Photos of Babe Ruth You May Have Never Seen Before

When it comes to the sport of American baseball, one can't help but look to the greats - Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle,  Willie Mays, Ted Williams, Ty Cobb - but no list of baseball legends is complete without the Great Bambino, the Sultan of SWAT - Babe Ruth. Born George Herman Ruth, he earned his nickname in 1914 when he signed to play for a minor-league team in Baltimore owned by Jack Dunn. A sportswriter referred to him as one of Dunn's Babes, and the rest is history.

Ruth logged 22 seasons in Major League Baseball, traded from the Red Sox to the New York Yankees, where he solidified his place in history on a legendary team, earning four World Series Titles. He was such an icon, that his trade from Boston was forever known as "The Curse of the Bambino" when the team failed to clinch a World Series title (the curse was broken in 2004).

Famously quoted as saying, "All ballplayers should quit when it starts to feel as if all the baselines run uphill," Ruth retired in 1935 with 714 home runs under his belt. But he was much more than a baseball legend. He was an icon, proof that hard work and perseverance could take you anywhere. (Another Yankee great, Aaron Judge, who broke the home run record in 2022, declined to participate in this year's Home Run Derby at the All-Star game.)

Here are some photos that showcase the many interests, talents, and causes in which Ruth was involved both during his time on the field and off. (Also Read: Lou Gehrig's Most Memorable Quotes About Life and Baseball)

American former boxer and gymnasium owner Arthur McGovern (1898 - 1942) stands by as baseball player Babe Ruth (1895 - 1948) (born George Herman Ruth Jr) rides a stationary exercise cycle prior to the start of the baseball season, New York, New York, mid 1920s to mid 1930s. Ruth started attending McGovern's gym in 1925 and continued every year for the duration of his professional career (which ended in 1935). (Photo by Keystone/FPG/Getty Images)

Former flyweight boxer Artie McGovern owned McGovern's Gym, where he trained legends of Broadway and Wall Street. He was also known for bringing Babe Ruth back to top form. Ruth began working out with McGovern in 1925 at a time when he was overweight, out of shape, and in a career slump.

McGovern coached him on his diet and exercise regimen and by the following season, Ruth had shed 44 lbs and emerged a slimmer, more fit version of himself, going on to score 47 home runs the following season.

American baseball players Babe Ruth (1895 - 1948) (born George Herman Ruth Jr) (left) of the New York Yankees and Walter Johnson (1887 - 1946) of the Washington Senators each pose with their prize-winning roosters, 1927. During the off-season, both players bred and raised animals. (Photo by FPG/Getty Images)

While Ruth was known as a prize-winning baseball player, few people know that he also raised prize-winning roosters during the off-season. Not only did he own chickens, but there was a famous chicken named Lady Amco of Norfolk, owned by A.R. Landers, that was dubbed the "Babe Ruth of the Aviary World."

The famed hen began laying eggs every time Ruth hit a home run and even became the record holder for the most consecutive eggs laid – just like the ball player Ruth, who held the record for most home runs.

American baseball player Babe Ruth (1895 - 1948) (born George Herman Ruth Jr) feeds chickens on his farm during the off-season, Sudbury, Massachusetts, 1923. (Photo by Keystone/FPG/Getty Images)

Babe Ruth raised his birds at Home Plate Farm, a property he purchased in Sudbury, Massachusetts in 1922. The property was home to Ruth and his family until 1926. Rumor has it that during a wild night of partying, Ruth and some pals sunk a piano in a pond on the property.

American baseball player Babe Ruth (1895 - 1948) (born George Herman Ruth Jr) poses with his wife Helen Woodford Ruth (1897 - 1929) and daughter Dorothy Ruth (later Dorothy Sullivan and Dorothy Pirone, 1921 - 1989), 1921. (Photo by FPG/Getty Images)

The Great Bambino and his first wife, Helen married as teens in 1914 and adopted their daughter Dorothy in 1921. Babe and Helen separated in 1925 due, by all accounts, to his infidelities. He's quoted as saying, "I'll promise to go easier on drinking and to get to bed earlier, but not for you, fifty thousand dollars, or two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars will I give up women. They're too much fun." (Find more famous baseball quotes here.)

