The Great Bambino Babe Ruth Played His First Major League Game Over1 00 Years Ago, but He’S Still Considered by Many to Be the Greatest Baseball Player of All Time

Name Reading informational text Date The Great Bambino Babe Ruth played his first major league game over1 00 years ago, but he’s still considered by many to be the greatest baseball player of all time. During his 21-year career, he hit 714 home runs. He also set records as a pitcher. Babe was also one of the first five players to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Besides Babe, fans called Ruth The Great Bambino, The Sultan of Swat, and other nicknames. At over six feet tall and 215 pounds, the left-handed slugger was more than a baseball player. He was a world-famous celebrity. A Tough Childhood Babe Ruth’s real name was George Herman Ruth Jr. He was born in 1895 in Baltimore, Maryland. His parents worked long hours. Because he was often left unsupervised, George skipped school and wandered the dockyards. By age seven, he was already chewing tobacco, drinking, and getting into trouble with the police. Babe’s parents were desperate. They placed him in a reform school run by Catholic monks. There, George met Brother Matthias, who became like a father to George. Brother Matthias and the other monks taught George to play baseball. By the time George was 15, he was a star pitcher and hitter on the school’s team. A Baseball Star Is Born George had such a talent for baseball that he was noticed by a man named Jack Dunn. Dunn was the owner of the minor league Baltimore Orioles. In 1914, Dunn offered George a chance to play with the team. George’s salary for a full season was $600. George was only 19, so his teammates joked that he was Jack’s new babe. From then on, he was known as Babe. Five months later, the rights to Babe were sold to the Boston Red Sox, a major league team. As a pitcher, he helped Boston win three World Series championships. In 1916, he pitched 13 scoreless innings in one game—still a record today. In 1918, he got off the pitcher’s mound and onto the batting lineup. That year, he hit 11 home runs. A year later, he hit a single-season record of 29 home runs. What a Deal! In 1919, Babe was traded to the New York Yankees. The Yankees had never won a title. With Babe, the Yankees won four World Series in the next 15 seasons. In 1927, Babe hit 60 home runs. This record would stand for 34 years. Babe played for the Yankees until 1934. Then he signed with the Boston Braves. He hoped to manage the Braves. Unfortunately, no one thought he was suitable for the job because of his bad reputation off the field. By1 935, Babe was overweight and his baseball skills were declining. In June of that year, he retired at age 40. Babe Ruth spent the following years giving his time to charities and playing in exhibition games. He died of cancer in 1948 at the age of 53. Before he was buried, his body lay in state at Yankee Stadium, where more than 100,000 people paid their respects.

©The Mailbox® • (RI.4.1–4; RI.5.1–4) Name Reading informational text Date

The Great Bambino

Answer the questions. Include evidence from the text in answers 1–5.

1. What was George like as a child?______

2. How did George first become involved with baseball?______

3. Give two reasons from the text that explain why many people think Babe Ruth was the greatest baseball player of all time.______

4. How did George get the nickname Babe?______

5. What do you think the word unsupervised in the third paragraph means?______

6. True or false? Babe Ruth was famous only as a hitter. ______

7. How do you know your answer to question 6 is correct?______

8. Based on the information in this text, what kind of person do you think Babe Ruth was? Explain your reasons.______

1. He skipped school and wandered the dockyards. He was chewing tobacco, drinking, and getting into trouble with the police. 2. The Catholic monks at the reform school taught him to play baseball. He played on the school team. 3. Possible answers include the following: He hit 714 career home runs. He was one of the first five players to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He helped the Boston Red Sox win three World Series championships. He pitched 13 scoreless innings in one game. He helped the New York Yankees win four World Series championships. He hit 60 home runs in one season. 4. His teammates on the Baltimore Orioles joked that he was Jack’s new babe because George was only 19 when he was hired to play for the team. 5. not supervised, not being watched over or monitored 6. false 7. The text states that he set records as a pitcher and pitched a record 13 scoreless innings in one game. 8. Answers will vary.