No player in baseball history has ever been so far ahead of his contemporaries as Babe Ruth. That's not just true on the field. His ascent helped the country heal after the tough years of the 1918 flu pandemic. For Ruth was the first real baseball "star", with an adoring fan base, and whose larger than life character made him an icon - not just in the sport, but as an American, even today.
He was born George Herman Ruth in 1895, a native of Baltimore. While his connections to Boston and New York are well known, he was first signed by the local Orioles, then members of the minor International League, in 1914.