Helen died under mysterious circumstances in a house fire in 1929 and three months after her death, Babe married Claire Hodgson and adopted her daughter Julia. In 1988, Dorothy Ruth wrote in her book, "My Dad, the Babe," that Babe was her biological father and that she was born to a mistress of Babe's named Juanita Jennings.

American baseball player Babe Ruth (1895 - 1948) (born George Herman Ruth Jr) waves his cap while astride 'King Jess,' a Holstein bull, on an estate in Harrington Park, New Jersey, November 9, 1922. Ruth was one of the public figures invited to an estate owned lawyer John M. Kelley to witness a wager between Kelley and circus rider May Wirth that she ride his famously ill-tempered beast; Wirth suceeded, as did Ruth, one only a few of the other celebrites induced to attempt the feat. (Photo by FPG/Getty Images)

Babe was at the estate of lawyer John M. Kelley in 1922, when Kelley bet May Wirth, a famous circus rider, that she couldn't ride his bull, known as "King Jess." All in attendance watched as Wirth successfully rode the beast, an outcome that Ruth bet on and won. After Wirth, Ruth wanted to try his hand at riding King Jess, and by all appearances also succeeded.

Baseball player Babe Ruth lying side by side with his daughter Julia as he gives her a blood transfusion, which she needs following a serious throat infection, at Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital, New York, August 11th 1938. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

As a teen, Ruth's daughter Julia had a serious case of strep throat, and as penicillin was not yet available, she wasn't getting any better on her own. The doctor suggested she get a blood transfusion, which Babe tested for and was found to be a match. "The next thing you know, Daddy was right beside me on a gurney giving me a direct blood transfusion," Julia says in this article from 2019. That moment was captured at the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital in New York.

American baseball player Babe Ruth (1895 - 1948) (born George Herman Ruth Jr) smokes a pipe as he plays a piano while his wife, Helen Ruth (nee Woodford, 1897 - 1929) stands next to him, 1910s. (Photo by Keystone/FPG/Getty Images)

Babe Ruth might have been best known for his talents on the field, but he had talents off the field as well. He and his wife were known for their piano-playing abilities, and in addition to playing piano, Ruth had some composing skills as well. He — along with American composer Zez Confrey — composed a catchy tune in 1937 called "Home Run on the Keys," which was a riff on Confrey's popular "Kitten on the Keys."

Baseball player Babe Ruth, playing himself, in the movie 'The Pride of the Yankees', 1942. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)

Ruth may not have been a true actor but he appeared in 10 films, one of which was the 1942 film, "The Pride of the Yankees," where Ruth made an appearance as himself. The film was about the life of Lou Gehrig, played by Gary Cooper, and was nominated for 10 Oscars, snagging one for Best Film Editing.

American baseball player Babe Ruth (1895 - 1948) (born George Herman Ruth Jr) leans on the counter of an outdoor bar and drinks from a straw, 1920s or 1930s. (Photo by FPG/Getty Images)

While not in a sweaty baseball uniform, Ruth cleaned up quite nicely but he also enjoyed his alcohol. Known to be an excessive drinker, Ruth's mom was an alcoholic, and his father was a saloon owner who was killed in a drunken brawl. Ruth was known for his massive consumption of beer and hot dogs, but it was Scotch whisky that wet his whistle in later years.

The body of American baseball player Babe Ruth is carried in a casket from St. Patrick's Cathedral as New York City Mayor William O'Dwyer (1890 - 1964) (left, fore) and New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey (1902 - 1971) (right, fore), among others, pay their last respects, New York, New York, August 19, 1948. (Photo by Al Gretz/Keystone/FPG/Getty Images)

Babe Ruth died of throat cancer on August 16, 1948. He was 53 years old. His funeral lasted three days — from August 17-19, 1948. A reported 75,000 people paid their respects when his body lay in state in the Yankee Stadium rotunda. His funeral took place at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City and he was buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York. (Click here for 21 of the most famous baseball quotes.)