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1995 SESSION

LD5403729
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 367
Senate Amendments in [ ] -- February 7, 1995
Commemorating the 100th anniversary of the birth of George Herman Ruth, Jr.
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Patrons--Saslaw, Barry, Chichester, Earley, Holland, R.J., Houck, Howell, Schewel, Waddell and Woods; Delegates: Callahan, Giesen, Jackson, Plum, Robinson, Van Landingham and Van Yahres
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Referred to the Committee on Rules
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WHEREAS, on February 6, 1895, the first child of a Baltimore saloonkeeper and his wife, a boy named George Herman Ruth, Jr., was born, thus beginning a saga as incredible as his later feats and as American as baseball; and

WHEREAS, declared incorrigible at age seven by his parents, George Ruth was institutionalized at the St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, a combination orphanage-reform school in Baltimore, until the age of 19, when he was rescued by the Boston Red Sox; and

WHEREAS, the Red Sox purchased George Ruth's services as a left-handed pitcher, and "Babe," as he was nicknamed by his teammates, soon established a reputation for prodigious talent and equally prodigious appetites; and

WHEREAS, large, strong, athletically gifted, and almost illiterate, Babe Ruth became, from 1915-1920, the best left-handed pitcher in the American League, winning 89 games and pitching so effectively in the World Series that his record for consecutive scoreless innings was not broken for 43 years; and

WHEREAS, to the everlasting regret of New England's baseball fans, Babe Ruth was sold in 1920 to the New York Yankees, and the rank stupidity of that transaction is most evident in the fact that the Red Sox, who had won five of the first 15 World Series, have never won another; and

WHEREAS, Boston's loss was New York's gain, as Babe Ruth, by now converted to the outfield to take advantage of his incredible hitting ability, led the Yankees to their greatest glory during the 1920s, and almost single-handedly saved and transformed America's national pastime; and

WHEREAS, baseball in 1920 was only one year removed from the Black Sox scandal of 1919, and it was Babe Ruth, with his unprecedented hitting, his outrageous behavior, and his love of the limelight, who rekindled in America's baseball fans their love of the game; and

WHEREAS, with his legendary power, Babe Ruth transformed baseball from a game dominated by the great pitchers of the first two decades of the twentieth century--Cy Young, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson, Grover Cleveland Alexander--to a game dominated by hitters, especially powers hitters--with none so powerful as Babe Ruth; and

WHEREAS, by the end of his career, Babe Ruth stood at the very pinnacle of baseball, a lofty position that he still occupies in the minds and memories of all who love the game; and

WHEREAS, at a time of petty squabbles among small men, of baseball's battles fought among lawyers in hotel meeting rooms, it is well to remember when baseball arrived as reliably as the vernal equinox, when titans strode the diamonds of America, and when the greatest player ever to pick up a baseball plied his trade; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commemorate the centennial anniversary of the birth of George Herman "Babe" Ruth, Jr.; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the General Assembly remind the current generation of baseball players to consider the feats of Babe Ruth and to "gaze upon his works, ye mighty, and despair."

[ RESOLVED FINALLY, That the Clerk of the Senate transmit a copy of this resolution to the Baseball Hall of Fame so that it may be apprised of the sense of the General Assembly. ]