Babe Ruth

Essay by Mark StolzoffCollege, UndergraduateA+, December 1996

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Babe Ruth is an American hero. He transformed baseball from a sport, to a national pastime when it needed it the most. Coming off of the wake of the Black Socks scandal, baseball was headed downhill. It had a bad reputation, and interest was waning. The dead-ball era was dragging on, and there were to few baseball 'purists' left to support it. Baseball was in search of a new audience, and Babe Ruth handed it to them on a silver platter. Babe Ruth started the Home run era of baseball. In the dead-ball scores of 2-1 1-0 was the norm. With the advent of the Home run era, games that averaged 1-2 runs an inning were common. What once took a couple hits, walks, and a stolen base to accomplish were being done with the single swing of a bat. Baseball was now much more enjoyable to watch. Then with the invention of the radio, millions of people enjoyed listening to it.

George Herman Ruth was born in the early 1890's to a couple of German immigrants who ran a local bar. His parents had there hand's full with the bar, and had very little time to tend to young George. His trouble making, and lack of time on his parents part eventually landed him in St. Mary's Boys school. It was here that he met the man who Babe claimed to be the greatest man who ever lived, Brother Mathias. Brother Mathias was the one who handed Babe his punishments, and it was Babe who always touted his strong, yet caring hand that led him to baseball. It was also at St. Mary's that Babe started his life of giving. He would save up his money from his job in the Tailor shop and often spend it on large...