Word: babe
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George Herman Ruth, also known as the Babe, Bambino, Sultan of the Swat, and even as Tarzan, was one of those men. In the time just after World War I, he stepped into the limelight both for his spectacular ball playing and for his spectacular off-the-field escapades...
...Babe was a simple man fond of his creature comforts, liquor, women and fancy cars. He rose from humble origins (although not an orphan, he was placed in an institution for orphans by his father) to be more popular than the President of the United States. At the height of his success and his salary, reporters pointed out to the Bambino that at $80,000 a year, he was making more than President Hoover ($75,000). "What the hell," Ruth said, "I had a better year than he did last year...
...spring of 1920 opened a new chapter not only in Ruth's career but in the history of baseball as well. That season the Babe hit a whopping 54 home runs--close to twice the previous mark for home runs in a single season--batted .376 and recorded a slugging average of .847, a record that stands to this day. This has been called the greatest season ever by a major league player and if Ruth had another season matching it, only the 1921 season could come close. Ruth, in 152 games that year, batted .378, connected on 59 home...
...records die hard in the sporting world and the bigger they are, the harsher the death. When Henry Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hit a home run last Thursday afternoon in Cincinnati, his 714th, he tied the most hallowed record held by the biggest legend in all of sports, Babe Ruth's home run mark...
...there are many people who will never acknowledge the greatness of Hank Aaron, because, to them, it will lessen the legend of the Babe. After all, they did not even really hear about soft-spoken slugger for Atlanta until he hit his 700th homer last summer and it became apparent that barring misfortune, he was a cinch to break the record...