The incorrigible Babe Ruth, disciplined by monks who saved his life --- and taught him baseball

… Happy Birthday, Babe! 

Some children just cannot deal with freedom. George Herman Ruth, Jr. was one of them.

Born on February 6, 1895, making him 122 years old today, the Babe -- as he was later nicknamed -- experienced a tough life as a youngster. His father owned a bar and had little time to spend with Babe or his siblings.

Consequently, Babe grew up on the streets of Baltimore. "The youngster found his fun in the rough-and-tumble world of the Baltimore harbor, where he was a quick study. He learned the street skills of rowdiness and petty larceny, running and romping with older boys, breaking windows, and engaging in other high-spirited (but largely harmless) hijinks." one biography noted.

St. Mary's School

While more mischievous than criminal, George H. Ruth Sr. and his wife, Kate, turned their eldest child over to the care of the Xavierian Brothers, who operated a home called the St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, which had 800 students in it. The Ruths legally gave up guardianship to the monks, and Babe lived in the school for most of the next 12 years -- until he signed a professional baseball contract.

Best break of his life

While some of the students were true juvenile delinquents, others were orphans and even more were sent there by parents who paid the brothers to educate their children.

The Brothers of the Order of St. Francis Xavier ran the school and provided discipline and direction for the young boys, though they seldom used the paddle.

At the age of 7, Babe entered the school, and there he met Brother Matthias, a man about whom he later said, "It was at St. Mary's that I met and learned to love the greatest man I've ever known. His name was Brother Matthias. He was the father I needed. He taught me to read and write -- and he taught me the difference between right and wrong."

Matthias became the father that he never really had, but he was more. He became his baseball coach, the man who introduced him to the game and tutored him through his teenaged years. He was also a mentor -- but most important to the young loner, he was also a friend.

In and out …

Babe always wanted to go home and live a normal life, and he begged to do so. He was allowed to on numerous occasions, but he just quit attending school. Once that happened and he became a truant, he then returned to St. Mary's.

In 1910, his mother, Kate, who used to visit him every Sunday at St. Mary's with one of his sisters, died. Babe loved her dearly, and this hurt him. From them on, he never had a visitor at St. Mary's. Neither his father nor his siblings bothered to spend Sundays with him, and he was deeply hurt. "I guess I'm too ugly," he told a friend about the snub by his family.

Learning a skill

All of the students at St. Mary's were taught a skill that they could later use once they emerged to live on their own. Each could choose a trade, and for Babe, that meant learning how to sew shirts. Most of these were worn by the students at the school, but some were sold to outside vendors.

Babe earned a little money for the shirts that he made, which he spent on candy for himself and for some of the younger children at the school.

Learning to play baseball

The one saving grace for George Jr. was baseball. He learned the game from Brother Matthias, an imposing 6-feet, 250-pounder who was quite talented in his own right.

Brother Matthias was also the chief disciplinarian at the school.

Babe became a catcher, then an awesome pitcher, and finally a great hitter. His exploits behind the walls of St. Mary's became legendary to the point that others outside learned about his skills. He apparently started playing with some semipro teams during these years. Listed at about 6-feet-2 and weighing about 150 pounds during those years, Babe could throw a blistering fast ball. Still, he was primarily a catcher.

He told a reporter for Baseball Magazine in 1918, "I wasn't a pitcher in those days until I was pretty nearly through my course. My main job was catching ... I used to hit .450 and .500. I kept track one season and found that I made over 60 home runs. The last two years I pitched and got along pretty well, but I never lost my taste for hitting and don't expect to."

Babe did not become known as Babe until he was ready for professional baseball. Then the owner of the Baltimore Orioles signed him to a contract. "The young Monkian prodigy caught the attention of Jack Dunn, the then-owner of the Baltimore Orioles (then a minor league team). Problem was, Ruth didn't have a legal guardian, and he needed one to play ball at age 19. So Dunn did what any truly devoted owner would do: He became the kid's guardian, and suddenly Ruth had the nickname 'Dunn's new babe'," according to Trivia Today.

That led him to the Boston Red Sox and eventually to the New York Yankees and to his status as one of the greatest hitters in baseball history.

That would never have occurred, however, were it not for Brother Matthias and the Xaverian monks at St. Mary's School.