Photo courtesy of NY Historical Society

The Game's Greatest Player
| published July 12, 2014 |

By Earl Perkins | published July 12, 2014 |
Thursday Review Features Editor

J. Edgar Hoover, Bud Abbott and Buster Keaton were born, while Frederick Douglass and Louis Pasteur passed away. X-rays were invented and Alfred Nobel created his peace prize.

Yes, it was 1895, and the Sultan of Swat was born February 8 to working-class parents in a brick-row house in Baltimore, Maryland. Who knew that George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. would grow up to become one of the world's greatest professional athletes ever? The house at 216 Emory Street is now the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum—a shrine to the Great Bambino. The home was in a tough area when Ruth was born, but now it’s three blocks west of Oriole Park at Camden Yards in an upscale community.

He set a number of baseball records en route to stardom, garnering too many nicknames to list. The words verbose and superfluous spring to mind when recalling sportswriters of yesteryear, with their creation of the Wali of Wallop, Rajah of Rap, King of Crash, Colossus of Clout, Maharajah of Mash, Terrible Titan and Jovial Giant. You get the general idea.

From a young age George Jr. grew up running the streets as he and his sister, Mamie, were lucky enough to survive childhood—unlike their six siblings. Ruth's father was a hardworking saloon keeper, with his wife working alongside him, leaving little time for proper child-rearing.

Ruth suffered from ADHD [attention deficit hyperactivity disorder], which meant in those days he was labelled an incorrigible child, a condition often managed with medication nowadays. But his condition brought out a wild and hyperactive nature which dogged Ruth throughout his life.

By the age of 7, the youngster had worn out his welcome in Ridgely's Delight, a neighborhood sandwiched between the Inner Harbor docks and railroad terminals of the Baltimore and Ohio. The area near downtown Baltimore had boomed during the mid-1800s, but was much seedier when the Ruth family appeared on the scene.

The young George Ruth was in constant trouble, patterning his behavior after local dockyard workers: throwing tomatoes at police officers, roughhousing, bullying other children, chewing tobacco and occasionally drinking. That was the only life he knew, lacking supervision and discipline from responsible adults.

Realizing their trouble-making son needed a stricter environment with better guidance, they reached out to nearby St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, which in 1902 welcomed him with open arms—sort of. George would remain at the facility for the next 12 years. St. Mary's young inmates received an education, but plenty of time was devoted to work, especially after they turned 12.

The Xavierian Brothers were comfortable dealing with orphans, pretty much running a trade school that emphasized reforming wayward youth. The brotherhood of lay men took religious vows, but members were not ordained as priests.

Ruth was a good carpenter, but he truly shined as a shirt-maker. He adjusted his own collars, even after becoming a big-time professional baseball player. The boys, anywhere from age 5 to 21, did the majority of the orphanage's work, including cooking, shoemaking and renovating the facility in 1912. Meals were simple, while strict discipline and corporal punishment were common. Several vocations were taught and students were encouraged to participate in sports.

We now know ADHD may generally limit focus, but skills may be enhanced when the mind is completely engaged in a particular subject. The Babe, along with Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison and Mozart, were figures whose ADHD increased their levels of special abilities.

Being sent to St. Mary's was the defining moment in Babe's life, introducing him to the most important influences in his life—Brother Mathias Boutlier, and baseball. One of the school's disciplinarians, Brother Mathias took a liking to George and became his father figure while there. Stern but kind, Mathias gave Ruth attention and confidence while growing up, which would dramatically change his life.

St. Mary's fielded multiple leagues, and they were broken into various age groups. Several of the monks, including brother Mathias and Brother Gilbert Cairns, drilled Babe in fundamentals. Ruth soon began to flourish at the game he came to love.

“I think a lot of Babe’s good coordination came from when he lived at St. Mary’s and played baseball with Brother Mathias," said Julia Ruth Stevens, Ruth's daughter. "He took a great interest in Daddy and Daddy loved Brother Mathias. He was the one that introduced Babe to baseball and showed him what the game was all about. Daddy did, he really did love Brother Mathias.”

Brother Mathias helped Babe become a very good fielder, but he also enjoyed playing catch, along with hitting lobs and fungoes to his willing pupil. They would work together for hours improving Ruth's skills, and Brother Mathias can also technically be credited with turning George into a pitcher.

One day, George was evidently taunting a pitcher who was struggling on the mound, so Brother Mathias responded by sending Ruth on in relief, probably thinking to teach the youth a lesson. He entered the game and had a fine outing, which led to him becoming a regular pitcher. The mound was where George would be discovered in 1914.

Jack Dunn owned the minor league Baltimore Orioles, and was constantly scouting potential major leaguers. People heard rumors about an 18-year-old pitcher with the St. Mary's Industrial traveling team, who was evidently dominating his league. Dunn signed Ruth, but he also signed for him and became his legal guardian because the young Ruth was not yet 21.

George was now playing in the International League, with Dunn as his trustee, and his world was about to change drastically. Ruth was thrust into the real world after spending his formative years—from age seven to 18—in the safer confines of St. Mary's. Because he was the team's youngest member, he stayed close to Dunn, and everyone noticed that at Spring Training.

