MARY BRASWELL: About 60,000 fans gathered at Yankee Stadium in 1947 to celebrate the first Babe Ruth Day.

Each week Albany Herald researcher Mary Braswell looks for interesting events, places and people from the past. You can contact her at (229) 888-9371 or [email protected]. Follow @ABH_MBraswell on Twitter.

On April 27, 1947, the legendary Babe Ruth returned to Yankee Stadium, where he spoke briefly to a crowd of about 60,000 on what baseball Commissioner Happy Chandler declared to be “Babe Ruth Day.”

THE EARLY YEARS

— George Herman Ruth Jr. was born on Feb. 6, 1895 in a working-class neighborhood of Baltimore known as Pigtown, so called for its meat packing plants.

— George and his younger sister, Mamie, were the only two siblings out of eight to survive infancy.

— By the time George was 6 years old, his father had a saloon with an upstairs apartment for the family.

—At age 7, Ruth was sent to St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys, a reformatory and orphanage. Reasons vary by source, including removal from his home by authorities following a violent episode at the saloon. Ruth himself stated that he roamed the streets, rarely attended school and drank beer when his father wasn’t paying attention. He spent most of his next 12 years there. School records described Ruth as “incorrigible.”

— Aside from an education, boys at St. Mary’s were required to learn a trade and help operate the facility. Ruth became a shirt-maker. Strict discipline was enforced primarily through corporal punishment.

— Although not very far from home, Ruth rarely saw his family during the years at the school. His mother died when he was 12, and he was allowed to attend the funeral.

— The school’s chief disciplinarian, Brother Matthias Boutlier, was a large man and respected by the boys. It was he who taught the young Ruth much about the game of baseball. Once when Ruth was laughing at the pitching of fellow teammates, Boutlier took the ball, gave it to Ruth and sent him out to the mound. The first spark of a star player was ignited.

IN THE GAME

— Although Ruth was expected to stay at the school until he turned 21, he was signed to play for the Baltimore Orioles minor league team at age 19. It was during this time that Ruth picked up the nickname “Babe.”

— The Orioles’ owner, in need of money, sold Ruth’s contract to the Boston Red Sox on July 4, 1914.

— In Game 4 of the 1918 World Series, Ruth gave up a run after having pitched 29 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings. Ruth’s record for the World Series stood for more than four decades. It was broken in 1961, the same season Roger Maris broke his record of 60 home runs in a single season.

— The 1919 season saw record attendance for Boston and Ruth’s home runs made him a national sensation. His contract, nonetheless, was sold to the New York Yankees on Dec. 26.

A TRUE YANKEE

— In May of his first year as a Yankee, Babe Ruth hit a record-setting 11 home runs. On May 16, so many fans wanted to see Ruth play that 15,000 were turned away at the gates in just one day. He broke his own record the very next month with 13 home runs.

— In March 1922, Ruth signed a new contract with the New York Yankees. The three-year deal was for $52,000 a year, the largest sum ever paid a player. The dollars paid to Ruth alone comprised 40 percent of the team’s payroll.

— The new contract and large paycheck did not change Ruth’s behavior. He was thrown out of a game for throwing dust/dirt in the umpire’s face. He then climbed into the stands to confront a heckler. He was fined, suspended and stripped of his title as captain. He saw two additional suspensions in that 1922 shortened 110-game season. Ruth still managed to bat .315, hit 35 home runs and drive in 99 runs.

— It was a new and improved Babe Ruth that reported to spring training in 1923. By season’s end, he had a batting average of .378 and 59 home runs … and no suspensions.

— The brand new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx held its opening day game on April 18, 1923. The first home run hit in the new park was, of course, by Ruth. The stadium was instantly dubbed “The House that Ruth Built.”

— So strong was the lineup for the Yankees in 1927 that they were known as Murderer’s Row. Ruth’s batting average was .356, he hit 60 home runs and drove in 164 runs. The following season saw a new contract and an unprecedented $80,000 a year for Ruth.

— In 1929, the Yankees began wearing numbers so fans could tell one player from another. Ruth was third in the batting order, so he was given No. 3.

— Although rarely seen on the pitcher’s mound once his bat became famous, Ruth was asked to pitch the last game of the season in 1933. He pitched a complete game victory against the Red Sox. It was the last major league game Ruth ever pitched.

— The great Babe Ruth was traded by the Yankees to the Boston Braves in February 1935. The season proved to be his last.

— Perhaps because of Ruth’s personality and behavior, and although he tried numerous times, he was never able to land a manager’s position after retiring from the field.

AFTER THE GAME

— The grand opening of the Baseball Hall of Fame came in the summer of 1939. Babe Ruth was one of the first five inductees.

— During World War II, Ruth made many personal appearances in support of the war effort. He played his last game at Yankee Stadium in a 1943 exhibition for the Army-Navy Relief Fund. He hit a long ball that curved foul. Ruth rounded the bases anyway.

— Severe pain behind his left eye and difficulty swallowing landed Ruth in the hospital in November 1946. A cancerous tumor, inoperable, was found at the base of his skull and neck. Ruth was not told the complete truth regarding his cancer from fear that he might harm himself. Treatments provided temporary relief, but by late 1947, he was a very sick man.

— Using a bat as a cane, Ruth made the last appearance of his life at Yankee Stadium in celebration of the 25th anniversary of The House that Ruth Built on June 13, 1948.

— Thousand of fans, young and old, stood vigil outside the hospital where Ruth died on Aug. 16, 1948 at the age of 53.

— Babe Ruth’s casket was taken to Yankee Stadium, where it remained for two days. An estimated 77,000 came to pay respects to the greatest baseball player in history.

IN HIS OWN WORDS

“Don’t ever forget two things I’m going to tell you. One, don’t believe everything that’s written about you. Two, don’t pick up too many checks.”

“Yesterday’s home runs don’t win today’s games.”

“I’ll promise to go easier on drinking and to get to bed earlier, but not for you, fifty thousand dollars, or two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars will I give up women. They’re too much fun.”

“If it wasn’t for baseball, I’d be in either the penitentiary or the cemetery.”

“I had only one superstition. I made sure to touch all the bases when I hit a home run.”

“You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.”

QUIK QUIZ ANSWER: (d) German, his paternal grandparents spoke the language when the Babe was just a babe.