Babe Ruth: A Positive Role Model

I, Babe Ruth, had a major contribution to society, mainly the game of baseball. As I was becoming more recognized as more of a hitter than a pitcher while the “dead-ball era” was happening. I hit many home runs and broke records. My fans loved it; they paid attention to my full-swing hitting. With the style of hitting I had, it contributed to the revolution of baseball and now the “live-ball era.”

In 1902, the Ruth’s sent their son away to St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys, which was both a reformatory and an orphanage. Ruth developed a love for sports, particularly baseball, which served as his escape from the strict environment at St Mary’s. From an early age he showed potential as an athlete, and in his late

In addition, Babe Ruth is inspiring in many different ways. Primary, he teaches us that if we follow our dreams anything is possible. Ruth shows that our lives can change tremendously, because he transitioned from a poor, bad life to living in the riches and having a great life just because he followed his dream of becoming an incredible baseball player. He also inspires others by how he plays; he plays not only for himself, but he plays for others. He dedicated himself to baseball because that’s what he loved to do. He thought that you shouldn’t do anything you don’t love, do things that you love to

games, even though he didn't play much Babe Ruth had staggering power behind the plate,

During the 1920’s and 1930’s was a tough time for a lot of people, but luckily there isn’t only sadness in the world, but there is happiness, and Lou Gehrig was one of those people that would put a smile on your face. The attitude he had towards life was inspiring. I can’t even a imagine the joy he brought to the people of New York, especially when… Smack… he slammed a home run. Lou played in 2,130 consecutive games making him an outstanding role model for many who enjoyed the game

George Herman Ruth, better known as Babe Ruth, is an American baseball hero due to his successes that have allowed him to become a household name even after his passing. His great legacy lives on, but for those not alive during his reign over baseball, it is sometimes hard to grasp the Babe’s true life story, which is where film comes into play. In the several films about Babe Ruth, many differentiating perspectives about his life are introduced. In The Babe Ruth Story (1948) and The Babe (1992), we are shown two very different versions of the ‘Great Bambino’. With the help of Ardolino’s analysis of the deification and deconstruction of Ruth in Reel Baseball, it is easy to see the similarities and differences between the two Hollywood Babes. Ardolino states that, “In fact, these movies are dialectically related: the first is an attempt to sacralize Ruth’s checkered life, and the latter is an attempt to replace the hagiography with a Dickensian psychodrama of a bumbling Bacchus who belches, farts, indulges his appetites, is haunted by his past, explodes irrationally when he is called ‘incorrigible’ and never gains any measure of self-control” (115-16). Ardolino’s chapter thoroughly discussed the portrayals of Babe Ruth as a character, which brings to light the similarities and differences portrayed in both Hollywood films. After screening the Hollywood films, we move to screen the documentary about Ruth, a blatant deification, which treats his life story much differently.

With the way the author, Bryson describes George Ruth’s upbringing and the tough hand that Babe was dealt with at such an early age, it seems as if he painted a fairy tale with happily ever after at the end. To read and to try and grasp what Babe Ruth was able to achieve, it is the most unbelievable underdog story that I have ever read. While I was reading, I had the feeling that Bill Bryson believed that George Ruth was a good person and even coming from such a rough city such as Baltimore. He even disagreed with what babe said in his autobiography. In the book, Bryson says “The opening sentence of Ruth’s autobiography is, “I was a bad kid.” Which is no more than partly true” (Bryson 107). By just the second sentence in the second paragraph, it is clear that Bryson thought, even since Ruth’s childhood, he is a good kid who was stuck behind the 8-ball. Coming from an impoverished family, having almost all of his siblings die, losing both his father and mother who were “distracted” anyway. His mother slowly dying of tuberculosis and his father single-handedly running their saloon during all of his waking hours just so they could have money to survive (Bryson 107). While reading this initial background on Babe Ruth, I didn’t know just how rough he had it. I assumed like most of the athletes in today’s world, his family was able to pay for him to have baseball lessons and training with some of the best trainers that money can buy. Knowing that Babe Ruth was the epitome of an

Jackie Robinson did not only help initiate the integration of the game of baseball, but he also helped initiate integration throughout America. The film Soul of the Game does not go into all of the details regarding his career on the Brooklyn Dodgers, but rather it depicts his life and choices leading up to his career in the Major Leagues. This film portrays important themes such as segregation, perseverance, and doubt, and it applies to history in the beginning of the story of Jackie Robinson and how America has gotten to where it is now.

