He was a man beloved. Talkative, playful, full of energy, people said he was a big kid, the kind of person who never grew up. But, as a baseball player, he was mighty, the best of his time, maybe even the best of all-time.
Babe Ruth was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1895. As a child, Babe was a troublemaker. He skipped school, took part in fights, and when his father who owned a saloon wasn’t looking, Babe took swigs of beer. His unruly behavior led his parents to send him to the St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys, a reform school, at the age of seven.
At the school Babe found discipline, he found mentorship, and while it’s not entirely clear how he began playing the sport, he found baseball. And in baseball, he found much success. He would go on to stardom in the MLB, playing first for the Red Sox and then for many years with the Yankees, where he set numerous records, some of which stand today. And for the Yankees, who had never won a title before Babe joined the team, he would lead them to four World Series victories.
After twenty-two seasons, he retired in 1935. He held 56 Major League Baseball records at retirement, including most home runs in a season and most total home runs.
Amongst a number of philosophies he had for life, Babe would say, “You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.”
Sources:
Portrait taken in 1920 – Babe Ruth, full-length portrait, standing, facing slightly left, in baseball uniform, holding baseball bat Irwin, La Broad, & Pudlin. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/92507380/>
“Bat It Outǃ” by George Herman (‘Babe’) Ruth, in The Rotarian (July 14, 1940), pp. 12-14 / “Babe Ruth.” Wikiquote, Wikimedia Foundation, https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Babe_Ruth
“Babe Ruth.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_Ruth