Babe Ruth and Kids, 1935

Babe Ruth with Kids Photo Gallery
Click on any image below to see photos in full size and to start Photo Gallery:

 

Babe Ruth and Kids

“Me and kids get along just fine!” –George Herman “Babe” Ruth

 

Okay, maybe it wasn’t proper English, but his feelings came out loud and clear. Babe genuinely loved kids – kids of all kinds. And the feeling was reciprocated…the kids loved him right back! He was always glad to sign autographs, take pictures with children, visit sick kids in hospitals, or just act like a clown and fool around. He would do anything just to make a kid happy.

 

Click on the link to see a nice photo gallery tribute to Babe Ruth and kids, featuring some of our favorite “Babe Ruth with kids” photos:

 

While putting together my recent post about Babe Ruth with the Boston Braves, I came on to this neat photo below of the Bambino with a couple of kids. Since he’s in a Braves uniform, it must be from 1935. That also got me to thinking about his great baseball nickname “Babe.” As we all know, just seems to fit him to the tee, but where actually did it come from? A little research on the “Babe Ruth Central” web site, and I found the answer.

 

Apparently it all started in 1914 when young George Herman Ruth was still living at St. Mary’s orphanage in Baltimore, and he was visited by Jack Dunn, the owner of the minor league Baltimore Orioles. He had heard about George Ruth’s playing abilities and came to see for himself just how good he was. According to information on the website, here’s what developed:

 

“Mr. Dunn was impressed — so impressed that he signed George to a contract shortly. 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.”

 

“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.”

 

We also know that the Babe loved kids. So I hope you get a chance to glance through the nice photo gallery I put together of George Herman “Babe” Ruth with kids!

 

-Gary Livacari

Photo Credits: All from Google search; some from Getty Imagegs where indicated

Information: Excerpts edited from the Babe Ruth Central Website, read more at: http://www.baberuthcentral.com/kids-clubhouse/babe-nickname/

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