Opening Day was recently celebrated as many around Charm City peek into their closets at the orange and black gear they will excitedly don this spring.
While the Orioles most recent resurgence is fresh, the tradition of Baltimoreans spending a warm day at the ballpark is older than sliced bread.
At the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum near Camden Yards, the spirit of old Baltimore and its love for baseball is being preserved as the new generation of O’s looks to bring Baltimore its first title since 1983. The museum celebrated it’s 50th anniversary last year.
The museum’s executive director, Shawn Herne, said that, obviously, a lot has changed since the late 1800s, but the spirit of the town is still the same. Baltimore is a working-class town that loves its baseball team, and nobody embodies the spirit of the city like
Babe Ruth.
“Babe epitomized the American dream,” Herne said. “He came from a family of hardworking German immigrants. He was a child that grew up in a reform school to become the most recognized name in America.”
Ruth was born in Baltimore 1895. Many details about his background and childhood are unknown, but he attended what was then called St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys.
It was an old-fashioned reformatory with corporal punishment — a style of education that has been phased out since then.
Herne said that Ruth felt strongly about the school’s mission throughout his life.
“Babe remained true to Baltimore, supporting the St. Mary’s Industrial School for most of his life. When the school burned, Babe took the St. Mary’s school band on tour with him, helping to raise money for its rebuild,” he said.
Baltimore’s many Catholic schools no longer resemble the one that Ruth attended, but many things here are the same. Herne said one thing in particular that led to Ruth’s ascent is still here.
“Baltimore, in the years following Babe Ruth’s birth, was a huge baseball town,” he said. “The game could be found on every corner of the city. The National League’s Baltimore Orioles dominated the 1890s, winning the pennant in 1894, 1895 and 1896, and winning the Temple Cup [a precursor to the World Series] in 1896 and 1897. Negro League baseball was also taking root with the formation of the Baltimore Black Sox in 1913.”
While the Orioles experienced lean years under questionable ownership for nearly all of the 21st century, new life has been breathed into the franchise and attendance reflects it.
The team finished last year with its highest per-game average since the 2015 season, near the end of their last run of moderate success.
Though playoff success hasn’t come yet, Baltimore is unquestionably a thriving baseball town again. Fans are in the stands and there is excitement around what might be the Major League’s best young core.
At bars from Fell’s Point to Canton and across the suburbs of Charm City, fans in O’s gear will be cheering on their team win or lose this spring.
At those bars, beer will be flowing. Herne said that hasn’t changed either. In fact, Ruth being a product of Baltimore means more than just being a baseball lover and a hard worker.
“Babe loved to have fun. He never took himself too seriously. And, lending to his days at St. Mary’s, [he] loved children, especially those less fortunate than himself,” Herne said. “He was kind, charming and generous. He could easily interact with all walks of life. His visits to hospitals and orphanages were featured in newspapers around the country.”
The stories of Ruth’s partying are equalled in number by the stories of his generosity and kindness. He lived large, but never forgot where he came from. While he is known as a Yankee who was acquired from the long-cursed Red Sox, Ruth started as an Oriole.
At that point, Baltimore’s team was in the minor leagues. Just like now, baseball was then a game of meshing cultures. There were numerous languages spoken in the Baltimore dugout, like today. Ruth contributed.
“Growing up in a German family, he spoke German as a second language,” Herne said.
He added that, of course, many elements of the Babe’s life are unique to that era. For example, time he spent at St. Mary’s led to a skill that is probably not common among most top-notch athletes today.
“Babe was trained at the St. Mary’s Industrial School as a shirt joiner. For the rest of his life, Babe sewed. He altered his own shirts and, one summer, sewed a quilt for his daughter to take to camp!” Herne said.
While Gunnar Henderson may or may not be the one that repairs his own dress shirts, he has been known to ride a scooter through the city to his office on West Camden Street. The spirit of the Orioles that Ruth helped create and further is still there. The Birds love Baltimore, and Baltimore definitely loves them back.
Then, just like now, the franchise had an eye for talent. Herne said that Ruth was scouted by his local team, and they saw something that would later amount to the greatest player the sport had ever seen.
“Without the Orioles, George Herman Ruth Jr. would have most likely worked in his father’s bar and would not have been known to the world,” he said. “Even his nickname, ‘Babe,’ came from the Orioles.”
Ultimately, the man was like the city that raised him.
“Humble beginnings and hard work,” Herne said. “Those are the things that Babe and Baltimore have in common.”