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[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"39363","attributes":{"class":"media-image","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","alt":"Babe Ruth "}}]]Did you guess today's Funky Find? Here's the story behind the Babe Ruth signed baseball, as told by our Archivist and Registrar, Jennifer Noffze, who is always on the hunt for funky finds in the Children's Museum collection!
George Herman Ruth (1895-1948) was one of baseball's all-time greats. Nicknamed "Babe" in 1914, his left-arm pitching and powerful hitting were invaluable assets to the Boston Red Sox (1914-1919), the New York Yankees (1920-1934) and the Boston Braves (1935). This baseball was signed by Babe Ruth in the 1930s.
Baseball is the American national pastime and a very popular sport throughout the world. Baseball is among the oldest and most popular team sports in the United States. Although the origins and evolution of the various bat-and-ball games are murky, the game we know as baseball is primarily an American invention. Going back to at least the 1870s, American newspapers were calling the sport "The National Pastime" or "The National Game". No small part of its appeal is that it is mostly played during the warm, relatively leisurely months of the year, thus it is also called "The Summer Game" and its players often referred to as "The Boys of Summer.”
Looking for more? Go behind the scenes in The Children's Museum's collection when you check out the full blog category.
