Babe Ruth
Acting
Biography
George Herman Ruth, Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948), best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935. Ruth originally broke into the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox as a starting pitcher, but after he was sold to the New York Yankees in 1919, he converted to a full-time right fielder and subsequently became one of the league's most prolific hitters. Ruth was a mainstay in the Yankees' lineup that won seven pennants and four World Series titles during his tenure with the team. After a short stint with the Boston Braves in 1935, Ruth retired. In 1936, Ruth became one of the first five players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Ruth has since become regarded as one of the greatest sports heroes in American culture. He has been named the greatest baseball player in history in various surveys and rankings, and his home run hitting prowess and charismatic personality made him a larger than life figure in the "Roaring Twenties". Off the field he was famous for his charity, but also was noted for his often reckless lifestyle. Ruth is credited with changing baseball itself. The popularity of the game exploded in the 1920s, largely due to his influence. Ruth ushered in the "live-ball era", as his big swing led to escalating home run totals that not only excited fans, but helped baseball evolve from a low-scoring, speed-dominated game to a high-scoring power game. In 1998, The Sporting News ranked Ruth number one on the list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players". In 1999, baseball fans named Ruth to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In 1969, he was named baseball's Greatest Player Ever in a ballot commemorating the 100th anniversary of professional baseball. In 1993, the Associated Press reported that Muhammad Ali was tied with Babe Ruth as the most recognized athletes, out of over 800 dead or alive athletes, in America. The study found that over 97% of Americans over 12 years of age identified both Ali and Ruth. According to ESPN, he was the first true American sports celebrity superstar whose fame transcended baseball. In a 1999 ESPN poll, he was ranked as the third-greatest US athlete of the century, behind Michael Jordan and Muhammad Ali. Ruth was the first player to hit 60 home runs in one season (1927), setting the season record which stood until broken by Roger Maris in 1961. Ruth's lifetime total of 714 home runs at his retirement in 1935 was a record, until first surpassed by Hank Aaron in 1974. Unlike many power hitters, Ruth also hit for average: his .342 lifetime batting is tenth highest in baseball history, and in one season (1923) he hit .393, a Yankee record. His .690 career slugging percentage and 1.164 career on-base plus slugging (OPS) remain the Major League records. Ruth dominated the era in which he played. He led the league in home runs during a season twelve times, slugging percentage and OPS thirteen times each, runs scored eight times, and runs batted in (RBIs) six times. Each of those totals represents a modern record (as well as the all-time record, except for RBIs). Description above from the Wikipedia article Babe Ruth, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
In honor of Homer's journey to the Hall of Fame, MLB all-stars and Springfield locals look back at the greatest corporate softball game ever played.
Springfield of Dreams: The Legend of Homer Simpson
The story of the life and career of the baseball hall of famer, Lou Gehrig.
The Pride of the Yankees
A hapless young man living in New York City rallies to save his girlfriend's grandfather's horse-drawn trolley, the last in the city, from being put out of business by a railroad company.
Speedy
Robert Preston hosts this documentary that shows what people of the 1930s were watching as they were battling the Depression as well as eventually getting ready for another World War.
Going Hollywood: The '30s
HBO (in association with the American Film Institute) presents this 1997 anthology, narrated by Liev Schreiber, which looks at sports in cinema from the earliest silent films until the nineties. Watch not for dramatic scenes but for the glimpse of historical figures shown both cinematic and athletic- in this tribute to the merging of sports and Hollywood.
Sports on the Silver Screen
Follow Willie Mays’ life both on and off the field over five decades as he navigated the American sports landscape and the country’s ever-evolving cultural backdrop, all while helping to define what it means to be one of America’s first Black sports superstars. He left an indelible mark in New York City and San Francisco, building a love affair with both cities’ fans.
Say Hey, Willie Mays!
Feature-length compilation of 1920s newsreel footage, with commentary about news, sports, lifestyles, and historical figures.
