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• Babe Ruth

  Thursday, Feb 7, 2008 12:31PM / Standard Entry / Members only
  2 comments
  Hello everybody,
  
  When I was a boy, I used to LOVE watching baseball. It was the first sport I was ever introduced to and I got into it immediately. I was a lousy ballplayer, but I listened to and watched practically every single game the Toronto Blue Jays played. This was around the early 1990s, when the Blue Jays were championship material. I asked my old man who was the best baseball player in history, and he told me it was a fellow by the name of Babe Ruth. And Babe Ruth was born on this date, February 6, 1895. I have to admit that I thought he had a pretty silly name. But I was intrigued. I ALWAYS love reading about larger than life individuals, and Babe Ruth was as large as the whole country of America itself. So I did some research on the "Great Bambino" and was absolutely enthralled by his life story. Babe Ruth literally CREATED the game of baseball as we know it. I very much doubt baseball would have become America's pastime (and Japan's, Korea's and Taiwan's too), if not for him. Baseball's rapid rise in popularity in the 1920s was directly attributed to Babe's remarkable ability to hit home runs. He transformed baseball from a game based on speed into one based on power. His dramatic homers were absolutely thrilling to watch and made him the first true sports superstar of the 20th century. Babe was also a heck of a pitcher too! He might have been one of the best had he not decided to play as a fielder. There was something magical about the guy. His frenetic and hedonistic lifestyle epitomized 1920s America (kind of like how Jay Gatsby did). He played hard and he partied hard. I am not going to beat around the bush, the Babe homered with the ladies too (if you get my meaning). I am sure Ruth had his demons which drove him to live his life so recklessly. Not much is known about his childhood, but I do know that he was estranged from his parents and signed over to an orphanage at a very young age. It was baseball really saved his life and he returned the favor by saving baseball's too.
  
  The man was incredibly flamboyant and charismatic, in addition to his considerable athletic abilities. He was wonderful with children. Some of my favorite images of the Babe are when he was surrounded by adoring kids wanting his autograph. He always obliged because he really valued his fans. His acts of charity are well-known. I think his generous personality just endeared him more to his followers. I also loved his sense of humor too. In 1930, which was not a pennant year for the Yankees (Babe Ruth played for the New York Yankees for much of his career), Ruth was asked by a reporter what he thought of his yearly salary of $80,000 being more than President Hoover's $75,000. His response: "I know, but I had a better year than Hoover." That quote has also been rendered as, "How many home runs did he hit last year?" I also love the famous story of his "called shot". In Game 3 of of the 1932 World Series between the Yankees and the Chicago Cubs, he pointed his bat to the center field bleachers of Wrigley Field before he was pitched to. Legend has it that he was indicating that he would hit the next pitch to that part of the ball park. He then proceeded to swat a home run to that exact part of the field. I mean, how's that for drama?!
  
   
  Babe Ruth's decline was very similar to Elvis Presley's. It was painful and slow. Ruth's years of carousing took a toll on his physique and his weighted ballooned. His play really deteriorated and he called it quits in 1935. Babe made no secret of his desire to coach a ball club, but he never really got the opportunity to do so in his later years. Babe died in 1948 of cancer on August 16. Elvis Presley would die exactly to the day twenty-nine years later. He was only 53. Upon his death, the New York Times called Babe Ruth, "a figure unprecedented in American life. A born showman off the field and a marvelous performer on it, he had an amazing flair for doing the spectacular at the most dramatic moment."
  
  I just love American pop culture. And Babe Ruth is such a big part of it. I mean, through his innovations in the game of baseball, I really was able to enjoy watching the Blue Jays while I was growing up. I really didn't have too many friends as a kid, but that didn't really bother me. Baseball was priority number one. I have to admit, I sort of lost interest in sports when I got into high school, and moved on to other things (like skirt-chasing). But I never really lost my interest in American pop culture. Whether it's Elvis Presley, Marlon Brando, Douglas MacArthur, Eugene O'Neill or Babe Ruth, I think they're all great. I hope you can become of admirers of the same people too.
  
  Best wishes,
  
  Albert
  
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