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
|
