On February 6, 1895, George Herman Ruth Jr. was th Essay Example For Students

On February 6, 1895, George Herman Ruth Jr. was th Essay e first child bornto a saloonkeeper and his wife in Baltimore, Maryland. The family livedupstairs over the bar, and Mrs. Ruth had seven children after Babe,although only one, a daughter Mary Margaret, called Mamie, survived. Babe was an absolute terror as a child. At the tender age of seven, he wasplaying hooky from school, stealing fruits and vegetables, chewing tobacco,and drinking his fathers whiskey. He told Fred Lieb, I learned early todrink beer, wine, whiskey, and I think I was about five when I first chewedtobacco. There was a lot of cousins in Pops saloon, so I learned a lotof swear words, some really bad ones. Finally, his parents were no longerable to force him to go to school and sent him away to receive formaltraining and reform at St. Marys Industrial School for Boys. While livingat The Home, Babe took up baseball and was a left-handed catcher on theschool championship team, the Red Sox, and he soon became the schools bestplayer. After several failed parole attempts and the death of his motherin 1910, Ruth was released from St. Marys at the age of nineteen and foundthat his reputation as a baseball player had spread. Jack Dunns Baltimore Orioles, then a minor league team, signed Ruth toa $600 contract in February of 1914. Barely a week later, he hit his firsthome run, which prompted one newspaper reporter to remark, The hit willlive in the memory of all who saw it. The ball carried so far to rightfield that Ruth walked around the bases. Despite his powerful bat,however, while with the Orioles, Ruth was considered strictly a pitcher andmanaged to win 14 games (and acquire his nickname Babe) before Dunn soldhim to the Boston Red Sox in July of the same year. Ruth kept up hisamazing left-handed pitching, winning 18 games in 1915 and 23 in 1916, andin the 1918 World Series, he pitched 29 consecutive scoreless innings, arecord that lasted more than 40 years. By 1919, Ruth had cemented his reputation as a great hitter as well,hitting 29 home runs in a single season, breaking the major-league record. Also in 1919, a Red Sox owner sold Ruth, who was by then a nationalcelebrity, to the New York Yankees desperate for cash. The Babe and NewYork City was a perfect match. In his first season, Ruth belted an unheardof 54 home runs. In 1921, he hit 59. In only three seasons, Babe hadamassed a whopping 124 home runs, more than any other batter had hit in anentire season. Attendance soared and Babe began to react and play to hisfans, especially those of the opposing team. While playing for the Yankeesin the 1928 World Series in St. Louis, Ruth was booed cheerfully byCardinal fans as he trotted to left field to take his position. He grinnedplayfully and pointed beyond the right field wall, indicating thedestination of his forthcoming hit. In his next at bat, Babe delivered onhis promise, (his alleged Called Shot would not take place until 1932),then again, and again, and by the end of the game he had hit three homeruns, the second time hed managed to do so in a single World Series game. Between 1926 and 1931, Babe averaged 50 home runs a year, including 60 in1927, as a member of the infamous Murderers Row. He led the AmericanLeague in home runs 12 out of 14 seasons. On January 16, 1920, eleven daysafter the announcement of Babe Ruths sale to the New York Yankees,Prohibition went into effect in the United States. The country was nearlyon the verge of social revolution, and accordingly, baseball had alreadybegun to experience an explosive revolution of its own. In the firsthalf of the century, a safe, scientific strategy, low scores, andeffective pitching had dominated the game. Standout players like Cobb,Wagner, and others could certainly hit, however, the emphasis was on teamscoring rather than individual performance. Then Babe Ruth arrived in NewYork. What caused the explosion? Robert Creamer asks, The end of thewar, Ruth, money and the lively ball. While Ruths seemingly effortlessability to hit home runs did much to attract a record 38,600 spectators toPolo Ground s one Sunday afternoon during his first season, his timing alsohad a profound effect on his success. Ruth arrived in New York after WorldWar I, when the Yankees had money and were financially able to takeadvantage of the widespread interest in their newly acquired sensation. .u6c56174325fa7725812de5a83482b0d0 , .u6c56174325fa7725812de5a83482b0d0 .postImageUrl , .u6c56174325fa7725812de5a83482b0d0 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u6c56174325fa7725812de5a83482b0d0 , .u6c56174325fa7725812de5a83482b0d0:hover , .u6c56174325fa7725812de5a83482b0d0:visited , .u6c56174325fa7725812de5a83482b0d0:active { border:0!important; } .u6c56174325fa7725812de5a83482b0d0 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u6c56174325fa7725812de5a83482b0d0 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u6c56174325fa7725812de5a83482b0d0:active , .u6c56174325fa7725812de5a83482b0d0:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u6c56174325fa7725812de5a83482b0d0 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u6c56174325fa7725812de5a83482b0d0 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u6c56174325fa7725812de5a83482b0d0 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u6c56174325fa7725812de5a83482b0d0 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u6c56174325fa7725812de5a83482b0d0:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u6c56174325fa7725812de5a83482b0d0 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u6c56174325fa7725812de5a83482b0d0 .u6c56174325fa7725812de5a83482b0d0-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u6c56174325fa7725812de5a83482b0d0:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Social Identity in the Breakfast Club EssayThe result was a rising zest for public spectacles, and Ruth rose with theflood, in just the right place. Other hitters also seemed anxious torise with the flood, by copying Ruths full swing, causing battingaverages to jump from .250 in the fifteen seasons before 1919, to above.285 by 1921, and they remained in the .280s through the 1930s. While with the Yankees, Babe also met with his share of trouble, buthis rebel streak lent itself quite nicely to his emerging larger-than-lifeheroic image. In 1922, he was suspended five times for objectionablebehavior, which included bad-mouthing umpires and chasing after an abusivefan. By 1925, Babes first marriage to Helen Woodford was falling apartamid rumors of his affair with the woman who was to become his second wife,he was betting on horse races, drinking heavily, speeding, sleeping withan endless parade of women, and missing much of the season due to variousillnesses. In Field of Screams: The Dark Underside of Americas NationalPastime, Richard Scheinin has this to say about The Bambinos behavior:Red Smith once wrote, Many players are physical animals with a layerof muscle enclosing the intellect. That describes Babe Ruth to a T. Hewas a man-child, egocentric and out of control: the very prototype for themodern athlete, drunk on headlines, who cant get enough money, enoughdr ink or drugs, enough women. These characters had been in the game allalong, but Ruth truly delivered the whole ball of wax. He set thestandard. Bibliography:Smelser, M. (1975), The Life That Ruth Built: A BiographyThe Life That Ruth Built: A Biography Richard Marth 6/8/033rd PeriodGym