Babe Ruth

 "Don't let the fear of striking out get in your way." This is a famous quote by Babe Ruth, that tells us to never let fear hold us back, and to try our hardest at everything we do.

Babe Ruth was born on February 6, 1895 in Baltimore, Maryland as George Herman Ruth, Jr. He was born into a working class family with his dad, George Herman Ruth, Sr., working four jobs, and his mom, Kate Shamberger Ruth working late nights. His parents had no time for their eight children. Six of them died as infants and the lack of parental guidance allowed George Jr. to wander the streets, be involved in thievery, chew tobacco, sometimes get drunk, and repeatedly skip school. His parents realized that he needed a stricter environment, so they sent him to live at the St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, an orphanage and reform school.

While in reform school, George Jr. learned vocational skills and the love for baseball. He played on the school's team and his coach asked for the owner of the Baltimore Orioles, Jack Dunn, to see him play. In less than an hour, he was asked to be on the team. Because he was only nineteen, a legal guardian had to sign the contract. Jack Dunn completed the contract and George Jr. was given the nickname, "Jack's newest babe." From then on, George Herman Ruth, Jr. was known as Babe.

Babe soon got bumped up to the major league team, the Boston Red Sox, because of his impressive pitching and hitting on the Orioles. In the year of 1919, he had twenty-nine home runs and moved from the Red Sox to the New York Yankees. In just one year of playing for the Yankees, his homers went up from twenty-nine to fifty-four. Because of his longing to get better, Babe saved the game from the Black Sox Scandal, a crime in which eight Chicago White Sox players were paid to lose the World Series.

After all of his amazing wins and hard-fought-out losses, Babe retired in 1935 from the Boston Braves. He impacted the game of baseball in so many ways, and despite playing seventy years ago, he is still widely considered the greatest baseball player in Major League Baseball. He finished his career with twenty-nine and two-thirds consecutive shutout innings pitching, won three World Series, and finished with seven hundred fourteen home runs. Babe Ruth is a true icon in American history, helping save baseball from the ugly Black Sox Scandal, and giving bounds of hope to millions during the Great Depression. His sparkling personality that brightened the crowd and willingness to be the best he could be made Babe Ruth a role model to ball-players everywhere.