Thursday, December 26, 2013

Chapter 8


Babe Ruth and the Orioles

If not for his baseball skills, Babe Ruth may likely have become a professional tailor.  For a short time around 1913 Babe Ruth was transferred from St. Mary’s Industrial School to Saint James Home for Boys at Low and High streets.  The building still stands in 2013 and provides housing for homeless veterans.  It is located directly north of Baltimore’s main Post Office.  In the early twentieth century, St. James Home for Boys was a transitional home where older boys would work and learn a trade in preparation of earning a livelihood after leaving institutional settings.  Babe Ruth remained there for only a few months before returning to St. Mary’s to the delight of his teammates.  His return to St. Mary’s and to baseball set him upon a different career path.

In early 1914, Jack Dunn, the owner of the minor league Baltimore Orioles visited St. Mary’s Industrial School.  Dunn was attempting to solidify his ball club which was to face competition in 1914, not from another team in the International League, but a competing Baltimore franchise in the new Federal League which billed itself as a third major league.1  Baltimore was still smarting from the loss of two major league baseball franchises:  the champion National League Baltimore Orioles of the 1890s disbanded after 1899; and a charter member of the American League, the 1901-02 Baltimore Orioles moved to New York before the 1903 season and later became known as the Yankees.   

After 1902, Baltimore was relegated to the minor leagues.  Many local fans saw the new Baltimore Terrapin Federal League franchise as a move up from the Orioles.  The Terrapins built a new ball park directly across the street from the Orioles who played at the former American League ball park at Barclay and 29th streets.  Jack Dunn needed a great team to draw fans considering his new competition.  In Ruth, he saw a diamond in the rough.

There are several stories about what led Dunn to St. Mary’s and Babe Ruth.  Some claim he was scouting another player and chanced upon Ruth by accident.  Others claim he was notified by the Xaverian Brothers who felt that Dunn, a Catholic, would look after Ruth and give him a chance to earn a living outside the walls of St. Mary’s.  Another claim is that rival Catholic teams alerted Dunn to Ruth so he would take away their strongest rival on the baseball diamond.  Whichever story is true, Dunn met Ruth in February 1914, liked what he saw, and signed him to a $600 a year contract. 

Before leaving with the Orioles on his first spring training trip to Fayetteville, North Carolina, Babe supposedly spent the weekend with his father at 552 West Conway Street down the street from his former saloon.2 On the cusp of a new career and now earning some money of his own, perhaps Babe made amends with his father over past difficulties.  Instead of being a lousy kid, Babe now had the opportunity to help his father financially.  Apparently Babe’s father preferred slinging drinks behind a bar to harnessing horses.

                Nineteen year old Babe Ruth experienced a whirlwind of new activities over the next few weeks.  Babe gleefully left Baltimore and a life of confinement.  He took his first train trip, lived in a hotel, rode in elevators, and ordered his own meals.  He earned accolades for his pitching in spring training and in a sign of things to come displayed his hitting prowess by hitting a homerun in his second at bat as an Oriole.  He also earned a nickname, as one of Dunn’s babes (young players).  The name Babe would stick ever after.

                Although Babe roused Dunn’s ire for recklessly riding a bicycle through Fayetteville, Dunn had to be impressed with his baseball ability.3 During spring training, Ruth held his own not only against minor league teams, but when facing major league competition from the Phillies, Athletics and Brooklyn.  He easily made a ball club that included many former major leaguers and came north for the start of the baseball season.  In Baltimore, on April 22, 1914 Babe Ruth pitched and won his first regular season professional baseball game when he shut out the Buffalo Bisons 6-0.4 Less than 200 fans showed up for the game.  Across the street, the Baltimore Terrapins were drawing more than 4,000 fans as they defeated the Brooklyn Tiptops 9-8.5

                That is how the season went along for the next two months.  Babe Ruth and the Orioles tore up the International League competition piling up a large lead in the standings before empty seats.  Meanwhile the mediocre Terrapins barely won more than they lost before large crowds.  Something had to give, Dunn proved he could put together a winning team, but a minor league team could not win in an attendance war against a perceived major league opponent.

