Babe Ruth

George Herman “Babe” Ruth was an American professional baseball player whose Major League Baseball career ran for 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Born in Baltimore on February 6, 1895, he became known by nicknames that matched the size of his fame: “the Bambino” and “the Sultan of Swat.” Ruth began as a star left-handed pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, but he reached his greatest public fame as a slugging outfielder for the New York Yankees. In 1936, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of its first five members.

Ruth’s early life was hard and tightly disciplined. At age seven, he was sent to St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys, a reformatory and orphanage in Baltimore, where he spent much of the next 12 years. The boys received an education, learned work skills, and helped operate the school. Ruth became a shirtmaker and a capable carpenter, and even during his later baseball success he adjusted his own shirt collars. At St. Mary’s he also found baseball. Brother Matthias Boutlier, the school’s Prefect of Discipline, encouraged him and became a mentor and role model. Ruth later praised Brother Matthias, and his running and hitting styles closely resembled the older man’s.

Ruth entered professional baseball in 1914, when he signed to play Minor League baseball for the Baltimore Orioles. He was soon sold to the Boston Red Sox. By 1916, he had built a reputation as an outstanding pitcher who sometimes hit long home runs, an unusual combination in the dead-ball era. He twice won 23 games in a season as a pitcher and was part of three World Series championship teams with Boston. Still, Ruth wanted to play every day. Once allowed to convert to the outfield, he broke the MLB single-season home run record in 1919 with 29.

After that season, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Ruth to the New York Yankees, a move surrounded by controversy. The sale later became tied to Boston’s 86-year championship drought and to the popular “Curse of the Bambino” superstition. With the Yankees, Ruth helped win seven American League pennants and four World Series championships over 15 years. His big swing drew fans to the ballpark and helped move baseball toward the live-ball era, when the home run became a major part of the sport. In 1927, as part of the Yankees’ “Murderers’ Row” lineup, he hit 60 home runs, extending his own single-season record by one.

Ruth’s fame was never limited to box scores. During his career, he drew intense press and public attention both for his baseball feats and for off-field drinking and womanizing. After retiring, he was denied the chance to manage a major league club, most likely because of poor behavior during parts of his playing career. In his final years, he made many public appearances, especially in support of American efforts in World War II. He became ill with nasopharyngeal cancer in 1946 and died from the disease on August 16, 1948. Ruth remains a major figure in American culture because his life joined rough beginnings, rare athletic gifts, enormous fame, and the changing shape of baseball itself.