One cannot talk about baseball history without at some time mentioning "The Great Bambino" Babe Ruth. So famous is this baseball slugger that a candy bar has even been named after him. Not only that, but his iconic status has made him a benchmark for all baseball players. Here is a short Babe Ruth Biography.
He was born on February 6, 1895 in Baltimore, Maryland as George Herman Ruth, Jr. He broke into the major leagues 1914 and played for the Boston Red Sox. After a great performance as a pitcher for the Red Sox, he then transferred to the New York Yankees in 1919 where he switched positions to a full time right fielder. It was during this time that he became one of the most prolific hitters in baseball history.
Babe is basically touted as the man who changed baseball from a game dominated by speed and low scores to a game that had power and high scores. His prowess and charismatic personality boosted him to fame, especially when he became the first man to hit 60 home runs in one season in 1927. This record was broken later on in 1961 by Roger Maris.
The left handed Ruth is has the tenth highest lifetime batting average with an average of.342, with a 1.164 career on base plus slugging average and.690 career slugging percentage to this day remain Major League baseball records. In his lifetime he led the league twelve times in home runs during a season and slugging and OPS percentages thirteen times each as well as runs scored eight times.
He is also ranked number one on the list of 100 Greatest Baseball Players as ranked by The Sporting News in 1998. Not only this, but Babe is also ranked as the most recognized athlete, an accolade he shares with Muhammad Ali, the famous boxer. This ranking takes into account 800 famous athletes whether dead or living that have made an impact on the sports they participated in.
But the iconic status of the man does not end there. In a 1999 survey by ESPN, 97% of Americans 12 years old and over identified closely with Ali and Ruth. This in turn also makes him the third greatest US athlete of the 20th century behind Michael Jordan and Muhammad Ali.
The baseball great is survived to this day by his lone daughter Julia Ruth Stevens, 93 who lives in New Hampshire. Julia to this day vows to keep the name her father and also to tell stories of the baseball great to anyone who will listen. In her own words, he was not only a great baseball player but also a great father, and the world should not forget who he was and what he has done for the sport of baseball.
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