My First Baseball Hero

I never saw him play. He died 2 months and 2 days after I was born. But from the time I first knew about his exploits on a ballfield, he was who I wanted to be like.

In many ways we had the same type of youth. I was put in foster care at 10. He went to a home at age 7. Only difference was he was considered incorrigible, and I was simply a burden on my mom.

We were both left handed. He started out as a catcher, I played the outfield. Later I moved to 1st base. He lost his mother at 12 and was rarely visited by family.

My mom lived to be 42, and died when I was 24. My mom rarely visited me after I went in the home and in the 14 years between when she did that, and she died, I saw her exactly 7 times.

My hero? George Herman ( Babe ) Ruth. I read a book about his life when I was 8. Found it in the school library. I also read about some other players, Gehrig, and Ty Cobb. But there was just something bigger than life about the Babe.

I saw a movie about his life, and in a child’s eyes, I thought wow, he sure looks a lot like William Bendix! But most of that movie was Hollywood fantasy. Of course, you do not know that when you are that young.

He of course played himself in Pride of the Yankees with Gary Cooper as Gehrig. But even in the short scenes he had, that bigger than life personality came out.

Another thing about Babe, he loved kids. He spent a lot of time with the kids back in those days. Constantly autographing balls, and teaching them some of his secrets of the game.

He was a pretty good pitcher. But with the bat, he was a force. Many might not agree, but he saved the game in the years following the Black Sox scandal. His homers incited an excitement that the game had not seen.

So the dead ball went the way of the Dodo bird and the era of the power hitter arrived. For most of his career, no one could match him. Oh, some came close, most notably Foxx and Wilson. But none hit the prodigious shots he did.

He inspired awe even when striking out. His life style was as over the top as he was. He was known to down a half dozen hot dogs before a game, along with a few soda’s. It caught up to him in 1924. He became ill and suffered what one reporter called, the big bellyache.

He had won what would be his only batting title that year. But the Yankees lost the pennant to the Senators. He played only 96 games in 1925 and had what for him was a rather pedestrian season.

He was back to being Babe in 1926 although the Yanks lost the series to the Cardinals. That was the series where Grover Alexander struck out Tony Lazzeri with the bases loaded.

1927 he hit his 60 homers. A mark that would stand until Maris beat it in 1961. His called shot, or at least the legend of his called shot came in the 32 series against the Cubs. 1932 was also his last superstar type year.

He hit .301 in 33, but in 34 his average dipped to .288 with only 22 homers. Gehrig was the star of the team by then. Babe went on a barnstorming tour that winter. Ruppert, the Yankee owner began trying to find some team who would take Ruth as a manager. Connie Mack considered it, but then changed his mind. Ruppert did offer Ruth the manager position at the Yankees top farm team, but Ruth’s wife and agent talked him out of it.

Later Ruppert began discussions with the Boston Braves. The Braves were a modest success, but drew terribly. They wanted the Babe as a gate attraction. Fuch’s reportedly told Ruth he would get some of the profits, become a team vice president, and be consulted on all team transactions. In addition, he would be the assistant manager to Bill McKechnie. So on Feb 26th Babe was traded to Boston.

Babe hit a HR his first game back in Boston, and had 2 hits in the second game also. But after that, it was all downhill. Babe soon realized that he had been lied to by Fuchs and Ruppert, and asked to retire. Fuchs asked him to stay through a Memorial day doubleheader in Philly.

On May 25th, Ruth had one last great day in the majors. He went 4-4 with 3 homers, the last one of his career and the game went over the roof at Forbes Field. The first time anyone had hit a fair ball completely out of Forbes Field. Contrary to the movie about his life, he did not retire after that game. He kept his word to Fuch’s and played through the Memorial day double header.

On June 2nd, Ruth retired after an argument with Fuchs. The Braves, 10-27 when Babe left finished at 38-115. The worst winning percentage in modern baseball history. Ruth was elected to the Hall in 1936. He was the only member of that first class,  Cobb, Wagner, Mathewson, and Johnson who was never offered a managerial job in the majors.

Not getting the chance to manage was a major disappointment to Babe. But most teams felt his flamboyant life style and personality would not be good traits for a manager. Not getting a managerial position caused him to go into a deep depression. The Dodgers hired him as a coach in 1938. He got along with everyone except Leo Durocher, who was hired to replace Grimes after the season, so Babe left.

He spoke at Lou Gehrig’s day at Yankee Stadium on July 4th in 1939. During the war he made many appearances to help the war effort. In 1946, Babe began experiencing pain behind his eye and had difficulty swallowing. He went to the hospital and a inoperable tumor was found. His fame allowed him to have many experimental treatments.

On April 27th there was an observance of Babe Ruth day around the majors. Many team mates spoke about Ruth at the ceremony, and Babe himself made a short statement. But his voice was low and very raspy. I have heard a recording of that speech, but do not know where to find it on tape. One June 13th, 1948 Babe made his final appearance at Yankee Stadium dressed in his familiar #3 uniform and leaning on a bat for support. I was born at 1:15 Am the next morning.

On August 16th, 1948, the Babe passed away. He was 53 years old. His open coffin was placed in the rotunda of Yankee Stadium for 2 days, and over 77,000 people viewed him during that time. Babe was laid to rest at Gates of Heaven cemetery in Hawthorne New York. Fans to this day still leave tributes at his grave site.

Larger than life, to many eyes the greatest baseball player that ever lived. I for one would agree. All around he was a great player. He was the savior of the game. And he was my first baseball hero.