Babe Ruth’s real name was George Herman Ruth, Jr. He was born on February 6, 1895 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Ruth’s Love of Baseball

Ruth was seven years old when he fell in love with baseball. George went to a Catholic school and a monk, Brother Matthias, helped him improve his baseball skills. Brother Matthias was so impressed with George’s baseball skills that he asked the owner of the Baltimore Orioles, Jack Dunn, to come watch George play. Ruth was too young to be on his own, so Dunn had to sign on as Jack’s guardian.

 

Babe Ruth: Baltimore Oriole

When George joined the Orioles he was so young that his teammates called him “Jack’s newest babe.” That is how George Ruth turned into Babe Ruth! Although he was young, he was quite large. He was 6’2” tall and weighed 215 pounds. He did so well as an Oriole, they sold him to the Boston Red Sox.

Source: Babe Ruth
By Exploros, CC BY-SA 4.0; portrait by Underwood & Underwood, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons; team photo by unattributed - Heritage Auction Gallery, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons