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The Colossus of Baseball: The Life, Legend, and Legacy of Babe Ruth

By Samuel L. Schmucker | Schmucker Productions

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The Boy from Baltimore

He was born George Herman Ruth Jr. on February 6, 1895, in a brick row house near the docks of Baltimore, Maryland. The city was loud, dirty, and restless — a fitting birthplace for the man who would one day shake the world of baseball.

His father, George Sr., ran a small saloon and worked long hours behind the bar. His mother, Kate Schamberger Ruth, was often sick and struggled to manage the chaos of raising eight children. Only two of them survived infancy. George Jr. was one of them — but he was wild, headstrong, and already chasing trouble.

By the age of seven, he was skipping school, drinking beer, and stealing from his father’s tavern. A Baltimore court declared him “incorrigible” and sent him away to St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys, a reformatory run by Catholic brothers.

It was there that fate — and faith — intervened. A kind, towering monk named Brother Matthias Boutlier became a father figure and introduced the boy to baseball. “He taught me to hold the bat right,” Ruth once said. “And more than that — he taught me to love the game.”

That swing would soon echo far beyond the brick walls of St. Mary’s.

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The Boston Years: A Pitcher with a Power Bat

At 19 years old, Ruth’s life changed forever. In 1914, the Baltimore Orioles signed the big left-handed pitcher to his first professional contract. That same year, he was sold to the Boston Red Sox, who saw his promise on the mound.

Ruth’s fastball was fire. He won 23 games in 1916, helping the Red Sox to a World Series championship. But there was something even more powerful hiding behind that pitching arm — his bat. During batting practice, he launched balls out of sight. It was unlike anything the league had ever seen.

By 1919, he demanded to play every day as a hitter. He smashed 29 home runs, setting a new single-season record — and revolutionizing baseball in the process. “Every strike brings me closer to the next home run,” he said, already writing his own legend.

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The Trade that Shook Baseball

In December 1919, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee made one of the most infamous deals in sports history: he sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for $125,000 and a loan to fund a Broadway musical.

Boston’s dynasty crumbled overnight, and what would become known as “The Curse of the Bambino” began.

Ruth arrived in New York and turned the Yankees — then a struggling team — into a phenomenon. In 1920, he hit 54 home runs, out-homering nearly every other team in baseball. Fans flooded stadiums just to see him swing.

“He made the ballparks feel like theaters,” wrote sportswriter Grantland Rice. “Every swing was a thunderclap.”

The Yankees became the heart of New York. Ruth became the face of America.

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The Sultan of Swat

Throughout the 1920s, Babe Ruth was not just a player — he was a force of nature. With his broad chest, confident grin, and booming laugh, he brought life to every ballpark he entered.

By 1927, he hit an unprecedented 60 home runs, a record that would stand for 34 years. Alongside Lou Gehrig and the fabled Murderers’ Row, Ruth led the Yankees to seven pennants and four World Series titles.

But off the field, he lived as loudly as he played. He drank too much, ate too much, and loved the nightlife almost as much as the game. His antics made headlines — yet his charm made him impossible to hate.

“The only real game, I think, in the world is baseball,” he once said. And for Babe Ruth, baseball was everything — his escape, his joy, and his redemption.

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The Final Inning

Time, however, is undefeated. By the early 1930s, Ruth’s body began to slow. His last full season with the Yankees came in 1934, and the next year he joined the Boston Braves for one final bow. On May 25, 1935, he hit the last three home runs of his career — the final one flying completely out of Forbes Field.

After retirement, he coached youth teams and worked for charity, always surrounded by kids who saw him as a living superhero. But in 1946, Ruth was diagnosed with cancer of the throat. He underwent painful experimental treatments, often in silence, refusing pity.

On June 13, 1948, he made his last public appearance at Yankee Stadium. His body was frail, his voice weak, but his spirit burned bright. Leaning on a bat like a cane, he tipped his cap as 50,000 fans roared their love. “I’ve had a hell of a lot of fun,” he whispered.

Two months later, on August 16, 1948, Babe Ruth died at age 53. Over 75,000 people came to Yankee Stadium to say goodbye. He was buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York — the final resting place of a man who once ruled the diamond.

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The Legacy and the Records That Fell

For decades, Babe Ruth’s records stood untouched. His 714 home runs defined baseball’s golden standard. He finished with a .342 batting average, 2,214 RBIs, and a legacy that towered over the sport.

Then came the challengers — Hank Aaron broke his home run record in 1974 with 755, and Barry Bonds surpassed Aaron in 2007 with 762.

But none of them replaced the aura of Babe Ruth. He didn’t just play the game — he reshaped it. He turned baseball into America’s national pastime, gave fans hope through the Great Depression, and brought joy to generations.

“Heroes get remembered, but legends never die,” the saying goes — and Babe Ruth’s legend still echoes every time a ball leaves the park.

As Grantland Rice wrote,

> “They can break his records, but they’ll never break his hold on the heart of the game.”

And in the words of Samuel L. Schmucker,

> “Babe Ruth wasn’t just a ballplayer — he was the heartbeat of an era, proof that greatness can rise from the roughest beginnings.”

MARILYN: THE GIRL WHO NEVER STOPPED SHINING

By Samuel L. Schmucker — Schmucker Productions

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Page 1: The Birth of Norma Jeane

Before the world knew her as Marilyn Monroe, she was simply Norma Jeane Mortenson — born June 1, 1926, in Los Angeles, California. Her mother, Gladys Pearl Baker, worked as a film cutter for RKO Pictures, and her father’s identity remains uncertain, though some records list Edward Mortenson, and others point toward Charles Stanley Gifford, a man Gladys once loved.

Norma Jeane’s childhood was marked by instability. Gladys struggled with mental illness, spending long stretches in institutions, and Norma Jeane was placed in a series of foster homes and an orphanage. Her sense of belonging — of being loved and wanted — became the one thing she would spend her life chasing.

> “I used to think as a child that no one ever loved me,” Marilyn once said. “And I would think how nice it would be to be loved by someone.”

That longing would later fuel the light behind the camera — the glow that became impossible to ignore.

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Page 2: From Norma Jeane to Marilyn Monroe

Her first escape from a broken home came through marriage. In 1942, at just sixteen, she wed James Dougherty, a neighbor five years older. He was steady, kind — but when he joined the Merchant Marines, she began working in a munitions factory. That’s where fate intervened.

A photographer for the Yank military magazine snapped her picture on the assembly line, and soon Norma Jeane found herself posing for pin-up photos. The camera adored her — and for the first time, she adored herself in return.

By 1946, she had signed a contract with Twentieth Century Fox. Studio executive Ben Lyon suggested a new name: “Marilyn” after the Broadway star Marilyn Miller, and “Monroe,” her mother’s maiden name. And just like that, Marilyn Monroe was born — though the name felt like a costume she’d wear forever.

Her early modeling work appeared in Modern Screen, Photoplay, and later, Playboy, which famously published her 1949 nude calendar photos in its 1953 debut issue — catapulting her into global fame.

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Page 3: Stardom and Silver Screens

Between 1947 and 1962, Marilyn made over 30 films — a stunning range from comedies to dramas that showcased her depth beneath the blonde stereotype.

Niagara (1953) revealed her as a sensual force of nature.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) made her a cultural phenomenon, performing “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” — an anthem of glamour and survival.

The Seven Year Itch (1955) immortalized her white dress blowing over the subway grate, an image that defined an era.

Bus Stop (1956) and Some Like It Hot (1959) proved her acting skill rivaled her beauty.

In the background, Marilyn fought the system — demanding respect as more than a pin-up. She founded Marilyn Monroe Productions, one of the first female-led production companies in Hollywood. Behind her smile was a woman fiercely determined to control her destiny.

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Page 4: The Men and the Myths

Marilyn’s love life fascinated the world.

Her first husband, James Dougherty, loved her as Norma Jeane — but not as Marilyn. They divorced in 1946.

Her second husband, baseball legend Joe DiMaggio, married her in 1954. Their union of beauty and brawn captivated the public — but his jealousy and her fame made peace impossible. They divorced after nine months, though he would remain devoted to her until his death, even arranging roses to be placed at her grave three times a week.

Her third husband, playwright Arthur Miller, offered intellectual refuge. They married in 1956, but Hollywood pressures, miscarriages, and emotional distance shattered the marriage by 1961.

Each man, in his own way, loved the woman the world saw — not always the woman she was.

> “Hollywood is a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul,” Marilyn once reflected.

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Page 5: The Fall and the Darkness

By 1962, Marilyn’s career seemed to shimmer again. She was filming Something’s Got to Give and mending bridges with studios. But privately, her life was crumbling.

She battled insomnia, depression, and dependency on barbiturates. Rumors of relationships with President John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert Kennedy filled tabloids. Friends said she was lonely — not scandalous, but broken.

On August 4, 1962, Marilyn Monroe was found dead at her Brentwood home. The coroner ruled it a probable suicide by overdose. She was 36.

The tragedy rippled through the world — Hollywood had lost its brightest light. Conspiracy theories would swirl for decades, from political cover-ups to accidental overdose, but the truth was simpler and sadder: Marilyn died of loneliness and exhaustion — a soul crushed by fame.

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Page 6: The Legacy That Lingers

Marilyn was laid to rest at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, in a crypt that remains covered in lipstick kisses to this day. Her half-sister, Berniece Miracle, survived her, as did a few cousins and extended relatives. Berniece wrote a loving memoir, My Sister Marilyn, honoring the fragile woman behind the legend.

Even now, her image sells perfume, posters, and dreams. But for every glamorous pose, there’s a shadow — a woman who wanted nothing more than to be taken seriously, to be loved, to be seen.

> “She lived like light — fragile, blinding, and impossible to hold,” writes Samuel L. Schmucker of Schmucker Productions. “And though the candle burned out far too soon, its glow never died.”

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Sources and Quotes:

Marilyn Monroe quotes from: Marilyn Monroe: In Her Own Words (Random House, 1983).

Joe DiMaggio accounts from Dinner with DiMaggio by Dr. Rock Positano (Simon & Schuster, 2017).

Biographical data verified through public domain historical records and The Marilyn Encyclopedia by Adam Victor (Overlook Press, 1999).

All narrative and descriptive text written originally by Samuel L. Schmucker, © 2025 Schmucker Productions.