Babe Ruth - The Master of Baseball

George Herman Ruth, Jr. also popularly known as "Babe", "The Bambino", and "The Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914-1935. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest baseball players in history. Many polls place him as the number one player of all time.

Although he spent most of his career as an outfielder with the New York Yankees, Ruth began his career as a successful starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. He compiled an 89-46 win-loss record during his time with the Red Sox and set several World Series pitching records. In 1918, Ruth started to play in the outfield and at first base so he could help the team on a day-to-day basis as a hitter. In 1919, appearing in 111 games as an outfielder, he hit 29 home runs to break Ned Williamson's record for a single season.In 1920, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Ruth to the New York Yankees. In his next 15 seasons in New York, Ruth led the league or placed in the top ten in batting average, slugging percentage, runs, total bases, home runs, RBI, and walks several times. Ruth's 60 home runs in 1927 was the single season home run record for 34 years until it was broken by Roger Maris. Ruth's lifetime total of 714 home runs was once considered one of Major League Baseball's "unbreakable" records, but Hank Aaron broke it in 1974. In contrast, after he was sold from the Red Sox, the Red Sox franchise floundered for decades after having been previously the most successful major league team prior to the trade. This great disparity of success between the Yankees and Red Sox eventually led to a superstition that was dubbed the "Curse of the Bambino", a "curse" that effectively ended in 2004 when the Red Sox won their first World Series title in 86 years.

Beyond his unprecedented statistics, Ruth completely changed baseball itself. The popularity of the game exploded in the 1920s, largely due to him. Ruth ushered in the "live-ball era" as his big swing led to gargantuan home run totals that not only excited fans, but helped baseball evolve from a low-scoring, speed-dominated game to a high-scoring power game.

Ruth became the first true American sports celebrity superstar whose fame transcended baseball. Off the field he was famous for his charity, but also was noted for his often reckless lifestyle that epitomized the hedonistic 1920s. Ruth became an American icon, and even though he died nearly 60 years ago his name is still one of the most famous in all of American sports. His participation in an all-star tour of Japan in 1934 sparked that country's rabid interest in professional baseball; a decade later, Japanese soldiers seeking the ultimate insult for American troops would sometimes shout, "To hell with Babe Ruth!"

In 1936, Ruth became one of the first five players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

In 1969, he was named baseball's Greatest Player Ever in a ballot commemorating the 100th anniversary of professional baseball. In 1998, The Sporting News ranked Ruth Number 1 on the list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players." The next year, baseball fans named Ruth to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In a 1999 ESPN poll, he was ranked as the third greatest US athlete of the century, behind Michael Jordan and Muhammad Ali.

Ruth was born at 216 Emory Street in southern Baltimore, Maryland. His maternal grandfather, German immigrant, Pius Schamberger was an upholsterer; he rented a house located only a block from where Oriole Park at Camden Yards now stands. Ruth's parents, Kate Schamberger-Ruth and George Herman Ruth, Sr., eventually owned saloons on Lombard and Camden Street in Baltimore.Only one of Ruth's seven siblings, his sister Mamie, survived past infancy.

Ruth's parents worked long hours and had little time to take care of him. When he was seven years old, they sent him to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, a reformatory and orphanage, and signed custody over to the Catholic missionaries who ran the school. Ruth remained at St. Mary's for the next 12 years, rarely visited by his family. At St. Mary's, a man by the name of Brother Matthias became a father figure in his life. Brother Matthias taught Ruth the game of baseball. He worked with Ruth on hitting, fielding and, later, pitching.

In early 1914, a teacher at St. Mary's brought George to the attention of Jack Dunn, owner and manager of the minor-league Baltimore Orioles. After watching Ruth pitch, Dunn signed Ruth to a contract. Since Ruth was only 19 years old, Dunn had to become Ruth's legal guardian as well (at that time, the age of majority was 25). When the other players on the Orioles caught sight of Ruth, they nicknamed him "Jack's newest babe." The reference stayed with Ruth the rest of his life, and he was most commonly referred to as Babe Ruth from then on.

On July 7, 1914, Dunn offered Ruth, along with Ernie Shore and Ben Egan, to Connie Mack of the Philadelphia Athletics. Dunn asked $10,000 for the trio, but Mack refused the offer. The Cincinnati Reds, who had an agreement with the Orioles, also passed on Ruth. Instead, the team elected to take George Twombley and Claud Derrick.

Two days later, on July 9, Dunn sold the trio to Joe Lannin and the Boston Red Sox. The amount of money exchanged in the transaction is disputed.

Ruth appeared in five games for the Red Sox in 1914, pitching in four of them. He picked up the victory in his major league debut on July 11; ironically, Duffy Lewis scored the winning run after pinch-hitting for Ruth. The Red Sox had many star players in 1914, so Ruth was soon optioned to the minor league Providence Grays of Providence, Rhode Island for most of the remaining season. Behind Ruth and Carl Mays, the Grays won the International League pennant.

Shortly after the season, in which he'd finished with a 2-1 record, Ruth proposed to Helen Woodford, a waitress he met in Boston. They were married in Ellicott City, Maryland, on October 17, 1914.

During spring training in 1915, Ruth secured a spot in the starting rotation. He joined a pitching staff that included Rube Foster, Dutch Leonard, and Smokey Joe Wood. Ruth won 18 games,lost eight, and helped himself by hitting 315. He also hit his first four home runs. The Red Sox won 101 games that year on their way to a victory in the World Series. Ruth was not a factor; he did not pitch in the series, and he grounded out in his only at-bat.

