Babe Ruth: Legends in Sports Read online

  Guy Bush later said, “I’ve never seen a ball hit so hard before or since.” No one had ever even hit a ball onto the roof of the grandstand, much less over it. The blast was the 714th of Babe Ruth’s career. It was also his last.

  After the game, Duffy Lewis, an old Red Sox teammate who worked for the Braves, told Ruth he should quit at the top and never play another game. But Ruth had promised Fuchs he’d finish the road trip. A few days later, in Philadelphia, he struck out in the first inning, then wrenched his knee and had to leave the game. He never played in the major leagues again.

  Less than a week later, he told reporters simply, “I’m quitting.” He felt the Braves had broken their promises to him. “I’d still like to manage,” he added.

  But baseball never really found a place for Babe Ruth after retirement. Yet it never forgot him either. In 1936 the National Baseball Hall of Fame opened in Cooperstown, New York. Only five players in the history of the game — Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, and Honus Wagner — were selected for induction in that first season. A few years later, in 1939, Babe Ruth coached one season for Brooklyn, but when it became clear they didn’t intend to make him manager either, Ruth quit again. He spent most of his time with his wife, Claire, playing golf, giving speeches at clinics, and just relaxing.

  He returned to Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939, for Lou Gehrig Day. His old teammate was dying of a degenerative disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, now commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. On July 4, the Yankees honored Gehrig with his own day After Gehrig gave a speech in which he referred to himself as “the luckiest man on the face of the earth” for having the opportunity to play baseball, Ruth gave him a big hug. A few years later, Ruth even played himself in a movie based on Gehrig’s life.

  During World War II, Ruth helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Red Cross and made many appearances in exhibitions, hitting home runs and making people smile, like he always had.

  In April of 1947, baseball commissioner Happy Chandler declared that it was “Babe Ruth Day” all across the country and Ruth was invited to appear at Yankee Stadium again. He’d been sick and was starting to lose weight. Ruth didn’t know it yet, but he was dying.

  All his old teammates turned out. So did Johnny Sylvester, the young boy he had hit a home run for, who was now well and a grown man, and 58,000 people in Yankee Stadium to whom he had given such joy. Before the game, he spoke to the crowd with a raspy voice:

  “The only real game, I think, is baseball,” he said. “You have to start from way down at the bottom … You’ve got to let it grow up with you, and if you’re successful and try hard enough, you’re bound to come out on top.” He was speaking about the game of baseball, but he could have been describing his own life.

  Ruth made one more appearance at Yankee Stadium a year later on the twenty-fifth anniversary of “the House that Ruth Built.” He was too ill to speak but had one last chance to see his old friends and teammates. Two months later, on August 16, 1948, Babe Ruth died.

  Yet a figure as legendary as Babe Ruth can never truly die. When he retired from baseball he held virtually every slugging record — most total bases, highest slugging percentage, most extra base hits, and of course, the most home runs, a total of 714. He even led in career strikeouts and walks.

  Although those records no longer stand, no player since has ever been loved as much as Babe Ruth. Wherever children gather to play baseball and dream of making the major leagues and hitting home runs, Babe Ruth, the tough kid who grew up to become the greatest slugger in the game, lives in the hearts of each and every one.

  Matt Christopher®

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  THE #1 SPORTS SERIES FOR KIDS

  MATT CHRISTOPHER®

  Read them all!

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  Line Drive to Short ** Snowboard Showdown

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  Power Pitcher *** Tennis Ace

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  Shoot for the Hoop Tough to Tackle

  Shortstop from Tokyo Wingman on Ice

  Skateboard Renegade The Year Mom Won the Pennant

  Skateboard Tough

  All available in paperback from Little, Brown and Company

  LEGENDS IN SPORTS

  BABE RUTH

  MATT CHRISTOPHER

  In a career that spanned over twenty years, George Herman “Babe” Ruth changed the way baseball was played. The first true power hitter, he hit home runs farther and more frequently than any other player in the first half of the twentieth century. He was a strong pitcher, too, and made amazing game-saving catches in the outfield. His love of the sport shone through in the way he horsed around with teammates and in his overall determination to win. But there was a darker side to Babe that nearly ruined his career—and his life. In the end, Ruth managed to overcome his personal demons, improve his health, and lead his beloved Yankees to championship status. Simply put, there has never been another player like the Babe.

  Matt Christopher is the name young readers turn to when they’re looking for the best sports biographies on the shelf. For a complete list of Matt Christopher titles, please see the last pages of this book.

  * Previously published as Crackerjack Halfback

  ** Previously published as Pressure Play

  *** Previously published as Baseball pals