Babe Ruth: An Unlikely Slugger
1895-1948 AD
1895 1895
76.35W39.20N
MISC

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
	With his big stomach and spindly legs, Babe Ruth didn't much look like a great baseball player -- but, man, could he hit a ball!
	As a boy, Ruth roamed the streets of Baltimore, chewed tobacco by age seven and drank whiskey by age 10.  Worried about him, his parents sent Ruth to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, where Brother Matthias befriended him, teaching him not only academics and good behavior, but also baseball.
	Ruth was later selected for the Baltimore Orioles, but soon caught the attention of the Boston Red Sox, who bought his contract.  Later the Sox sold him to the New York Yankees, where in 1920 he hit an unheard of 54 home runs.
	Revelations that Chicago White Sox players had taken money from gamblers had damaged baseball's reputation, but during this dark hour Ruth's hitting helped keep up public interest in the game.
	The Yanks let 40-year-old Ruth go at the end of the 1934 season, and he signed with the Boston Braves.  In May, 1935, shortly after hitting home runs 712, 713 and 714, he announced his retirement.  Ruth's home run record stood until 1974, when Hank Aaron hit his 715th ball over the fence in Atlanta.