Babe’s Life as a Kid

George Herman “Babe” Ruth, Jr. was born in Baltimore, MD on February 6, 1895, just before the beginning of the Twentieth Century. The world was a lot different then than it is today. And, Ridgeley’s Delight, the neighborhood in Baltimore that Babe grew up in until 1902, was a lot different than it is today.

Try to imagine what it was like then. Movies had just been invented, so there were no movie theatres yet. There was no radio either, as that didn’t really start until around 1920. And, of course, there was no television, no video games and definitely no computers! It was a very different type of life for a kid growing up back then.

Kids spent a lot more time outside, playing games with each other and exploring the nearby world around their neighborhood. There weren’t soccer leagues and there weren’t planned activities. So, kids were often left on their own for parts of the day.

And, this was definitely true for George, Jr. His Dad, George, Sr., was a hard-working man who ran a saloon. His Mom helped out there as well. And, the Ridgeley’s Delight neighborhood sat between the docks of Baltimore’s harbor and the big train yards of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad. It was an area that had a lot of things going on. In one part of it, there was a street, Washington Boulevard, which was nicknamed “Professional’s Row” for all the doctors, dentists and lawyers who lived there.

In other parts of Ridgeley’s Delight, a lot of the dock workers and rail yard workers had apartments or other places to live. These laborers often moved around a lot. Some of them worked on the ships and trains themselves. And, many of them did not make a lot of money. So, parts of the neighborhood were a little rougher than others. And, George, Jr., being both curious and brave, liked to explore these areas.

Unfortunately, George Jr.’s roaming around the bad parts of town was not good. He was always getting himself into trouble. His Mom & Dad were just too busy running the saloon and trying to make a living to really pay attention to him. So, he would get himself into some small fights. And, he could be found throwing tomatoes at buildings and carriages. He pretty much would just hang out with his friends and run wild through the neighborhood.

After awhile, his parents began to realize that George Jr. was becoming too much for his mom and dad to handle, so they decided to send him to a place called St. Mary’s Industrial School when he was seven-years-old. St. Mary’s was an orphanage and reform school for troubled boys. It was run by a group of men, called monks, who were both very religious and very strict. St. Mary’s, and the monks who ran it, helped the community by accepting troubled kids and kids without families. St. Mary’s School became Babe’s legal custodian.

Growing up at St. Mary’s was tough for kids, especially for boys like George, Jr. who had a lot of energy. The Catholic monks of St. Mary’s ran the school with a lot of discipline and rules. Plus, the kids were never given much to eat and many times Babe left the dinner table hungry.

St. Mary’s School focused on giving kids a trade skill, so that they could get a job when they were old enough to leave St. Mary’s. The kids worked hard as apprentices to local Baltimore shopkeepers. There were all kinds of skills taught. George, Jr. was an apprentice to a tailor and learned to sew shirts. For the rest of his life, even when he was the best baseball player of his time, Babe would still sew and mend his own shirts!

At the same time, St. Mary’s gave George, Jr. two very important things in his life. The first thing was one of the monks, whose name was Brother Mathias. George Jr. looked up to Brother Mathias like a father and learned a lot of good things from him. The second thing was the game of baseball. Whenever the kids of St. Mary’s had free time, they were always playing baseball. And, there were a bunch of baseball teams there. The teams would play each other, as well as a few other schools.

Babe had always loved the game of baseball as a kid. He was a natural. The monks, particularly Brother Mathias and Brother Gilbert, saw how good he was and how much he liked the game. Not only did they encourage him to play, they also helped him improve his skills. While at St. Mary’s, George Jr. played just about every position, although he played catcher and pitcher most of the time. He got so good that word got around. One day when George Jr. was 19, a man named Jack Dunn came to see George Jr. And, the rest, as they say, is history! Mr. Dunn took George Jr. out of St. Mary’s School to play on his minor league baseball team. It was the start of Babe’s professional baseball career.

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How Babe Got His Nickname

Almost every kid has a nickname. Sometimes they are nice. Other times they are not so nice. But a lot of times, they are just plain fun. Do you have a nickname?

There are some pretty famous nicknames out there and the ballplayer whose real name is George Herman Ruth Jr. had one of the most famous – Babe.

So how did Babe get his nickname? At the age of 7, Babe began living at St. Mary’s Industrial School in Baltimore. This orphanage was run by Catholic monks who were very strict. So, St. Mary’s surely couldn’t be WHERE Babe got his nickname.

In fact, St. Mary’s is probably a big reason WHY Babe did get his nickname. That’s because, not only was St. Mary’s a very strict and disciplined place, but the boys who lived there didn’t get to see a lot of Baltimore, let alone the country, as they typically didn’t get outside the school grounds that much.

Well, one day in 1914, young George had a visitor by the name of Jack Dunn, who owned the local professional baseball team - the Baltimore Orioles (at that time, the Orioles were only a semi-professional baseball team). He had heard about Babe’s playing abilities and came to see for himself just how good he was.

