Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum |
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| 216 Emory St. | |
| Baltimore, MD 21230 | |
| 410-727-1539 | |
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Hours:
Daily: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. | |
| What's nearby: | |
Cal Ripken Jr., Mo Vaughn and Ken Griffey Jr. owe their huge salaries to one man. George Herman Ruth Jr., a.k.a. Babe Ruth. In his first full season as hitter for the Boston Red Sox, Ruth knocked out 29 home runs, setting the record for home runs in a season. The New York Yankees took notice and offered Ruth $125,000 -- double the salary of any other baseball player at that time. Salaries have risen exponentially ever since.
Ruth's record only got better and better. During two seasons, 1920 and 1927, he hit more home runs (114) than any entire team in the American league, a feat never produced again by any other player.
And all of this grandeur can be traced directly to little ole Baltimore. Walking toward Emory Street near Camden Yards, you hear the party for Babe Ruth's legacy before you see it. Music spills out the upper window of Babe Ruth's grandparents' house. Both house and music mark the huge respect that Baltimore feels for the Babe. Born in 1895, the Sultan of Swat was one of two children to survive infancy out of the eight Ruth siblings born in this house. This very pretty two-story brick row home is filled with such Ruth trivia (films Ruth appeared in) and memorabilia (the only known picture of Ruth with his mother), along with plaques and facts about the greatest of baseball's local and national heroes.
The front corridor is colorful and fun, but if you stay and look too hard at the photos and smaller exhibits you'll not be hit by a baseball, but a steady stream of visitors more interested in what's beyond. Further along, a video narrated in sultry male tones beckons, charting the modern-day Hercules' adventures of baseball while giving a good history of his home life and family. Upstairs, a bedroom holds the tiniest cradle ever seen. It's hard to imagine Ruth as such a small child. In fact, all the decor in the furnished rooms seem far too small. Ridiculously fragile antique chairs fit for a splendid home in the Victorian era, but never a rough and tumble slugger.
Ruth actually lived on nearby Camden Street until the age of 19, when he was plucked by Jack Dunn from St. Mary's Industrial School, where he was affectionately labeled a trouble-maker of the highest order. With a $600 starting fee in his pocket, Ruth began his career with the hometown team, the Orioles. By midseason, the left-handed pitcher was striking out batters left and right, only to be traded to the Boston Red Sox. And for the rest of the story, you'll have to visit the museum. --Pia Harold
