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Baseball Fathers and Sons Photo Gallery
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Happy Fathers Day from Baseball History Comes Alive!
“He was the greatest man I’ve ever known,” -Babe Ruth, speaking of his father-figure and mentor, Brother Mathias
Bill Gutman and I, the “staff” here at Baseball History Comes Alive!, want to wish all the fathers out there a very Happy Fathers Day!
What American institution has ever been better at bonding together grandfathers, fathers and sons, generation after generation, than the great game of baseball? And so what better way to celebrate Fathers’ Day than with a photo tribute to some of baseball’s more notable fathers and sons?
On Fathers Day a couple years ago, I posted the classic photo of the Babe tending bar at his father’s saloon. One of the readers took me to task saying: “That photo is inappropriate for Father’s Day. The only real father figure in the Babe’s life was Brother Mathias.” Plus, the pic was taken during the 1915 Christmas season at old-man Ruth’s Baltimore gin mill, not really an appropriate setting for a mid-summer holiday.
I had to admit the guy raised a good point. So to set the record straight, this year I’m posting a nice photo of the Babe with Brother Mathias, Babe’s true father-figure.
I love reading about Brother Mathias. So here’s a few words about him from Robert Creamer’s great book, “Babe – The Legend Comes to Life”:
He was a huge man, nearly six feet six inches tall and probably over 250 pounds. He had a calm, expressionless face that could turn icy cold when he was displeased. The boys at St. Mary’s were scared of Brother Mathias, whom they referred to as the Boss, but he had qualities that endeared him to them. He was immensely strong, stronger than any of them, and that impressed them. He never ranted or shouted. He was always calm, always consistent, always fair – and they appreciated that. If they misbehaved or broke a rule, they were punished. ‘He gave everyone a fair break but, brother, if you ever crossed him, you sure were in trouble.’
There is no testimony that Mathias administered corporal punishment. Usually a boy was deprived of certain meager privileges allowed at the school, like freedom during the recreation periods or the right to play ball. When the punishment was over, the incident was over too as far as Brother Mathias was concerned; and the boys looked upon this as eminently just.
Brother Mathias could hit tremendous fungos, long towering fly balls, and he would hit them swinging the bat with one hand. Ruth said: ‘I think I was born as a hitter the first day I ever saw him hit a baseball.’ In later years, Mathias would work for hours with George, hitting the boy grounder after grounder. ‘I could hit the first time I picked up a bat,’ Ruth also said, ‘but Brother Mathias made me a fielder.’
Brother Mathias was quite a man…and we’re happy to recognize him for all he did for a young troublemaker at St. Mary’s Orphanage who lacked discipline by the name of George Herman Ruth. And also for all the hundreds of other boys he influenced over the years at St. Mary’s. For many, he was the only father-figure they ever had.
…And with that, let me wish a very Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there! Hope you enjoy your day!
By the way, if you’d like to share some reminiscences about your dad or your grandfather and baseball, please do so in the comments section below. We’d love to hear from you!
Gary Livacari
Photo Credits: All from Google search
Information: Excerpts edited from Babe, by Robert Creamer.
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Gary Livacari
Photo Credits: All from Google search
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