Born in Maryland, he was eventually sent to an orphanage after his father ran out of ways to discipline him. At the school, he picked up baseball and learned the game after his role model and school Prefect of Discipline, Brother Matthias Boutlier. His early career was spent on the Boston Red Sox after a short stint with Baltimore. During that time, he was mainly a pitcher, but even with the Red Sox his popularity started to grow as he could hit the ball really far.In 1920, Ruth was sold to the New York Yankees. It was at this point that his career and his popularity shot up. Immediately, attendance rates soared with the stadium having to turn away tens of thousands of fans as the games sold out so fast. In 1920, the yankees sold 1.2 million tickets while the rest of the MLB sold 600,000. 1920 would be the breakout year Ruth needed to make a name for himself.
Lucky for him, it was at a perfect time in American history with new technologies coming out, enabling fans across the country to listen to games and hear about how good he was. This catapulted The Babe to national renown.
Babe Ruth had made himself the first national social hero. He was the first celebrity athlete that everyone in America would know. That is what made him one of the most famous baseball players and athletes of all time. More books have been written about him than any other baseball player in the hall of fame. He remains even today one of the most familiar names in American cultural history.
It's very interesting how someone who was left in an orphanage by his father turned into on of the biggest and well known star of his time, as well as all of time. Even after his breakout year in the 1920, he didn't stop cranking out all-star numbers, leading the league almost every year in OBP, and slugging, while putting up very good ERAs. You could see his impact on the game, with the increase of walks he received after his breakout year, which shows the fear he impose into the league. Receiving the MVP in 1923, and being inducted in the Hall of Fame in 1936, the Babe changed the game majorly.
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I think that it is very interesting how Babe Ruth was able to gain popularity so fast. It just comes to show that there was a rise in famous figures during the 1920s. One of the main reasons Babe Ruth was so popular was because of his hitting power. In the 1920 season, Babe Ruth hit a home run record of 54. In fact, only one other team hit homers that Ruth alone did that year. As mentioned, with the rise of technology it enabled Ruth to become even more popular. He appeared in magazines covers and in the newspapers all the time. He was also one of the first athletes to endorse commercial products such as comic books and chocolate bars. Overall, Ruth's baseball skills and the rise of the media and technology allowed him to rise to fame.
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Babe Ruth is a perfect example of a rags to riches type of story. He had a rough childhood but was able to manifest that negative energy for the better and become one of the all time greats. Babe Ruth, in comparison to others, had a very strong build which contributed to his hitting power. He was able to set the home run record which, at the time, was more than any other team. The rise of technology made Ruth even more popular and he became the first sports celebrity in America. Your article gives a good insight into Babe Ruth's rise to the top.
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