nPostednon April 27, 2015
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| Ruth was not only nicknamed “Babe,” but he had other nicknames, too, such as “The Bambino” and “the Sultan of Swat.” |
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nGeorgenHerman Ruth, also known as Babe Ruth, was born in February (1895) andndied in August (1948). So why is April 27 considered Babe Ruth Day?
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nFirst,nyou have to know that Babe Ruth was extremely important – popular,nfamous, well-paid, a character. You might even say that he was anlegend in his own time. He remains one of the biggest sports heroesnin American culture and some say he was the greatest baseball playernof all time.
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nThat’snwhy, when he was diagnosed with throat cancer in late 1946, fansnwanted news about his health, and the Yankee team organized Babe RuthnDay on this date in 1947. He ended up speaking to a crowd of morenthan 58,000 fans at Yankee Stadium.
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nAccordingnto ThenNew York Times,n“Justnbefore he spoke, Ruth started to cough and it appeared that he mightnbreak down because of the thunderous cheers that came his way. Butnonce he started to talk, he was all right, still the champion. It wasnthe many men who surrounded him on the field, players, newspaper andnradio persons, who choked up.”
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nRuth’snlife by the numbers:
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nAgenhe went away to a Roman Catholic reformatory school: 7 years old.
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nAgenhe signed his first professional baseball contract: 19 years old.
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nAgenhe died: 53 years old.
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nRecordnbreaking number of home runs in one season: 60 home runs.
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nNumbernof years Ruth’s home run record stood: 34 years.
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n(Butnthe record was broken when Major League Baseball had 8 more games pernseason!)
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nRecordnbreaking number of career home runs: 714 home runs.
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nNumbernof years career home runs record stood: 39 years.
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nSalarynper year (as of 1930): $80,000 per year.
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n(ThenPresident of the United States only made $75,000 that years.)
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nTopnsalary corrected for inflation: about one million dollars per year.
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n(Note:ntop baseball stars these days earn $20 million to almost $30 millionnper year! So Ruth was underpaid, by today’s standards; if he werenplaying and dominating today he would probably be able to ask $25 ton$30 million per year.)
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nAlsonon this date:
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Anniversarynof the discovery of hahnium
Anniversarynof the discovery of hahniumn
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nFreedomnDay in South Africa
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nCivilnrights activist Coretta Scott King’s birthday
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nAnniversarynof Beethoven’s composition of FurnElise
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nPlannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest boards for:
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nApriln holidays
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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nMayn holidays
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nMayn birthdays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in May
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