The Golden Twenties
As seen through the eyes of true baseball enthusiasts, this award-winning documentary tells the story of America's favorite pastime from the Depression to the 1950s, using footage shot from the movie cameras of fans and players. From the first color filming of a baseball game to the 1938 World Series and through the careers of legends such as Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle, the film thoroughly explores the history of baseball in America.
When It Was a Game
The true story of the undersized Depression-era racehorse whose victories lifted not only the spirits of the team behind it but also those of their nation. Narrated by William H. Macy, featuring interviews and archive footage in both color and black & white of Tobey Maguire, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jesse Owens, Jeff Bridges, Gary Stevens, Chris McCarron, Emily Kilby, Farrell Jones, Tom Smith, Buck Brannaman, Noble Threewitt, and Chris Howard.
The True Story of Seabiscuit
Made in 1990, this compilation video highlights the "Best of the Best" in Baseball.
Super Stars of Sports: Baseball
The perfect body as an object of cult worship. Based on the mass sports and body worship movement of the 1920s, the film propagates physical training and shows in stylized documentary scenes aspects of physical hygiene, gymnastics, sports and dancing as well as scenes in which supposed sportsmen of antiquity pose naked.
Ways to Strength and Beauty
The "true story" of baseball great Babe Ruth; Ruth plays himself.
Headin' Home
The mighty swing of Babe Ruth is shown in all its grace, power and swatness through the use of slow motion. The batting skills of Cleveland Indians star Tris Speaker and New York Yankees Wallie Pipp, Yankee Robert William Meusel, the underhand pitching style of Yankee Carl Mays and the overhand pitching delivery of the Yankee Jack Quinn are also displayed through slow motion. 1920 season.
How Babe Ruth Knocks a Home Run
In this short film, Babe Ruth proposes to put a song about baseball on the radio.
Home Run on the Keys
Welcome to a hard driving video about the biggest winners of all, the athletes and teams who broken records in their sports.
The Record Breakers
Broadcaster Joe Garagiola narrates the greatest games of baseball's golden era in this nostalgia-packed documentary. Its unique focus is legendary ball games the way most of America witnessed them . . . in the movie newsreels. The venues are America's grand old ball parks: the original Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, Brooklyn's Ebbets Field; the Polo Grounds, Tiger Stadium and other baseball landmarks that may be gone, but come to life again in this DVD. Witness Babe Ruth at bat; Lou Gehrig's ""luckiest man"" speech; Roger Maris breaking the Babe's home-run record; Pete Gray, the St. Louis Brown's one-armed outfielder; Ted William's final at-bat when he went out in grand style, ending his career with a home run, and other classic moments in baseball history.
Reel Baseball: Baseball's Golden Era the Way Americans Witnessed It
As its title implies, this video attempts to go beyond the public persona of one of major league baseball's greatest stars. Accepting Ruth as a larger-than-life figure, this 59-minute video doesn't attempt to rationalize, apologize, or analyze his behavior. Rather, it endeavors to present an unbiased account of the life of George Herman Ruth, contradictions and all.
Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth set a record in 1927 by hitting 60 home runs in one season. 34 years later, Roger Maris broke that record. Another 37 years passed before that record was broken by Mark McGwire. Five days after McGwire's feat, Sammy Sosa broke the brand new record. And the race was on! Fans watched breathlessly as the record passed between the two men and time left in the season dwindled. Relive it all, from Ruth, to Maris, to the final days of the 1998 Sosa/McGwire slug-fest.
Race for the Record
Babe Ruth plays ball with some kids.
Just Pals
As a child, Victor Starffin fled the Russian Revolution and settled in Japan, where he grew up to find success as a baseball superstar. However, he constantly battled to overcome many hardships such as poverty, xenophobia, and a world war. Starffin is survived by his two daughters who take us on a wild ride of shifting identities, international rivalries, tragic love, and one heck of a fastball.