On February 6, 1895, in a tough Baltimore neighborhood, a baby named George Herman Ruth Jr. was born above his family's saloon. He was such a wild kid that by age seven his parents sent him to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, a strict place that doubled as an orphanage. There, a kind monk named Brother Matthias handed George a baseball glove and taught him how to swing a bat. The boy with the big grin had finally found his calling.
By age 19, George was playing pro baseball. Older players nicknamed him 'Babe,' and the name stuck. He started as a pitcher, one of the best in the league, but his hitting was so jaw-dropping that the New York Yankees moved him to the outfield so he could swing every game. In 1927 he smashed 60 home runs, a record that stood for 34 years. He hit balls so far that fans started calling the new Yankee Stadium 'The House That Ruth Built.' He also ate massive hot dog breakfasts, signed autographs for kids in hospitals, and once promised a sick boy he'd hit a home run for him, then did it.
Babe Ruth retired with 714 home runs, a number that would stand for decades. More than the stats, he turned baseball into America's favorite show. Before him, players bunted and scrapped for single runs. After him, fans came for the long ball, the swagger, and the spectacle, and they've never stopped coming.
