"He was the greatest crowd pleaser of them all" Waite Hoyt,
former teammate Jordan the "Babe Ruth of basketball," or Wayne
Gretzky the "Babe Ruth of hockey." His name did not mean
baseball, it meant greatness. He was a great player, and a great
man. He had faults, like everyone else, but his faults were
accepted because of his great qualities. He drank, womanized,
smoked, and indulged in the good life. He also went out of his
way to help children and was generous with his money. But his
bad habits caught up with him and oral cancer cut his remarkable
life short, sending a nation into mourning. Babe Ruth was born
on February 6, 1895, in Baltimore, Maryland. He was the first
child of George and Kate Ruth, and one of the eight children in
the Ruth family. Tragically, he and his younger sister Marie
were the only children to make it out of infancy and live an
adult life. This is just one of many hardships Ruth endured
through childhood. The Babe's parents worked long hours in a
tavern and did not give him much lo