Mr. Dunn was impressed -- so impressed that he signed George to a contract shortly after seeing him play. George had just turned 19 and, due to the laws at that time, Mr. Dunn needed to sign papers which made him Babe’s legal guardian.

When George joined the Orioles, he was very excited, but also very nervous because he hadn’t really lived outside of St. Mary’s School since he was 7. After all, he was now back out in the “real world” after nearly 12 years at St. Mary’s. Can you imagine what Babe must have felt like? And, playing for a professional baseball team, no less!

In the first weeks in the real world, Babe didn’t know what to do with himself besides play baseball. He also didn’t really know how to act with people. He had been used to always following the orders that were given to him by the monks at St. Mary’s. And, his only friends had been some of the other boys at St. Mary’s.

So, George looked to his manager and legal guardian, Jack Dunn, for his new “orders” and George followed him around everywhere. The other players thought this was very funny and they’d say, “There’s Jack with his newest babe.”

The name “Babe” stuck, and over time as a baseball player, he became known as “Babe Ruth,” a name that everyone would recognize all over the world. And, Babe quickly became comfortable with his new life and didn’t need to follow Mr. Dunn around anymore. Babe would soon become a baseball superstar, as we all know today. Check out his Records to see just how good he was.

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Babe’s Love for Kids

If you’ve read about Babe’s background, you now know he spent most of his own life as a kid – from ages 7 to 19 – at St. Mary’s Industrial School. His life there was very tough and pretty sad at times. It really had a big impact on him. And, he never wanted any kid to have to grow up the way he did. He felt that every child’s life should be full of happy times, fun, and of course, baseball. After he started becoming a famous baseball player, Babe did whatever he could to help kids and make them happy.

How did Babe do that? Well, he did that in a lot of ways. Right from the start of Babe’s days of playing baseball, he started helping kids. For example, during World War I, times were a little tough in the U.S.A. A lot of kids couldn’t even buy their own shoes. So, Babe bought a bunch of shoes and passed them out to the kids of New York. He also helped the U.S. government promote bonds for the war effort.

Even when Babe became more famous for his homerun hitting, he never let a kid down when they asked him for an autograph. After he was done playing a game, Babe used to stand outside the ballpark, sometimes for hours, and sign baseballs for all the kids. Even when the Babe was sick with cancer and staying in the hospital, he still signed autographs on pieces of paper and dropped them down from his hospital window to all the kids below that were calling his name.

Better than autographs for some kids, Babe also played a lot of sandlot baseball with kids everywhere he went. He sometimes would play a game with local kids right before or after a big league game. Imagine playing baseball on your local diamond with famous ballplayers of today!

Throughout his days, Babe often went to orphanages and hospitals to visit children who were less fortunate. He even went back to St. Mary’s school a few times to visit the kids at the place where he was raised.

Probably the most famous story about the Babe and kids is when he visited a sick little boy named Johnny Sylvester in a hospital in St. Louis and promised him a homerun. The next day, the Babe hit two homeruns! In time, Johnny also got better.

Shortly before Babe Ruth passed away, he had created a foundation called “The Babe Ruth Foundation”, which gave money to poor and needy children. When Babe died, a lot of his money went to this foundation.

There is no doubt that the two things Babe loved most in life were baseball and making kids happy.

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Babe & Little Ray Kelly

So, you can see that Babe really was a fan in his own way – he was a fan of kids! And, there were many, many kids that Babe “adopted” in his own way – by being involved in their lives. Well, there was one little boy who really had an amazing experience with Babe and we’d like to share that story with you here.

One day, Babe saw a man and his little boy playing catch in a park near Babe’s house in New York. He decided to walk over and watch the two play catch for awhile. Babe talked to the man for a little bit and found out that the little boy was only three years old. He was very impressed by how well the boy could play catch.

Babe then got the idea to make the little boy, whose name was Ray Kelly, his personal mascot! So the next day, Babe picked up this little boy and took him to the stadium with him for his game. And, that’s how Little Ray Kelly became a part of the history of the game of baseball.

Little Ray Kelly was Babe’s personal mascot for ten years. He even had his own Yankee uniform. And, he was with the Babe all the time during Yankee home games. Can you imagine being a mascot for an athlete as special, talented and famous as Babe? What an honor it would be!

Little Ray became Babe’s mascot when the Yankees were still playing in a stadium called “The Polo Grounds”. When Yankee Stadium, otherwise known as “The House That Ruth Built”, was opened in 1923, Babe had this picture taken with Little Ray Kelly.

When Ray turned thirteen, he needed to start paying much more attention to his school work. Babe valued education very much and thought it was very important for kids to be in school. So Little Ray’s mascot days came to an end, although he would never forget his experiences with the Babe.

Little Ray was connected to the Babe for the rest of Babe’s playing days. In 1932, Babe invited Ray Kelly and his dad to the World Series, where the Yankees were playing the Cubs. Little Ray was also at the game where Babe hit the “Called Shot”, where Babe was known to have pointed to the outfield before hitting his most famous homerun of all time. When people asked Ray if he thought Babe did point before hitting that homerun, Ray said, “He absolutely did it. I was right there….. Never in doubt.”

