Everyone has heard of the infamous “Babe Ruth”, but few people know that his birth given name is George Herman Ruth, Jr. He lived from February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948, and was best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat". Babe was an American baseball player who spent 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) playing for three teams between the years of 1914–1935. The most important points of Babe’s life are his early childhood, his major league baseball career, and the legacy that Babe left behind.

Ruth came from German-American parents, Kate Schamberger-Ruth and George Herman Ruth, Sr. His parents owned a succession of saloons (bars) and sold lightning rods. Babe Ruth was one of seven children; however only two of the seven children survived infancy, Ruth and his sister, Marnie. At the age of seven, Ruth’s father signed custody of his son over to St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys, an orphanage ran by catholic missionaries. Ruth would only get to see his family on special occasions and holidays, however his mother died from tuberculosis when Babe was a teenager. Brother Matthias Boutlier of the orphanage became Ruth’s father figure in life; teaching him how to read, write, and most importantly, introducing Ruth to the sport of baseball. Brother Matthias helped Ruth to work on his hitting, running, and pitching. In 1913, Ruth’s talent and abilities at baseball were noticed by scout, Joe Engel, who brought Ruth to the attention of Jack Dunn, the owner of the Baltimore Orioles (who at the time were a minor league baseball team). In 1914, Jack Dunn signed Ruth to the Baltimore Oriels for only $250 (less than $6000 in today’s standards). In 1914, the age of majority was 21, not 18 like it is today. Therefore, Jack Dunn legally adopted the 19-year-old Ruth. Due to his young age, Ruth was nicknamed “Jack Dunn’s baby”. The reference shortened into “Babe” and stuck with him for the remainder of his legacy. Just four months into his minor league baseball career, Babe Ruth was traded to the Boston Red Sox (a major league team), in 1914. This began the beginning of his Major League Baseball career.

In the year 1914, the Boston Red Sox were booming with great players. Since Babe was fairly new to the sport, he often played with the Red Sox accompanying minor league team, Providence Grays of Providence, Rhode Island. Behind Babe Ruth, he led the team to win the International League Pennant (the playoffs of minor league baseball). Later in 1914, Babe married Helen Woodford, a waitress that he had met in Rhode Island. In 1915, Babe made the Red Sox’s starting lineup. The Red Sox won 101 games that year, including the World Series. During that season, Babe hit his first four home runs. In 1916, Babe set an American record for reaching nine shutouts, the most by any left-hander. The Red Sox won the World Series again (four games to one), this time with a lot of thanks to Babe Ruth, who pitched the entire second game. In 1917, Babe Ruth achieved what he later called his “greatest thrill on the field”. Babe was pitching in a 0-0 game against the Detroit Tigers on July 11. In the eighth inning, Detroit scored a run, but Babe was able to strike out the next batter, Ty Cobb. This led the Red Sox to a victory 1-0. Also in 1917, Ruth was suspended from ten games for punching an umpire on the field after a dispute. This outburst shows Babe’s self-discipline problems and was credited as the main reason that Babe was traded to the Yankees in 1919. Babe made his final World Series appearance as a pitcher in 1918. Babe’s amazing pitching allowed the Red Sox to win the World Series again, four games to one. Ruth extended his World Series consecutive scoreless inning streak to 29⅔ innings, a recorded that would last until almost fifty years later. Inly July 1918, Ruth walked off the field due to a dispute with the manager, a mistake that would soon lead him to be traded to the Yankees. However Ruth wouldn’t go out without a fight. Ruth placed a “curse” on the Red Sox for trading him to the Yankees. The Red Sox didn’t win another World Series until 2004 (86 years later).

