Baseball Legend: Babe Ruth

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

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

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

“Never allow the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game!” This quote was famously said by one of the greatest baseball players ever--Babe Ruth. Babe Ruth played in the 1920s era. This was a time of low unemployment, so many citizens spent their salaries on many activities: going to the movies, listening to jazz music, and watching sporting events. The 1920s became a time for people to enjoy their time and live life with laissez faire, or a policy or attitude of letting things take their own course. The 1920s also became a time for sports to take full effect. Athletes, such as Babe Ruth, Benny Leonard, and Harold Osborn, were at the forefront of making sports popular in the United States. Citizens of the 1920s wanted to have fun

Jackie Robinson is known for his will and determination, in a game where African Americans were not allowed to play. Major league baseball (MLB), was the biggest professional baseball league in the country but was racially segregated. Growing up in poverty, Jackie Robinson faced many struggles. Jackie was a great athlete that could play multiple sports, just not major league baseball. He competed and excelled at numerous sports, including basketball and football. As good as an athlete he was, Jackie Robinson obtained a college degree and attended UCLA. He played baseball in the all black, Negro leagues, until he broke the MLB’s color barrier in 1947. Though Jackie was mostly known for his athletic abilities, he did his part as a civil rights

First, who was Babe Ruth; based on the book “Babe Ruth” by Tracy Brown Collins, his real name was George Herman Ruth the same as his father, he was born on February 6, 1895, in Baltimore, Maryland, but what is interesting is that for many years he believed that he was born on February 07, 1894, until he got his birth certificate when he was required to get his passport and found out his real date of birth.

Where he then moved with his family and settled in Pasadena California. That is where he attended John Muir high school. He was put on the annual baseball tournament all-star team where he played with fellow future baseball hall of famers Ted Williams and Bob Lemon. But Jackie wasn’t just only known for his baseball skills, he also played tennis in school where

Brother Matthias spoke of Ruth Jr. to everyone and saw that he was getting really good and thought that he should invite some big time people to come take a look at him. Jack Dunn, the owner of the Baltimore Orioles, was next in line for interviewing. Families were now flocked to their televisions because this was one of the big guys in the sports world and everyone knew who he

join and play for an MLB team, which at the time was the highest pro level for

Babe Ruth’s parents were working class German family. He was the eldest of 8 and he and his sister survived to adulthood. (Rader, Benjamin G.).In 1902 Babe attended St. Mary’s Industrial School in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended from 1902-1914. (Baughman, Judith S.).He was an unruly student

Another important is that in school he meet one of his biggest heroes Brother Matthias who was in charge of keeping the boys out of trouble, He taught him how to field and throw a ball and since the school main sport offer for the kids was baseball he played about 200 games a year during his time at school. Another interesting fact was that he was left-handed but had to play with a right-handed glove, but even though he became the baseball star of the school.

He was a country boy who loved baseball, hunting, and fishing. "I was never a troublemaker, but I wasn't a great student," he says. His father was a fertilizer salesman. (Finan) His mom worked at the local public utility in

He was the most famous athlete in the United States in the 1920’s. Ruth saved baseball with 54 swings of his bat, making 54 home runs. Ruth broke into the major leagues in 1914 for the Boston Red Sox. His teammates called him “baby” and then later started calling him “babe”. Since Ruth was like a big kid, the name stuck and he became known as Babe Ruth to the baseball world.