Babe Ruth Essay

Submitted By jbeer90
Words: 745
Pages: 3

Babe Ruth or also known as George Herman Ruth Jr. was born on February 6, 1895, in Baltimore, Maryland. He was raised in a poor neighborhood in Baltimore, with his parents, Kate Schamberger-Ruth and George Herman Ruth Sr. Ruth was one of eight children born to the couple, and one of only two that survived infancy. When he was the age of 7, the trouble-making Ruth became too much of a handful for his parents. He was caught drinking, chewing tobacco and taunting local police officers. Ruth's family sent him to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, a Catholic orphanage and reformatory that became Ruth's home for the next 12 years. Ruth looked up to a monk named Brother Mathias, who became a father figure to the young boy. Mathias introduced Ruth to baseball.
At the age of 15 he was exceptional skilled both as a strong hitter and pitcher. His pitching that initially caught the attention of Jack Dunn, the owner of the minor league Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles groomed players for the major league team known as the Boston Red Sox, and Dunn saw promise in Ruth's athletic performance. At 19, the law at the time stated that Ruth had to have a legal guardian sign his baseball contract in order for him to play professionally. Dunn became Ruth's legal guardian, leading teammates to jokingly call Ruth "Dunn's new babe." Ruth quickly earned the nickname "Babe”. Ruth was the only one with the club for a short time before he was called up to the majors in Boston.
Left-handed pitcher proved immediately to be a valuable member of the team. The next five years, Ruth led the Red Sox to three championships, including the 1916 title which saw him pitch a still-record 13 scoreless innings in one game. Boston was clearly the class act of the major leagues. All that would change in 1919. Faced with financial hardships, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee needed cash to pay off his debts. The New York Yankees, which agreed in December of 1919 to buy the rights to Ruth for the impressive sum of $100,000.The deal, came to shape both franchises in unforeseen ways. Ruth's departure spelled the end of the team's winning streak. It wouldn't be until 2004 that the club would win another World Series, a championship drought that later sports writers dubbed "The Curse of the Bambino." Ruth leading the way, New York turned into a dominant force, winning four World Series titles over the next 15 seasons.
Babe Ruth who became a full-time outfielder, was at the heart of all the success, unleashing a level of power that had never been seen before in the game. In 1919, Ruth set a single-season home run record of 29 runs. This was just the beginning of a ton of record-breaking performances by the Babe. In 1920, his first year in New York, he scored 54 home runs. His second season he broke his own record by hitting 59