On December 26, 1919, Babe Ruth was traded to the Yankees. Several reasons such as Babe’s negative attitude and his demand for a double in his salary led his trade to the New York Yankees for almost $2mil (in now a days dollars). Babe would stay with the Yankees from 1919-1935. During his career with the Yankees, Babe Ruth emerged from a pitcher, to an all-star hitter. In 1920, Babe hit 54 home runs and his .847 slugging average would remain a Major League Baseball record for over 80 years. The best year of Ruth’s career was 1921, hitting 59 home runs, batting .378 and slugging .846. Ruth also hit a record high of 139 home runs on July 18, 1921. Ruth’s name soon became synonymous with the term home-run. Babe’s powerful home runs went as far as 575 feet from the home plate. Unfortunately, due to an injury, Babe was not able to play in a majority of the World Series against the New York Giants. This led to the defeat of the Yankees in the 1921 World Series. In June 1921, Babe convinced his wife, Helen, to adopt a little girl they named Dorothy Ruth. Dorothy was the biological daughter of Babe that stemmed from an affair that Babe had; Helen was never aware. Babe was suspend from the first six weeks of the 1922 season, due to participating in a barnstorming tour (athletes who travel to small towns to recreate World Series matches). In the 1992 season, Babe continued to act out against umpires and fans, causing Babe to receive more time in suspension. Babe’s 1992 season was not as productive as his 1921 season, and the Yankees lost the World Series to the New York Giants for the second straight year due to Ruth’s poor batting. Ruth turned things around in 1923. In 1923, the Yankee Stadium was opened and it was named “The House that Ruth Built”. This boost of confidence gave babe what he needed to lead the Yankees to finally beat the New York Giants in the World series four games to two. In 1924 Ruth joined the National Guard, but by 1925 Ruth became increasingly ill. Some claim that it was due to a poor diet (of stadium food), and others claim that Ruth would drink tainted liquor during the time of prohibition. The Yankees lost the 1926 World Series, but Babe accomplished something great. Ruth has promised Johnny Sylvester, a seriously ill 11-year-old, that he would hit a home run on his behalf, and ended up hitting three home runs. In 1927, Ruth broke his career-high and major league baseball record of 60 home runs in one season. The 1928 season was plagued by Ruth’s knee injury and declining performance. However, the Yankees pulled together and won the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. In 1929, The Yankees didn’t make it into the World Series, but did however become the first team to start using assigned numbers, according to batting lineup. Babe Ruth (#3) would have his number retired in 1948. Also in 1929, Babe’s wife died in a tragic fire. Babe wasted no time, remarrying four months later to actress/model Clair Meritt and adopting Clair’s little girl Julia. Babe Ruth’s last World Series appearance was in 1932, where Babe “called” his last home run to the crowd, which would become a legendary moment of baseball. Fast forward to 1934; Babe’s career has steadily began to decline. Ruth had wanted to retire and manage for the Yankees, but the owner was not having it. Ruth was traded to the Boston Braves in 1935 with promises to soon become a manager and possibly co-owner of the Braves. By May, Ruth realized that the promises from the Braves were nothing more than hot air, and finally retired on May 25, 1935. The retirement of babe Ruth would be the reason for his legacy.

Babe Ruth had an enormous reputation and legacy that surpassed him. Babe was one of the first five players elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Babe also became the director of the American Legion's youth baseball program Babe also spent a lot of his time on radio talk show, television shows, and a few movies. Babe legacy inspired the creation of the Babe Ruth Award, which is given to the player with the best performance in the World Series. The Babe Ruth Home Run Award is an annual award presented to the leading home run hitter in MLB. The Babe Ruth Birthplace museum is located in Baltimore that displays Ruth’s career and life. However, his success was short lived due to an early death. In 1946, Babe was diagnosed with terminal cancer of the brain that wrapped around the blood supply to his neck. Babe never gave up working and in 1948, reunited with his old teammates to celebrate the 25-year anniversary of Yankee Stadium. However, less than a month later, on August 16, Babe Ruth died due to pneumonia. Babe Ruth, the ligand, left behind an early childhood, an astonishing major league baseball career, and a legacy that would last for centuries.