American baseball player Babe Ruth was born George Herman Ruth Jr. on February 6, 1895 in Baltimore, MD. His parents, George Herman Ruth Sr. and Katherine Schamberger were both German-American. He was considered the greatest player in baseball who spent 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) playing for three teams (1914-1935). In his time, he has set a career record of 714 home runs, 0.690 slugging percentage, 2,213 runs batted in (RBI), and 1.164 on-base plus slugging (OPS).

Ruth originally signed for the Boston Red Sox as a starting pitcher but he was sold to the New York Yankees in 1920 and was converted to a full-time right fielder. He was one of the league’s prolific home run hitters and he had helped the Yankees win seven pennants and four World Series titles. In 1935, he retired after a short stint with the Boston Braves. After a year, he became one of the first five players to be elected in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Most of Babe Ruth’s records have already been broken. In 1961, Roger Maris broke his 34-year-old record for most home runs in a season. Maris’ teammate, pitcher Whitey Ford, broke his 43-year-old record for most scoreless innings pitched in a World Series when the Yankees dispatched the Reds that year in the post-season. Barry Bonds now holds the record for most homes runs in a season (73), most home runs in a career (762 and counting), highest slugging percentage and most intentional walks. No player ever had the impact, both on and off the field, as did the charismatic Babe Ruth. He died of cancer in August 16, 1948. The New York Times headline read, “Babe Ruth/Idol of Millions of Boys/Dead.”

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