October 1st, 1932: it was the fifth inning of the 3rd game of the 1932 World Series. Ruth is at-bat. Stepping into the batters box, he points to centerfield. He is determined to hit the ball there. On the next pitch, Ruth smacks a homer into center field! The crowd goes wild, cheering for the New York Yankees. Babe Ruth is an influential American because he forever changed the game of baseball.
George Herman Ruth Jr. was born on February 6th, 1895 in Baltimore, Maryland to parents, George Sr. and Kate. He was one of eight children, four boys and four girls (“Babe Ruth”). When Babe was about 16, his mother died of tuberculosis. About eight years after his mother’s death, his father was killed in a fistfight with his second wife’s brother. The cause of his father’s death was a fractured skull. After all of this, only Babe and his younger sister were still alive (Fogel). When Babe was younger, his parents were never around so he didn’t have any strict authority in his life. His parents would leave him and his sister unsupervised, causing him to get into trouble; skipping school and causing neighborhood problems (“Babe Ruth”).
While Babe was at St. Mary’s he met Brother Matthais, a monk and father figure to Babe. One day in 1911 while Babe was playing, Jack Dunn, the owner of the Baltimore Orioles was watching him play. After watching him for less than an hour, he recruited Babe due to his baseball potential (“Babe Ruth”). In order for Babe to legally play for the Orioles, Dunn had to become his legal guardian in order to complete the contracts. When Dunn brought Babe to meet the other players, they gave him the nickname “Jacks Newest Babe”; this is where he developed the name “Babe”. Babe was 19 when he was drafted. He batted and...
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...also encourage younger children to act right and look up to God. If there is one thing that is for sure it would be that, “he made Yankees the Yankees” (Fagan).
Works Cited
“Babe Ruth.” Babe Ruth. Family of Babe Ruth and Babe Ruth League C/O Luminary Group. 2011. Web. 11 April 2014.
Bedingfield, Gary. “Baseball in World War II.” Baseball in Wartime. N.p. 2014. Web. 24 April 2014.
Fagan, Ryan. “Babe Ruth, The Beginning of an Era.” Sporting News 5/23/2011; page 28. MAS Complete. Web. 21 April 2014.
Fogel, Malrshall. “Babe Ruth: How did it all Begin.” Professional Sports Authenticator. N.p n.d. Web. 30 April 2014.
Ruth, Babe. “Babe Ruth’s last message: The Kids Cann’t Take It if We Don’t Give It!” Catholic Education Resource Center. N.p. n.d. Web. 28 April 2014.
Stewart, Wayne. Baseball’s All-Time Greatest Hitters Babe Ruth. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1951. Print.
In the August 30, 1905 edition of Detroit’s Free Press, the sportswriters ran a small blurb announcing the arrival of a Detroit Tigers rookie, Ty Cobb. They stated, “Cobb left the South Atlantic League with a batting average of .328. He will not pile up anything like that in this league, and he doesn’t expect to” (Allen 177). Their prediction ironically rung true. Cobb hit better than their projected .328 batting average twenty times in his twenty four seasons (McCallum 217). Tyrus Raymond Cobb’s prolific career leads many fans and historians to believe that he deserves the title of greatest hitter of all time. However, some critics would argue that Ted Williams warrants this distinction. Unfortunately for Williams and his fans, the hitting prowess of Williams falls short of Cobb’s. While Williams arguably displayed a great hitting ability, Cobb remains the better batsman.
He played with them for about three to four years. He moved from several other ball clubs in the Negro Leagues and also played with some of the greatest players in the Negro Leagues that never had the chance in the Majors. Such players as Jud Wilson, Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston and Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe that are all in the Negro League Hall of Fame. Paige was known as one of the best pitchers of his day and age. He had a commanding fastball and that is what he threw until everyone finally got use to seeing it with its blazing speed.
