Babe Ruth

The Sultan of Swat who transformed baseball with his home run power.

He became a professional baseball player after signing with the minor-league Baltimore Orioles in early 1914.^[1]

Quick Facts

Position: Outfielder; Pitcher
Bats: Left
Born: 6 February 1895
Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Died: 16 August 1948
Place of death: New York City, U.S.
Debut league: MLB
Debut date: July 11

Life and work

Ruth signed a professional contract with Jack Dunn, owner and manager of the Baltimore Orioles, in early 1914.^[1] When Ruth was seven years old, he was placed at St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, an institution that served as both a reformatory and an orphanage.^[2] At St. Mary's, Ruth learned shirtmaking and also became skilled as a carpenter.^[3] Brother Matthias Boutlier, who served as the school's Prefect of Discipline, gave Ruth encouragement in his baseball activities.^[4]

What the cited sources add

SportsCentury reported in a documentary that Ruth earned a monthly salary of $100 when he signed.^[1] The same article states that Ruth was deeply impressed by Providence manager "Wild Bill" Donovan.^[5] A 1996 book by Sowell reports that Ruth spoke German when he was a child.^[6] In a 1999 account, Julia Ruth Stevens explained that Ruth became a delinquent because his father, a saloon owner, provided him with little supervision.^[2]

References

Wikipedia, "Babe Ruth" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; ; "Babe Ruth", December 26, 1999 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Babe Ruth" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; ; ; "Babe Ruth", December 26, 1999 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Babe Ruth" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Babe Ruth" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: .; ; (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Babe Ruth" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Castrovince, "Ten facts for 100th anniversary of the Babe's debut", MLB.com, July 10, 2014 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Babe Ruth" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; Sowell, "Migrations and Cultures: A World View", Basic Books, 1996, p. 82 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Babe Ruth (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.