George Herman Ruth Jr. was born on February 6, 1895 to parents George Sr. and Kate in Baltimore. George Jr. was one of the Ruth’s two surviving children. Babe’s parents In did not watch after him well. Babe was left to take care of his younger sister often. The neighborhood they lived in was part of the roughest places in Baltimore. During Ruth’s childhood, Ruth was found drinking, chewing tobacco, and wandering docks. When Ruth was old enough to go to school, he refused to go. He got caught by truant officers and brought home. At age seven, Ruth’s parents knew

Another incident of discrimination that Robinson dealt with was his so called “fan mail.” While some of his mail was touching and encouraged him to keep pressing on for the sake of the game of baseball, a lot of his mail was sent as threats and insults. Robinson disposed of a lot of this kind of mail, but some of the letters would end up in the newspaper! A large number of the letters were also directed at Branch Rickey and would threaten him and his family (198). The letters appeared not to phase Robinson much like the other threats and insults that were yelled at him wherever he went. He kept his head high and he continued to play the game of baseball with lots of energy and motivation each time he came to the ballpark.

In 1914, Babe Ruth made a major debut for the Boston Red Sox. Babe Ruth pitched in 4 out of 5 games in the 1914 baseball season. In 1916, The Red Sox won the World Series. In 1918, instead of being the pitcher, Babe Ruth played in the outfield. In the World Series of 1918, Babe Ruth pitched in Game 1. In Game 4, he pitched eight innings. In just six games, The Red Sox won the World Series. In 1919, Babe Ruth wanted a raise in his salary. Frazee, the owner of The Red Sox refused to raise it. Babe Ruth had to be

Babe Ruth got into so much trouble at a young age, he would get into fights and damaging property by throwing tomatoes and other things at building and carriages. As time passed when Babe Ruth turned 7 his parents realized he needed a stricter environment and therefore sent him to the St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys, a school run by Catholic monks from an order of the Xaverian Brothers. There he encountered a monk named brother Mathias who which in fact taught Babe to play baseball. While at St. Mary’s Babe Ruth played about every position, although he played catcher and pitcher most of the time. Babe Ruth was good at the game so good that he got the opportunity to meet John Joseph “Jack” Dunn. Jack Dunn was the manager for the Baltimore Orioles who became very interested in Babe Ruth. As time went on and the conversation continued with Babe, Jack agreed to becoming Babe’s legal guardian in order for Babe to play ball. Babe ruth became famous in baseball as time went

Brother Matthias, a former mentor of Ruth Jr.’s at St. Mary’s, told about his compassion and instant connection with young Ruth. While Ruth Jr. was in school at St. Mary’s, Matthias took on a specific father-like role and played a big part in his education and sports interest. Matthias talked about he would help Ruth Jr. with his fielding and pitching skills and would constantly work with him on his batting skills. He then went on to join the St. Mary’s baseball team while he was still in school.

Equal rights for baseball was a fight that Jackie fought. Accepting Rickey's offer to play with the Royals at first, then the Dodgers, he was accepting the challenge to fight for equal rights. Branch Rickey, the owner of the Brooklyn, Dodgers, saw Jackie's baseball talent and asked to meet him in Brooklyn. Rickey wanted him to play for his team and said it

Jackie Robinson was a life changing man. Blacks were always rejected from baseball because of segregation. Jackie once told a reporter “ I want to live to see a black manager”. Jackie Robinson had an aggressive style of play causing his to be one of the greatest players of all time. Once Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier many more blacks were able to play baseball.