Being a long time resident of the great state of Maryland, as well working there and visiting Baltimore only a few thousand times, you often walk by places you need to see, even if it is obvious to you. Case in point, I had never been in the Babe Ruth Museum, or Sports Legends at Camden Yards, although I went to about 40 Orioles games last season in total.
So, to break the streak, this Saturday, I decided to take a tour of both since I’d gone to Ellicott City to take care of a few things that day.
I’m going to write two entries, one for the Babe Ruth Museum, one for the Sports Legends Museum.
My first visit was to the Babe Ruth Museum, up the street from Camden Yards. It’s located a few blocks away from Camden Yards on Emory St. in Baltimore, Md. On the day I visited, there were only but maybe 5 or 6 people in the museum, but for any baseball fan, it is quite a place to see. Although Babe Ruth was a Yankee, Red Sox and played for the old Orioles at the turn of the century, Baltimore claims him as their own, and the museum is a testament to that. Opened in 1974, the museum is made up of 4 town homes, and the first one where you enter is actually the house he lived in during his youth.
The house where Babe Ruth was born is now a shrine to the Babe and chronicles his life, records and well as displays of artifacts from other players, like Cal Ripken and Eddie Murray, but 90% of the museum focuses on him. Visitors can see rare family photographs, mementos, complete record of his home runs, videos, uniforms and a few rooms of that replicate his actual home in 1900 with artifacts and furniture.
Let’s just say at 6’4”, I didn’t have a lot of room to move around the museum, but for me as a baseball fan and a student of history, it was a pleasure.
Well, that brought a question into my mind – why nearly half of a century since he passed away, plus another 60 or 70 years since he last played a game, does he still matter in the lexicon of sports? Why is he seen in such a romantic way?
He hit 714 home runs, and hit 60 home runs in 1927. Both records have been passed, so why do we still honor him today?
Honestly, from seeing the artifacts in the museum you can sense why. In this age of violence, selfishness, corrupt politicians, drug use is sports and everything else wrong in society, you’re taken back to a time that was simple, and Babe Ruth sort of looked like an ‘everyman’ with undeniable appeal. From my eyes, it looked like Babe Ruth had fun, enjoyed his life, and liked having his stature in life, especially when it came to children. People, in a sense lived vicariously through him and felt their accomplishments and dreams come alive, if even all he did was hit a ball with a bat.
He was undoubtedly the first superstar, and one that looked to be extremely accessible to the public. Babe Ruth was a man who rose from a humble upbringing to being an idol for everyone. Unlike the superstar athlete of today, with their toned physiques and muscularity, Babe Ruth looked like an ordinary man – sturdy and strong, but with a hefty waist and ample body fat on him, sort of like a beer league softball player or any average sized guy you could meet.
Even though he was imperfect as a human being, his exploits on the field and goal to extend his joy of playing to the fans make him an athlete of all ages that very few can compare to – even now. He did everything over the top, with flair, enjoyment and perhaps a tinge of arrogance, but unlike now where he’d hit by a pitcher the next at bat, in a different time, it was a show could that rival anything, except on Broadway and his peers respected him.
Perhaps that’s what left me impressed with museum and a deeper perspective of the man. I felt that I already knew a lot about him, but seeing artifacts from his life and the museum, I know his impact in the game of baseball that much more. I could have walked through the museum in 15 minutes, but I was in there an hour plus, asked questions and took a multitude of pictures and soaked in the experience.
He was the first to set baseball records, and put them out of reach, until recently. With the steroid issue in the sport, and the surly, sullen personalities of Bonds and McGwire, fans like me perhaps appreciate Ruth even more for what he did. Yes, he did not play with African-Americans or perhaps his peers were far inferior to players on the field today, you can no doubt sense the enthusiasm, the way he played the game and the super-human feats he was able to accomplish.
He does not look like me at all, nor can I even fathom his accomplishments. What struck me about him?
In essence, Babe Ruth was the American Dream, one tht was accessible, and in your wildest fantasies could come true. He rose from a hard life, worked hard at his craft and talent, had a way to entertain and inspire us and he prospered in the process.
I still regret not seeing the museum earlier in my time, but I was fascinated by it, as small as it seemed to be.
You often hear the cliché, “No one else will be like the Babe”, and after my visit to the Babe Ruth Museum, that certainly rings true, now more than ever.
