Alright, so the other day I was diving deep into the rabbit hole of baseball history, specifically about Babe Ruth. You know, the Sultan of Swat, the Great Bambino, the guy who basically invented hitting home runs for fun. But I wasn’t looking at his stats or his famous called shot. Nope, I was digging into his family life, and man, did I stumble upon some interesting stuff. The title that caught my eye was “Babe Ruth’s Mother: When She Kicked Babe Ruth Out.” Intrigued? So was I.
First off, I started by trying to get a picture of what Babe’s mom was like. Her name was Katherine, but everyone just called her “Kate.” Found out she was a tiny little thing, only 4’10” tall. Imagine that! The mother of this baseball giant was barely taller than some of the kids Babe played against. She had Babe when she was just 19. That’s super young, especially back in those days. And the sad part is, she didn’t even make it to 36. Life was tough back then, I guess.
So, I kept digging. Why did she kick Babe out? Turns out, Babe was a bit of a wild child. Okay, maybe more than a bit. He was always getting into trouble, skipping school, running around the streets of Baltimore. I guess you could say he was a handful. I stumbled upon a story that mentioned that she was a tiny woman, it’s a story that breaks my heart every time I think about it.
I read in some old biography that Babe’s dad, George Sr., ran a saloon. And from what I gathered, it was a pretty rough place. Not exactly the best environment to raise a kid, that’s for sure. And with Kate being so young and George Sr. busy with the saloon, I guess they just couldn’t keep up with young Babe. It seems like they were overwhelmed, and in those days, there wasn’t a whole lot of help for struggling parents.
Now, here’s where it gets interesting. I found an article that talked about Babe being sent to St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys when he was just seven. Seven years old! Can you imagine? This wasn’t just some regular boarding school. It was more like a reformatory. Apparently, Kate and George Sr. signed papers that basically gave up their parental rights. They called Babe “incorrigible.” That’s a fancy word for “can’t be controlled.” They sent him there and, from what I read, rarely visited. Imagine, your own parents giving you up like that?
Here’s the part that really got me, and kind of relates to that title. One time, when he was like 15, the other kids were messing around and they started pulling his bed out from under him while he was sleeping. Well, he fell and hurt his leg, and it was such a problem that he couldn’t even play baseball! In the end, his parents had to come and get him. But, when his mom saw him, she was so mad that he was causing so much trouble that she essentially kicked him out again. She basically told him he was a burden and sent him back to St. Mary’s. I mean, come on! Your own mom saying that to you?
- Babe Ruth’s mom, Kate, was super young when she had him.
- She and Babe’s dad struggled to raise him in a tough environment.
- They eventually sent Babe to a reformatory school at age 7.
- His mother kicked him out again when he was 15, after a fight and injury.
Things I learned:
It’s a sad story, really. You have this legendary baseball player, but his childhood was anything but a home run. It makes you think about how different things might have been if Babe had a more stable family life. But then again, maybe it was all that hardship that made him the tough, determined player he became. Who knows? Anyway, that’s the story of Babe Ruth’s mom and how she, in a way, kicked him out, not just once, but twice. Makes you appreciate your own mom a little more, huh?
