Babe Ruth: The Most Influential Man Of The 1920s

Babe Ruth: The most influential man of the 1920s, and quite possibly the most influential athlete of all time. This groundbreaking personality of the 1920s changed the sports world forever. He is considered the greatest baseball player of all time. The list of accolades Ruth collected goes on and on. Babe, in his time, was the most popular and influential man in the US, his extravagant lifestyle off the diamond matched his “larger than life” persona on the field. As a child, nobody ever thought that George Herman Ruth would amount to anything in his life. Born on February 6, 1895, Ruth was quite the troublemaker. His parents eventually sent him to St. Mary’s Industrial School to straighten him up (Barra). There, he discovered that he

He broke too many records to count, including being the first player to break 30, 40, 50, and 60 home runs in a single season. The Yankees organization is also where his nickname “Babe” was coined. The players who were on the Yankees prior to Ruth’s trade said that Ruth was the manager’s new “Babe”. The nickname stuck and he was known as “Babe” Ruth for the rest of his life. Babe’s Yankees went on to win 7 American League pennants and 4 World Series championships in the coming years. Babe’s most renowned team, and what the majority of people would call the best team baseball has ever seen, came in 1927. The Murderer’s Row Yankees were an absolute force in 1927 (National Baseball Hall of Fame). Babe Ruth was the star of the team, which went on to win the World Series. During his career, Ruth broke an insurmountable amount of records, some that would not be broken for decades, and some that still stand today. Some of the most significant were 714 career home runs, lifetime slugging percentage of .690, 2213 lifetime RBI, 2062 walks, 12 American League home run championships, and 7 total World Series rings (Babe Ruth

Away from the diamond, he had one of the wildest and most extravagant lifestyles of anyone in the 1920s (Barra). Babe enjoyed living life on the edge, and drove the same way. One day, he was speeding through Manhattan at 26 miles per hour over the speed limit. He was arrested and sentenced to 1 day in jail. He was released 45 minutes after the first pitch of the next day’s game. He proceeded to put on his Yankees uniform under his suit and speed to the game with a police escort. Ruth’s reckless lifestyle did not stop with his driving. He was known to put down a few drinks as well. In fact, after a few years in the majors, a new acronym was formed around his name: Beer, Alcohol, Booze, in Excess. There are numerous stories that have surfaced regarding an opposing team taking Ruth out to dinner and drinks the night before a game. In many of these stories, the opposing team’s goal was to get Babe so drunk that he would not be able to play in the game the next day. Baseball was not the only sport that the Babe excelled in. Rumor has it that he was actually an exceptional bowler, averaging a game score of 177. Another sport that stole Babe’s heart was golf. Some would argue that golf was actually Babe’s favorite sport for some time (Barra). His love for golf was sparked during his rookie year with the Red Sox. They trained in a gambling and golf paradise called Hot Springs, Arkansas.