Ruth's off-the-field life often interfered with his performance, and sometimes he just proved to be a thorn in the side of his manager, Miller Huggins. A policeman pulled Ruth over one night for driving up a one-way street, and Babe protested, "Well, I was only going one way!" But Huggins saw nothing funny about it--Ruth was supposed to be in the hotel room at the time, not out carousing. When he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame years later, he was present for the posthumous induction of Huggins. Ruth admitted, Huggins "was the only one who could handle me."

Ruth narrowly missed winning the Triple Crown in 1924. He hit 378 to lead the American League in batting, led the major leagues with 46 home runs, and batted in 121 runs to finish second to Goose Goslin's 129. Ruth's on-base percentage was 513, the fourth of 5 years in which his OBP exceeded .500. However, the Yankees finished second, 2 games behind the Washington Senators, who went on to win their first and only World Series while based in D.C.

During spring training in 1925, Ruth fell ill, and returned to New York for what was reported as stomach surgery. The press dubbed Ruth's ailment as "the bellyache heard round the world," and wrote about an alleged hot dog binge, but more recent writers have suggested that Ruth was suffering from untreated gonorrhea. Playing just 98 games, Ruth finished the season with a .290 average and 25 home runs. The team finished next to last in the American League with a 69-85 mark. It would be 40 years before a Yankees team would again experience such a poor season.

In 1934, Babe Ruth recorded a 288 average, 22 home runs, and made the All-Star team for the second consecutive year. During the game, Ruth was the first of five consecutive strikeout victims for Carl Hubbell. In what turned out to be his last game at Yankee Stadium, only 2,000 fans attended. By this time, Ruth had reached a personal milestone of 700 home runs and was about ready to retire.

Ruth married Helen Woodford, his first wife, in 1914.Together, they adopted a daughter. They were reportedly separated as early as 1920 and as late as 1926. After they separated, Helen perished in a house fire in January 1929. Ruth and several Yankees attended her funeral.

On April 17, 1929, Ruth married actress Claire Hodgson. They stayed married until Babe Ruth's death in 1948.

Ruth regularly wintered in Florida, frequently playing golf during the off-season and while the Yankees were spring training in St. Petersburg, Florida. After retirement, he had a winter beachfront home in Treasure Island, Florida, near St.
Petersburg.

In 1936, Ruth was one of the first five players elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Two years later, Larry MacPhail, the Brooklyn Dodgers general manager, offered him a first base coaching job in June. Ruth took the job but quit at the end of the season. The coaching position was his last job in Major League Baseball. His baseball career finally came to an end in 1943. In a charity game at Yankee Stadium, he pinch hit and drew a walk.

In 1947, he became director of the American Legion's youth baseball program
In 1946, he began experiencing severe pain over his left eye. In November 1946, a visit to French Hospital in New York revealed Ruth had a malignant tumor in his neck that had encircled his left carotid artery. He received post-operative radiation therapy and female hormone treatments. In total he spent 3 months in the hospital and lost approximately 80 pounds (35 kg). He was released from the hospital in February 1947.

A parallel development in the field of chemotherapy crossed over with Ruth at this time. A new drug named teropterin, a folic acid derivative, was developed by Dr. Brian Hutchings of the Lederle Laboratories. It had been shown to cause significant remissions in children with leukemia. Ruth was administered this new drug in June 1947. He was suffering from headaches, hoarseness and had difficulty swallowing. He agreed to use this new medicine but did not want to know any details about it. All the while he was receiving this experimental medication, he did not know it was for cancer. On June 29, 1947, he began receiving injections and he responded with dramatic improvement. He gained over 20 pounds (9 kg) and had resolution of his headaches. On September 6, 1947, his case was presented anonymously at the 4th Annual Internal cancer Research Congress in St. Louis. Teropterin ended up being a precursor for methotrexate, a now commonly used chemotherapeutic agent.

It is now known that Ruth suffered from nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPCA), a relatively rare tumor located in the back of the nose near the eustachian tube. Contemporary management for NPCA includes concurrent chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

On April 27, 1947, the Yankees held a ceremony at Yankee Stadium. Despite his health problems, Ruth was able to attend "Babe Ruth Day".

Later, Ruth started the Babe Ruth Foundation, a charity for disadvantaged children. Another Babe Ruth Day held at Yankee Stadium in September 1947 helped to raise money for this charity.

After the cancer returned, Ruth attended the 25th anniversary celebration of the opening of Yankee Stadium on June 13, 1948. He was reunited with old teammates from the 1923 Yankee team and posed for photographs.

Shortly after he attended the Yankee Stadium anniversary event, Ruth was back in the hospital. He received hundreds of well-wishing letters and messages. This included a phone call from President Harry Truman. Claire helped him respond to the letters.

On July 26, 1948, Ruth attended the premiere of the film The Babe Ruth Story, a biopic about his life. William Bendix portrayed Ruth. Shortly thereafter, Ruth returned to the hospital for the final time. He was barely able to speak. Ruth's condition gradually became worse, and in his last days, scores of reporters and photographers hovered around the hospital. Only a few visitors were allowed to see him, one of whom was National League president and future Commissioner of Baseball, Ford Frick. “Ruth was so thin it was unbelievable. He had been such a big man and his arms were just skinny little bones, and his face was so haggard,” Frick said years later.


The day after Frick's visit, Babe Ruth died at age 53. His body lay in repose in Yankee Stadium. His funeral was held two days later at St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York. Ruth was then buried in the Cemetery of the Gate of Heaven in Hawthorne, New York.

At his death, the New York Times called Babe Ruth, "a figure unprecedented in American life. A born showman off the field and a marvelous performer on it, he had an amazing flair for doing the spectacular at the most dramatic moment."

Six decades after his death, Ruth's impact on American culture still commands attention. Top performers in other sports are referred to as "The Babe Ruth of ______."

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