Ruth became a shirtmaker and a skilled carpenter, even adjusting his own shirt collars during his baseball career. Boys aged 5 to 21 did most of the facility's work and renovated St. Mary's in 1912. Food was simple, and the Xaverian Brothers enforced strict discipline, including corporal punishment. Ruth's nickname there was "Niggerlips" because of his large features and darker skin compared to other boys at the all-white reformatory. Ruth was sometimes allowed to visit his family or stay at St. James's Home, a supervised residence with community work, but he always returned to St. Mary's. His family rarely visited; his mother died when he was 12, and he was reportedly only allowed to leave for her funeral. How he started playing baseball there is uncertain: one story says he was sent to St. Mary's partly for breaking windows with long hits while playing street ball; another says Brother Herman, the athletic director, told him to join a team on his first day, making him a catcher despite left-handers rarely playing that position.