Today in Sport History: A Babe is Born

February 6, 1895

George Herman "Babe" Ruth is born

George, Sr. and Kate had 8 children.  Unfortunately for them, only a quarter of them survived.  Fortunately for the baseball world, one of them was George, Jr. 

As a youngster, Babe had a lot of unsupervised time.  Both parents worked long hours.  Which one of is wouldn’t get into a lot mischief if given the circumstances?  At one point, the older George was an owner of a tavern, and he brought the younger one along.  That environment did not help Junior’s decision making. 

By the tender age of 7, Babe had grown too much to handle for his parents.  They sent him off to St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys.  That was the official title, but it was more of an orphanage.  There, George learned trades that would make him a useful member of society later in life.  The boys also learned sports—boxing, football, and of course baseball. 

Under the careful tutelage of Brother Matthias, Babe worked on all aspects of the game.  He became so good, that the school sent an invitation to the owner of the Baltimore Orioles to watch Babe play.  It was February 1914, shortly after Babe’s 19^th birthday.  Jack Dunn liked what he saw, and because of Babe’s age, he would have to become his guardian to take him out of St. Mary’s. 

It was Dunn’s other players on the Orioles who gave George his now famous nickname. 

Babe played well enough to be sold to the Red Sox that same year.  He appeared in only five games that season, four of them as a pitcher.  His Major League debut was July 11, 1914, and he was credited with the win.  Nonetheless, he spent much of the season with the Red Sox minor league team in Providence, where they would win the International League pennant. 

1915 became a pivotal year for the Babe.  He won 18 games with an ERA of just 2.44.  The following year, he led the league with an ERA of just 1.75 to go with 23 wins.  In 1917, he completed all but 3 of his 38 starts, winning 24 with an ERA of just over 2. 

A funny thing happened along the way of becoming one of the most prolific pitchers of all time.  In 1918, Babe’s hitting power forced him to become an everyday player.  He knocked 11 out of the park to tie for the league lead.  His final season in Boston, 1919, the Babe became the first player in Major League history to belt 29 homeruns. 

The day after Christmas that year, the Babe was sold to New York.  The Red Sox would go on to face a curse of epic proportions, and the Yankees would go on to have success of epic proportions.  His first season there, he blasted 54 homeruns, then 59 the following year.  He drove in 171 runs, batted .376, and had a slugging percentage of .846 that year.  The high water mark came in 1927 with his famous 60 homeruns.  The 1927 Yankee’s, Murderer’s Row, is still thought of by many as the best baseball club ever assembled. 

The Babe would go back to Boston to finish out his career with the Braves.  His final homerun came May 25, 1935 at Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field.  He actually hit 3 dingers that day.  One source indicates that number 714 is in Baseball’s Hall of Fame.  He would walk off the field as a player for good just 5 days later.   

He was part of Baseball’s first Hall of Fame class in 1936, and he died 12 years later on August 16^th.

America’s first sports superstar, Babe Ruth, was born on this day 1895, at 216 Emory St in Baltimore, Maryland.