George Herman "Babe" Ruth was born February 6, 1895 at 216 Emory Street, a Baltimore row house that is now just a long fly ball from Oriole Park High School: St. Mary's HS (Baltimore, MD)(All Transactions)
High School: St. Mary's HS (Baltimore, MD)(All Transactions)
Debut: July 11, 1914 (Age 19)
Debut: July 11, 1914 (Age 19)
Most Valuable Player MVP Award & Cy Young Awards
Rookie of the Year Award & Rolaids Relief Awards
Post-Season Awards & All-Star Game MVP Awards
Manager of the Year Awards
Comeback Player of the Year Awards
Pitching Champions (lowest ERA as recognized at time)
Triple Crown Winners
National League Gold Glove Awards / Alternate View
National League Silver Slugger Awards
American League Silver Slugger Awards
Baseball Hall Of Fame Inductees
Hall of Famer Batting Stats
Hall of Famer Pitching Stats
Most times in the All-Star Game
The Sporting News Pitchers of the Year & Players of the Year
Hank Aaron Award & Branch Rickey Award Winners
The Hutch Award, Lou Gehrig Award, Babe Ruth Award & Roberto Clemente Award Winners
With its titles and the Babe, Boston was clearly the class act of the major leagues. All that would change in 1919, however, with a single stroke of a pen. Faced with financial hardships, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee needed cash to pay off his debts. He found help in the New York Yankees, which agreed in December of 1919 to buy the Babe's rights for the then-impressive sum of $100,000.
The deal came to shape both franchises in unforeseen ways. For Boston, the departure of the Babe 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."
In 1919, while with the Red Sox, Ruth set a single-season home run record of 29 runs. This turned out to be just the beginning of a series of record-breaking performances by Ruth. In 1920, his first year in New York, he scored 54 home runs. In his second season he broke his own record by hitting 59 home runs and, in less than 10 seasons, Ruth had made his mark as baseball's all-time home run leader. Yet the athlete seemed determined to continue breaking his own records. In 1927, he outdid himself again by hitting 60 home runs in a season's time—a record that stood for 34 years. By this time, his presence was so great in New York that the new Yankee Stadium (built in 1923) was dubbed "the house that Ruth built."
Ruth's success on the field was matched by a lifestyle that catered perfectly to a pre-Depression America hungry for a fast lifestyle. Rumors of his large appetite for food, alcohol, and women, as well as his tendency toward extravagant spending and high living, were as legendary as his exploits at the plate. This reputation, whether true or imagined, hurt Ruth's chances of becoming a team manager in later life. Ball clubs, wary of his lifestyle, didn't want to take a chance on the seemingly irresponsible Ruth. In 1935 he was lured back to Boston to play for the Braves and for the opportunity, so he thought, to manage the club the following season. The job never materialized.
On May 25, 1935, an overweight and greatly diminished Babe Ruth reminded fans of his greatness one last time when hit three home runs in a single game at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The following week, Ruth officially retired. He was one of the first five players inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.
While he eventually earned the title of coach for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1938, Ruth never achieved his goal of managing a major league team. Known throughout his life as a generous man, he gave much of his time in his last years to charitable events instead. On June 13, 1948, he made one last appearance at Yankee Stadium to celebrate the building's 25th anniversary. Sick with cancer, Ruth had become a shadow of his former, gregarious self.
leaving much of his estate to the Babe Ruth Foundation for underprivileged children. He was survived by his second wife, Claire, and his daughters, Dorothy and Julia.
at Camden Yards. The property was leased by Babe's grandfather, Pius Schamberger, who made his living as an upholsterer