Early Life
George Herman Ruth, Jr. was born on February 6, 1895 in Baltimore, Maryland. His parents were Kate Schamberger-Ruth and George Herman Ruth, Sr., who tended bar and eventually owned his own tavern near the Baltimore waterfront. The Ruths had a total of eight children, but only two survived past infancy: a daughter named Mamie and a son named George, Jr.--the boy who would grow up to be an American hero.
George, Jr. did not have a happy childhood. His parents worked long hours in the tavern, leaving their son to take care of himself much of the time. Eventually, when Babe was seven years old, his father took him to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, a reformatory and orphanage. There he signed custody over to the Xaverian brothers, Catholic missionaries who ran the school.
During his 12 years at St. Mary's, young George rarely saw his family. They did not come to visit on holidays or on the one Sunday per month when family could visit the boys at the school.......
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