One hundred years ago this month, Babe Ruth walked to the pitcher’s mound for the first time with Dunn beside him, and one of his new teammates shouted “Look at Dunnie and his new babe.” Writers of the day were quick to pass off good yarns as real stories, but it's a fact that George became known as "Jack's Babe," with Jack ultimately being dropped. His rights were soon sold to the Boston Red Sox.

Ruth would last 22 years as an American league pitcher and outfielder, entertaining the world from 1914 to 1935. By 1916 he'd built his reputation as a great left-handed pitcher who hit long home runs—unusual in the pre-1920 dead-ball era. He became a 20-game winner twice, along with leading Boston to three World Series crowns, but he wanted to play every day. Ruth was switched to the outfield, and responded by breaking the season record for homers in 1919.

He played six seasons in Boston, pitching 29 2/3 scoreless World Series innings, which set a record that stood for 43 years. His record was 9-5 as a pitcher, and he played more than 100 games in left field. Ruth was coming off a sensational season, breaking the home run record with 29, along with leading the league with 114 runs-batted-in and 103 runs.

With his incredible hitting, pitching and fielding skills, Ruth passed Ty Cobb as the sport's biggest attraction, but his team stumbled to a 66-71 record and sixth-place finish. In the offseason, owner Harry Frazee sold Ruth to the New York Yankees for $125,000 and $300,000 in loans, which he used to back Broadway theatrical productions.

The Yankees inherited Ruth's $10,000 annual salary, which they promptly renegotiated into a hefty raise that worked out for almost everyone concerned—except perhaps for The Red Sox. The Curse of the Bambino graces the sports history books and baseball legend: Boston would go 86 years (1918 to 2004) without a World Series pennant.

You almost have to be a baseball fan in the Northeast to understand the far-reaching and significant ramifications the Curse engendered, although some say it was just a superstition. Actually, many used the expression in a tongue-in-cheek manner, and the story didn't really grow legs until The Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy wrote Curse of the Bambino in 1990. The book became required reading in many high school English classes in New England.

The Red Sox were a baseball dynasty, winning the first World Series and piling up five Series titles total. Boston's dry spell lasted several decades, as they watched the previously mediocre Yankees become one of North America's most successful professional sports franchises. The Curse highlighted the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry for several decades, until the 2004 tilt, when the Red Sox rallied from an 0-3 best-of-seven deficit in the AL Championship Series. Oh, it was a magical season for the ages in Boston, as they also swept the St. Louis Cardinals for the World Series title.

Thousands of stories were written and told concerning the circumstances associated with this comparatively short span of time. There's the one about a part of Boston culture that when a "reverse curve" road sign on Longfellow Bridge over the city's busy Storrow Drive graffitied to read "Reverse The Curse," officials chose not to re-paint the sign. Following the 2004 Series victory, the sign was immediately edited to read "Curse Reversed" in celebration.

But we need to get back to the story at hand, which would be Ruth and his incredible run with the Yankees. He broke his own home run record in 1920 with 54, following that with 59 the following year. he caused the turnstiles to turn so fast with increased revenue, allowing the Yankees to leave the Polo Grounds, which they'd been sharing with the New York Giants baseball team. Yankee Stadium opened in 1923 and was widely known as "the house that Ruth Built."

Throughout the remainder of the 20th century, Frazee's lopsided, bone-headed trade hung like a nasty cloud over Boston and major league baseball. New York won 39 AL pennants and 26 World Series titles, while Boston wandered in a vast wasteland for 86 years.

Ruth achieved rock star status generations before there were rock stars, establishing professional batting and pitching records for the ages. He set the career home-run mark (714), slugging percentage (.690), runs batted in (RBI-2,213), bases on balls (2,062) and on-base plus slugging (OPS-1.164), some of which remain unbroken. He was among the initial 5-man class of inductees to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936, with his votes outnumbering the remaining players combined.

During Ruth's 15 years with the Yankees, they won seven league championships and four World Series titles. His big swing drove home run totals upward, brought more fans to the ballpark and boosted the sport's popularity. It also helped usher in the live-ball era, which caused the game to evolve from a low-scoring strategic game to a sport where the homer truly mattered.

Ruth, part of New York's vaunted "Murderer's Row" lineup in 1927, hit 60 homers to extend his single-season record. He led the league in home runs 12 times, finally wrapping up his career in 1935 with a short stint with the Boston Braves.

His legendary power and charismatic personality made him a larger-than-life figure during America's "Roaring Twenties," where Babe led the way with a penchant for drinking and womanizing. Adoring throngs often overlooked his reckless lifestyle because Ruth made it a point to visit children at hospitals and orphanages.

Reporters often overlooked the babe's shortcomings, because in the early days everybody rode together on the train and hung out at hotels, bars and numerous attractions. However, management was unwilling to overlook anything, and Babe was never offered a decent managerial or front-office job, despite his ardent pleadings for years.

It really broke his heart that he was kept at arm’s length following his playing career, but Ruth made numerous public appearances, especially in support of America's involvement in World War II. Cancer would visit Ruth in 1946, and he would pass away two years later.

Ruth is one of the biggest sports heroes in American culture, and considered by many the greatest baseball player of all time.


Related Thursday Review articles:

Wrigley Field at the Century Mark; Kevin Robbie; Thursday Review; June 7, 2014.

The Bird Takes Flight: 1976, the Season of Mark Fidrych; Kevin Robbie; Thursday Review; May 6, 2014.