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Stuff to Listen to and Watch

Babe was one of the most famous and best-loved stars of the time. He was known for his greatness on the field and his popularity off the field. He was always willing to pose for the camera, sign autographs and joke around with reporters and fans.

Beginning in the 1930’s, Babe began to appear in some radio productions and even in some short films and full movies! There was no TV yet, so kids listened to stories on the radio -- just like people watch TV today.

In 1934, there was a radio show called “The Adventures of Babe Ruth”. Brought to the airwaves by Quaker Oats, the shows were on the radio a few times a week, with a voice actor playing the role of Babe Ruth.

Although these are pretty simple stories, we thought it might be fun for you to listen to some of these programs. Click below to listen to any of the episodes (they last about 15 minutes each):

Listen to The Adventures of Babe Ruth Episode 2: Dutch Reaver

Listen to The Adventures of Babe Ruth Episode 5: Harry the Hat

Listen to The Adventures of Babe Ruth Episode 6: Sweet William

Listen to The Adventures of Babe Ruth Episode 7: There Are No Bad Kids

Listen to The Adventures of Babe Ruth Episode 8: Chick Foster

Listen to The Adventures of Babe Ruth Episode 11: Kidnapped

Listen to The Adventures of Babe Ruth Episode 12: Bobby Lee

Later, Babe himself participated in some radio programs, including 1937’s “Sinclair Babe Ruth Program” as well as two in 1943 – “Here’s Babe Ruth” and “Baseball Quiz”.

In addition, Babe was in several short films and feature-length movies. His pictures were very short and simple. Three of them, made in the 1920’s, were silent pictures: “How to Hit a Home Run”, “Headin’ Home” and “Play Ball with Babe Ruth”.

After that, he did two other films in the 1920’s, before doing a series of shorts in the 1930’s. These short films were typically played in the movie theater before or after a feature film. Back then, there were also a lot of double-feature movies and these shorts were sometimes played between the main movies. Here’s one complete example of a short film starring the Babe from 1932 called, "Fancy Curves":

Babe made a number of these movies where the films are either showcasing Babe’s baseball skills or his themes about the importance of learning. Here’s a small portion of another example called, "Over The Fence":

A very nice man named Leon Fichman was in three of these short movies, including “Over the Fence”, when he was a kid. Mr. Fichman was 9-years-old at the time! We talked to him in the Summer of 2006 and you can hear his comments in Section 09 voices. Listen to Mr. Fichman talk about these films.

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Stuff Kids Liked to Collect from Babe’s Time

A lot of the radio programs that Babe was in were sponsored by companies, like food companies, oil companies and many others. There were lots of small prizes and gifts that were given away with the purchase of items from the sponsors. Babe also appeared in some commercials for these sponsors.

For a short time, Babe even had his very own candy bar called “Babe’s Home Run” bar. Kids could collect wrappers from these candy bars and send in for a special baseball. Here’s a picture of one of these wrappers:

Can you imagine collecting these wrappers and getting a baseball from the Babe? There were lots of things given away. Some were small games such as “Ask Me – The Game of Baseball Facts”:

Others were small books about baseball, including these pamphlets given away by Quaker Oats:

As you can imagine, kids back in Babe’s day really liked saving these items. They were special treasures. Today, you can sometimes find these in antique stores and at flea markets. People like to collect them. What things do you like to collect?

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The Babe & Kids Today

The Babe still has a big effect on people and kids – even today! A lot of kids today have heroes, just like kids did when Babe was playing baseball. And, many kids today have Babe Ruth as their hero, just like kids did back in Babe’s time. And, there are good reasons for kids to admire the Babe today. Some of the reasons include his kindness and generosity to kids, his value of education and learning and, last but not least, his athletic abilities, competitiveness, determination and sense of fair play.

These points could be some of the reasons that the Babe is sometimes featured in stories and movies even today. In fact, early in the Fall of 2006, there was an animated kids’ movie that came out called “Everyone’s Hero”. This movie was the story of a boy, Yankee Irving, in the 1930’s whose father was clubhouse manager for the New York Yankees baseball club. When Babe Ruth’s bat is stolen, Yankee’s father gets a bad reputation as clubhouse manager. So, Yankee, his friend, Marti, and talking baseball named Screwie go off on a thousand-mile journey in search of Babe’s bat, so that he can get his father’s good reputation back and save his job. During his journey, Yankee, through the help of his sidekicks, Marti, Screwie and Darlin’ (Babe’s talking bat), learns self-confidence and determination, much like Babe did while he was a young ballplayer. By the end of the movie, Yankee got the bat back just in time for Babe to hit homeruns with it in the 1932 World Series!

If you're interested in seeing the original preview to Everyone's Hero, check it out here!:

BRC would love to hear your very own thoughts on the Babe. Submit your comments here, but make sure you ask your Mom or Dad if it’s okay before you do. We may even post your comments right here in the Kids’ Clubhouse @ BabeRuthCentral.com for other kids to see!

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