Page 22 - 1954

The Babe Ruth Story
In September 19h8 death struck a great national figure in the persnn o;' Georr,e Herman Ruth affectionat-el·.r lmo•:n to all sports levers as "Bal,e Rut!~"• Por three years his illness was a worry to all w!1o loved him. For a time before hi2 last serious at~;ack he rallied and made a few brief public appearances, but he ~<as a pallid ehost of his former self and although fighting valiantly until the finAl onslaught came, the great hevrt stopped forever.
Babe Ruth was a hungry, wistful, kid in 1906, when Brother Matthias, the quiet teacrer priest from St. Mary's Industrial Schoolrinduced his father to let birr.
boy at the school. By the time seven years had rolled around he had proficient in the tailors' trade which St. Mary's had taught him, never r eally happy •~i thout a baseball i n his hand. \Vhen the Christmas 1913 lay white in the back yards of Baltimore, Brother Matthias said to
rave the
P,rown up
although
snows of
him "By next spring you will be working outside and I will miss you." The boy answered softly, "St. Mary's has been good to me and so have you Brother Matthias; you sure make a fellow f'eel a lot better than he really is."
In the Brother's study waited Jack Dunn, manager of the Baltimore Orioles who had looked Babe over that previous summer and liked what he saw. So that spring of 1913 Babe was an oriole. By the end of the season he was a green rookie no l onger. He had defeated Connie Mack's world Athletic Champion and led all International League Pitchers. Back in Boston he was riding the crest. The boys on the team called him "Fancy Dan", because of his silk shirts and flannels but Brother Matthias was not worried over the boys lack of modesty for he knew under the big, bulky, flashy, exterior George had a heart and there was not one kid at St. Mary's to whom he Hould not have given his last silk shirt.
Then Brother Matthias heard different news; "Ruth" had been taken from the pitcher's mound and turned in a great performance in left field. He had hit the longest home run in the history of baseball, a six-hundred foot blow. Then came the world's Series scandal when a few players of the Chicago white sox confessed to throwing the Series with Cincinatti. The cleanest sport in history had disgraced itself. It seemed as though baseball was to be finished, but this did not affect Babe Ruth for he went on hitting home runs ending the season with fifty-nine.
•,.rrigley Field Chicago, was the town of a new day for the great hitter. Before the game Babe had gone to see a dying boy Johnny Jackson, whose father had telephoned begging him for an autographed ball for his son. Before he left he said "Johnny", I'll sock a home run in centre bleachers for you, that13 a promise". With two strikes on him in the last inning he pointed to a flag-pole. Amid the uproar of booing came the crack of the bat, a home r~n for Johnny Jackson.
The years rolled by now with Ruth establishing.himself as one of the greatest attractions in baseball. May 25th, 1935 was the day he turned in his spike shoes for the last time, a day •~itten in black letters for baseball. Babe Ruth has gone but to millions of kids and grown-ups alike his spirit still lives on. On his death-bed he said, "Brother Matthias, arn1t kids a wonderful race? You know people should always be more like Kid s." Truly he heeded the Master's
Command, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, for such is the Kingdom of
He aven.
11
By: Carol Brophy, XIIA
First in Public Speaking Contest