FACTS ABOUT BABE RUTH

1. He was born George Herman Ruth on Feb. 6, 1895. (For many years he thought his birthday was Feb. 7, 1894.  He discovered the true date when he applied for a passport for a baseball tour of Japan.)  He was not an orphan when he entered St. Mary’s Industrial School in Baltimore at age 7.  His parents sent him there because he was an extremely incorrigible hellion.  He may have gotten that from his father who owned several saloons and was killed in a bar fight.  “Bambino”, as his family called him, chewed tobacco and drank whiskey before he was 8 years old.  He was trained to be a shirt maker at the school.
2. His baseball skills were noticed at the reformatory school and he was signed to a minor league contract by the Baltimore Orioles on Valentine’s Day in 1914. Five months later, he was sold to the Boston Red Sox where he made his major league debut. He struck out on his first at bat and also on his last (as a Boston Brave).
3. He began his career as a pitcher – a damned good one. He pitched in 127 games before he played a game in the field.  He won 89 games over 6 years with the Red Sox, including 24 in 1917.  He led the Red Sox to three World Series championships (they would not win another for 86 years –  “The Curse of the Bambino”).  He was considered one of the best pitchers in the major leagues, but he only pitched in 6 games with the Yankees.
4. Starting in 1918, Ruth was allowed to play in some games where he was not the starting pitcher. He hit eleven home runs, tying for the league lead in a war-shortened season.  In 1919, he made the transition away from pitching, partly because crowds wanted to see him hit every day.  And he wanted to hit every day.
5. In 1920, he was sold to the Yankees for $100,000 and a $300,000 loan. It was to raise money for a struggling organization, not to finance the play “No, No Nanette”.  The Yankees won 20 championships to Boston’s zero over the next 44 years.
6. His home run dominance took off in 1919 when he hit 29 (more than most teams), then 54 in 1920 and 59 in 1921 (second was 24!). He ended up leading the league in home runs 11 times. His 1921 season is considered the greatest in baseball history.  Besides the unbelievable 59 home runs, he batted .378 with an on base percentage of .512 and slugging of .846.  He had 171 RBI and 457 total bases (still the record).
7. When he retired, he held the career records for home runs, RBI, total bases, walks, strikeouts, on base percentage (still second to Ted Williams), and slugging percentage (still the record at .690).
8. And yet, in 1936 when the inaugural class of Hall of Fame members was voted on, he did not get all the votes and finished second to Ty Cobb. That’s right, eleven voters decided Ruth should not be in the Hall of Fame!
9. He once shared in a no hitter. Ruth walked the first batter, argued the calls, took a swing at the umpire, and was ejected.  Ernie Shore came in.  The runner was thrown out stealing. Shore then retired the next 26 batters.
10. He was not just a slugger. He stole home ten times in his career.  Unfortunately, his most famous steal attempt was a disaster.  In game seven of the 1926 World Series, he drew a walk to become the potential tying run in the ninth inning of game seven, but was thrown out trying to steal second.
11. He was married twice, but was far from a faithful spouse. Ruth lived large.  He accumulated a lot of speeding tickets.  He once spent a night in jail for speeding.  When he was released, he was given a police motorcycle escort to get to Yankee Stadium for the game.  He once ate 18 hot dogs before a game and often played with a hangover.  One of his teammates said:  “You don’t room with Ruth, you room with Ruth’s suitcase.”
12. In 1921, the Curtiss Candy Company came out with its Baby Ruth candy bar. To avoid paying Ruth, the company insisted the bar was named after Grover Cleveland’s daughter Ruth (who died in 1904).
13. He did not promise a dying boy to hit a home run for him. The true story is the boy was in the hospital after falling off a horse.  A friend of the family brought an autographed baseball and a promise of a home run from Ruth.  Ruth did hit three home runs in the World Series and then visited the boy.
14. The famous “called shot” was probably also a media creation. In a 1932 World Series game in Chicago, the crowd and the opposing team were extremely hostile.  When Ruth came to the plate, the noise was deafening.  Ruth took the first two pitches, which were strikes.  According to the legend,  he then pointed to the outfield bleachers, stepped back in the box, and hit a long home run where he had pointed.  In actuality, although Ruth confirmed this version, he most likely pointed at the taunting Cubs in their dugout.  Regardless, it was a Ruthian moment.
15. There is no record of his pithy response to why he was making more than Pres. Hoover. In 1931, Ruth signed the astronomical contract for $80,000 per year (a paltry $1.1 million in todays money).  While more than Hoover’s $75,000, he probably did not say:  “Why not?  I had a better year than he did.”
16. He appeared in four movies, including “The Pride of the Yankees”. For that biography of teammate Lou Gehrig, he lost 40 pounds to play his younger self.

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