Babe Ruth is one of baseball’s best players of all time.  He started out as a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox.  He then moved to the outfield and collected a then record of 714 home runs.  Let’s go on a journey and explore the Babe’s life.

Childhood on the streets

Babe Ruth was born on February 6,  1895. His real name was George Herman Ruth.  He was a trouble maker.  He was one of the pranksters on the block.  His parents were getting stressed out on how bad he was.  So with some hesitation,  they sent him to St.  Mary’s School and Orphanage.  He was there until he was drafted!  The purpose of the school was to teach kids to behave themselves and to find jobs.  One time he tried to escape and run away from the school.  The fence stopped him.  One of the Brother’s stopped him( The Brother’s were like the principals.  They were in charge).

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At St. Mary’s, he got his nickname ”Babe”.  He got it because he was with Brother Herman so long and went everywhere with him.  They called him Herman’s baby. Sadly,  he only got to see his parents once every two months.

Before he went to St. Mary’s,  George didn’t know how to play baseball.  He saw that the kids were playing,  so he decided to play too.  They assigned him to play catcher.  He always wanted to hit like the brothers there, but he would find out he could hit further then all of them combined.

Draft Time

The Babe was playing so well at St. Mary’s that he even attracted Major League scouts.  The Baltimore Orioles drafted him to play.  The young Babe was shocked to hear that he could play and get paid just to play ball.           

Babe the Rookie.

Even though Ruth signed with the Orioles they traded him to the Boston Red Sox.  Babe was a good south pawed pitcher for the Sox.  In his career as a pitcher,  the Babe would go 94-46. He would then move to the outfield.  At that time, the team was in debt.   The Red Sox would then trade ”The Sultan of Swat” to the New York Yankees for money.  That was a mistake by Boston.

Pride of the Yankees

Ruth would become the pride of the Yankees.  He would smack 659 homers with New York.  After Boston traded Ruth,  they went through a depressing era.  They would never win the World Series again until 2004.  This depressing time for Red Sox fans was called the ” Curse of the Bambino”.

   Legendary Moments

One of the Babe’s most known legendary moment was his ”Called Shot”.  In the World Series at Wrigley Field,  he pointed to center field.

He then got two strikes and two balls.  He put two fingers up on each hand.  The next thing he did was crush a home run to center field.  Moments before that he pointed there.  Did Babe Ruth really know that this home run was coming?  Or was he just pointing towards the fans?  That is a mystery that nobody will ever know.

Another one of Babe’s famous moments was when he visited a kid in a hospital.  The kid asked him if he could promise to hit a home run for him.  Yep,  the old Babe did that too.

      Bye, Bye Babe

At the age of 40,  having an amazing  career,  the Babe set  to retire.  Although the Yankees didn’t sign him,  he played a bad year of baseball with the Boston Braves. In his final at bat, he hit a home run.

         Epilogue

Today,  Yankee,  Red Sox,  Oriole, and Braves fans will remember Babe’s legacy forever.  Babe died because of several reasons.  He drank a lot.  He also smoked and chewed tobacco.  Babe Ruth died of throat cancer in 1948, at the age of 53.

Today,  there are monuments everywhere to remember Babe Ruth.  At Oriole Park at Camden Yards,  they have a statue of him. The Yankees retired his number in Monument park.  The Yankees also gave him a plaque in Monument Park.  Plus,  they named the front of Yankee Stadium Babe Ruth Plaza.  So, Babe Ruth’s memory continues.

Bibliography

The book used was:

Riper,  Guernsey Van.  Babe Ruth:  One

        of Baseball’s Greatest. Indianapolis:  Aladdin Paperbacks, 1959.  Print.