Babe Ruth

Ruth was born at 216 Emory Street in southern Baltimore, Maryland. The house, only a block from where Oriole Park at Camden Yards now stands, was rented by his maternal grandfather, Pius Schamberger, a German immigrant who was an upholsterer. Ruth's parents, Kate and George, Sr., lived above the saloon they owned and operated on Camden Street, coincidentally located where center field of the Oriole Park is today. Kate would walk to her father's home each time she gave birth to a child, eight in all. Only Babe and his sister, Mary (some sources give her name as Marnie), survived infancy. Young George was known for mischievous behavior. He skipped school, ran the streets, and committed petty crimes. By age seven, he was drinking, chewing tobacco, and had become difficult for his parents to control. Mary recalled how their father would beat Babe in a desperate attempt to bring the boy into line, but to no avail. He was finally sent to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, a school run by Catholic brothers. Brother Matthias, a Roman Catholic brother and the school's disciplinarian, became a major influence in his life, the one man Babe respected above all others. It was Brother Matthias who taught him baseball, working with him for countless hours on hitting, fielding and, later, pitching.


The young Ruth (top row, far left) while at St Mary's Industrial School for Boys, where he learned the fundamentals of baseball.Because of his "toughness," George became the team's catcher. He liked the position because he was involved in every play. One day, as his team was losing, George started mocking his own pitcher. Brother Matthias promptly switched him from catcher to pitcher to teach him a lesson, but instead of getting his comeuppance, George shut the other team down.

Brother Gilbert brought George to the attention of Jack Dunn, owner and manager of the minor-league Baltimore Orioles, and the man often credited with discovering him. In 1914 Dunn signed 19-year-old Ruth to pitch for his club, and took him to spring training in Florida, where a strong performance with both bat and ball saw him make the club, while his precocious talent and childlike personality saw him nicknamed "Dunn's Babe." On April 22, 1914, "The Babe" pitched his first professional game, a 6-0 victory over the Buffalo Bisons, also of the International League.

On July 4 the Orioles had a record of 47-22, but their finances were in poor condition. In 1914 the breakaway Federal League, a rebel major league which would last only two years, placed a team in Baltimore, across the street from the minor league Orioles, and the competition hurt Orioles' attendance significantly. To make ends meet, Dunn was obliged to dispose of his stars for cash, and he sold Ruth's contract with two other players to Joseph Lannin, owner of the Boston Red Sox, for a sum rumored to be between $20,000 and $35,000.

Impact on Baseball

Ruth's impact on baseball went beyond his statistics. Attendance, which had stagnated in the 1910s, greatly increased because of the attention Ruth brought to the game, and he was at the forefront of the new live ball era that revolutionized how the game was played. Some people even gave Ruth credit for "saving" baseball after the 1919 Black Sox scandal.

Increased Attendance

Ruth was not the only reason more fans were coming to the ballpark; some people wished to escape the post–World War I angst and wanted a "Return to Normalcy", as a 1920 Presidential campaign slogan of Warren G. Harding put it. The dramatic increase in home runs and scoring was also getting fans' attention. However, it is no coincidence that the Ruth-led 1920 Yankees shattered the league attendance mark. The Yankees drew nearly 1.3 million fans, breaking the old mark of the 1908 New York Giants by nearly 400,000 fans. Attendance dramatically increased in every major league city in 1920, and seven teams set their own attendance records. The attention Ruth generated for the game with all his home runs, playing in New York, his personality, and even his off-the-field activities (positive or not), were bringing an unprecedented spotlight to baseball. One reporter wrote, "This new fan didn't know where first base was, but he had heard of Babe Ruth and wanted to see him hit a home run. When the Babe hit one, the fan went back the next day and knew not only where first base was, but second base as well." Baseball still had problems - a segregated game, competitive imbalance, and owners with complete control over the players - but the popularity of the game increased so much that the 1920s has often been called baseball's first Golden Age, and Babe Ruth can justifiably be given a large share of the credit.

Beginning of the live ball era

Ruth's home runs were also at the center of an offensive explosion in baseball. In 1918, the major league batting average was .254; in 1921 it was .291. The league ERA went from 2.77 to 4.02, runs increased 25% and home runs increased 300% over the same time span. In just a few years, baseball had gone from the most anemic hitting era in baseball history (the dead-ball era) to one of the greatest hitting eras—the 1920s.

A few factors have been cited for the dramatic increase in offense. One major reason was that baseball in 1920 outlawed the spitball, emery ball, and all unorthodox pitching deliveries. Another factor for increased scoring was the league mandate to regularly replace the baseball during a game. Previously, the same discolored, tobacco-stained ball was used over and over until it was falling apart. The overused ball would lose its resiliency, making it much more difficult to hit it for distance. The impetus for this change was the death of Ray Chapman in 1920, who was killed when he was hit in the head with a dirty, darkened ball thrown by Carl Mays. The darkened ball may have contributed to Chapman losing it in the hitting background.

Another reason given for the increase in home runs was that more players were emulating Ruth's full, free swing. Before Ruth and the Live Ball Era, the emphasis was for batters to choke up on the bat and hit for direction, not distance (similarly to cricket case). With his swing, Ruth showed it was possible to hit a prodigious amount of home runs, and more players started to swing for the fences. With the home run now a weapon, more managers lessened their previous absolute control of the offense, and started to play for more runs by giving their players freedom to swing away. By 1921, stolen bases were half the total from just a few years earlier, and the use of the sacrifice and hit and run, other overused dead-ball strategies, also decreased.

Skeptical of the new offense in the game, some writers of the time claimed the ball was livened (usually done by winding it tighter, or changing the cork center, or both). This assertion even became accepted as a fact over time, even without scientific evidence that the ball had changed. A 1920 study confirmed the ball was the same as in previous years, and early in 1921, also hearing rumors about the "juiced" ball, National League President John Heydler launched his own investigation and also concluded the ball was no different. Heydler's findings stated the outlawing of the spitball was the predominant factor for the increased scoring. Those who claimed the ball was livened may not have had hard evidence, but they may have had history and statistics on their side, as only one other time (in 1890's, when the pitching mound was moved back, which led to a dramatic increase in scoring) in baseball history had (and has) there been such a quantum leap in offense over such a short time.