But a sports writer named Tris Speaker thought that maybe he should have stayed as a pitcher when he joined the Yankees when he said this, “Ruth made a grave mistake when he gave up pitching. Working once a week, he might have lasted a long time and become a great star. After Babe’s first year with the Yankees, he already looked like he was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime talent. He brought so much power to the plate and so much excitement to the game, it was unreal. In his first year with the Yankees, he had a .376 batting average with a insane 54 homeruns, the most ever in a season by a player. That wasn’t the only year he set the homerun record. The next year he hit 59 homeruns, and then he hit 60 homeruns in 1927. In Nine years with the Yankees so far, Ruth as a .355 batting average and an enormous amount of homeruns with 467. Teammates have loved playing with Ruth, including one teammate Lefty Gomez, as he said this, ”No one hit homeruns the way Babe did. They were something special. They were like homing pigeons. The ball would leave the bat, pause briefly, suddenly gain its bearings then take off for the
“In 1946, there were sixteen Major League Baseball teams, with a total of 400 players on their rosters, every one of the players was white. But when opening day came in 1947, that number dropped to 399, and one man stood apart. (42 2:30)” Jack Roosevelt “Jackie” Robinson made his Major League Baseball debut on April 15, 1947, as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Making Jackie Robinson the first African-American to play Major League Baseball (MLB). Jackie’s transition from the Negro Leagues to MLB was not an easy one. As a player, he transitioned very well, but it was Robinson’s teammates, Dodgers fans, the opposing teams and their fans that tested Jackie every chance they got, some hotels even prohibited the Dodgers to stay in their establishments
Rader states that baseball was founded by Abner Doubleday in 1839 at Cooperstown, New York. In the next couple decades, the game developed the simple concept of bases. After having bases introduced into the game, the kids in bigger cities started club based teams which played each other. These teams started to develop a personal passion and respect for baseball which led them to adopt written rules. He conveys the idea of fellowship within the team and how the players celebrated all aspects of the game. He gives an example of a club team called the New York Knickerbockers and how they celebrated with their opponents and teammates whether they won or l...
In 1947 Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers desperately wanted Robinson to play for him and his team. He would become the first black MLB player since 1889 when baseball became discriminated. In his first year he was the Rookie of the Year. He debuted in the International League with the Montreal Royals. This the led to Branch’s interest in Robinson since he was considered one of the best players in the International League and considering it was his first time playing with white men.
1910 to 1920 was the one of the greatest decades for Major League Baseball. Many amazing events occurred during this decade; although, some devastating and extremely sad events also occurred. Half of these years were taken up by war, even many Hall of Fame players served. This decade still ended up being a great one for Major League Baseball. From Hall of Fame greats to Negro League pitchers, this decade produced greats. The 1910’s also set up the 1920’s for amazing players too.
Throughout the course of American history, there have been copious amounts of famous speeches, spoken by many different people. From political figures to sports players; these people have provided deep thoughts and great insights about who they are and the world we live in today. Being a sports enthusiast, a memorable speech comes to my mind. Lou Gehrig’s “farewell speech”, given on July 4th, 1939, to more than 62,000 fans at New York City’s Yankee Stadium, has become a cornerstone in the history of baseball in America. Lou Gehrig is considered one of the most under-rated sports players of all time. Gehrig played in the same era with greats like Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio. In Fact, Gehrig played on the same team and actually batted behind Ruth and DiMaggio. Gehrig’s nickname is the “Iron Horse,” which came about with Gehrig’s amazing consecutive games played streak. Gehrig played in 2,130 consecutive games, which stood as the consecutive games record until just recently broken by Cal Ripken, Jr. Gehrig died in 1941, at the age of 37. Though many famous speeches have been spoken throughout time, Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech has remained one of the most memorable speeches of all time, due to the way he captivated his fans with the use of rhetoric.
The time came on April 15, 1947 when the man who would change all this stepped up to bat marking the first time an African American played in the major leagues. Jackie Robinson was the man and the hero of baseball to the black people. With much hope Jackie Robinson and the African American race marked the beginning of the struggle for the ultimate goal which was equality. Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia. He was the son of a sharecropper and life wasn’t ea...
The world is a very different place than what it was in the 1920’s; however, despite our differences, many things have stayed the same. No matter what, there’s always something to refer back to. Nearly one-hundred years ago, the 1920’s holds a great deal of historical events that changed the world. One of these historical events is when Babe Ruth changed the outlook on negro leagues and african american baseball players. Ruth could do many things that other people couldn’t in baseball. He in general was an amazing baseball player, but he also did something much more, something that would change the world’s views of not just him, but everybody.
should know Babe Ruth is for the most important reason, that being the way he
You may have heard that Abner Doubleday invented baseball in Cooperstown, New York, during the summer of 1839 but he didn’t. It actually turns out that the real history of baseball is more complicated than Abner Doubleday. This dates back in the united states during the 1800’s.
Tygiel, Jules. 2001; 2000. Past time: Baseball as history. Oxford England; New York: Oxford University Press.
Shattuck, Debra (2011). “Women’s baseball in the 1860s: Reestablishing a historical memory.” Nine,19(2), 1-26. Retrieved from http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/nine/vo19 /19.2.shattuck.html
This game of a stick and ball has captivated the United States during good and bad times. In either time most of us today can remember stories of players from the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. These are legendary figures in the sport of baseball that have are celebrated as hero’s and in scandal, i...