                After a month, Dunn raised Babe’s salary fearing that the Terrapins would entice him across the street.  When Babe came to Dunn requesting six passes for “some friends” to attend a game, he thought Babe might be hanging around a bad crowd, but was delighted when he saw six little fellows from St. Mary’s sitting in the stands rooting for their former schoolmate.6 After pitching and winning the first game of a double header in July, he asked for the rest of the day off – but not to relax – he wanted to play for St. Mary’s in a game that afternoon.7

Babe was a big kid starring for his hometown team, but Dunn’s success on the field was met with a financial loss.  He was forced to sell off his only asset – the great baseball players he had amassed.  On July 9, 1914, Babe Ruth, Ernie Shore and Ben Egan were sold to the Boston Red Sox for $25,000.8 While Babe was going to the majors, he was also leaving his hometown, his father and sister, as well as his “true” family the Brothers of St. Mary’s and his former schoolmates.

                The 1914 Boston Red Sox had lots of pitching.  On July 11th Ruth started against Cleveland winning 4-3, but he had to be relieved after 7 innings.9  Babe didn’t make it out of the fourth inning after giving up two runs in his next start.  After that he sat on the bench.  Egan was soon traded to the Indians.  Shore made the starting rotation.  In August, Babe was sent to the Providence Grays of the International League for some seasoning and steady play.  The next time he returned to Baltimore he was playing against the Orioles.  Babe Ruth helped Providence win the pennant in the International League and played out the year for the Red Sox winning two games for a team that ended the season in second place 8½ games behind the Philadelphia Athletics.  During his first season in professional baseball in Baltimore, Boston and Providence, Babe Ruth pitched for a combined 28-9 record.10

                He did not return to Baltimore alone when the season ended, but with a young waitress he met while in Boston.  On October 17, 1914, Babe Ruth married sixteen year old Helen Woodford at Saint Paul’s Catholic Church in Ellicott City.11 The couple apparently moved in with Babe’s father at 552 West Conway Street.  There is scarce information on Babe Ruth’s first offseason after his rookie year in professional baseball.   A few articles indicate he played some amateur baseball games.12 The 1915 Baltimore City Directory lists him as a ball player living at 552 West Conway Street.13

In 1915, Babe Ruth established himself as an effective starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox winning 18 games with a 2.44 ERA.  The Red Sox won the World Series in 1915.  Ruth did not pitch in the series and only had a single appearance as a pinch hitter, but he earned a winner’s share of approximately $3,800 for the World Series -- more than his annual salary of  $3,500.14  

1 "The Battle for Baltimore 1914:  The Federal League Moves In" by Brian McKenna,
    baseballhistoryblog.com
2 Babe:  The Legend Comes to Life by Robert W. Creamer, New York:  Simon and Shuster, 1974, p. 56
3 Babe:  The Legend Comes to Life by Robert W. Creamer, New York:  Simon and Shuster, 1974, p. 66
4 Baltimore Sun, April 23, 1914, p. 11
5 Baltimore Sun, April 23, 1914, p. 11
6 Baltimore Sun, July 10, 1914, p. 5
7 Baltimore Sun, July 10, 1914, p. 5
8 Baltimore Sun, July 10, 1914, p. 5
9 Babe Ruth and the World Champion Boston Red Sox by Allan Wood, New York: Writers Club Press,
  2000, p. 72
10 Babe Ruth and the World Champion Boston Red Sox by Allan Wood, New York: Writers Club Press,
   2000, p. 74
11 Babe Ruth - The Dark Side by Paul F. Harris, p. 52 and 56
12 Baltimore Sun, October 4, 1914, p. M13 and October 23, 1914, p. 9
13 Baltimore City Directory 1915, p. 1741
14 Babe Ruth and the World Champion Boston Red Sox by Allan Wood, New York: Writers Club Press,
   2000, p. 85