Babe Ruth
Ruth in 1919, George Grantham Bain, from Heritage Auctions
Birth Name: George Herman Ruth, Jr.
Date of Birth: February 6, 1895
Place of Birth: Pigtown, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Date of Death: August 16, 1948
Place of Death: Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S.
Ethnicity: German
Babe Ruth was an American professional baseball player. A left-handed pitcher and slugging outfielder, he played for the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees, and the Boston Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was also a coach for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was nicknamed “the Bambino” and “the Sultan of Swat.”
Babe was the son of Catherine/Katherine (Schamberger) and George Herman Ruth. All eight of Babe’s great-grandparents were born in Germany.
Babe had two children, one with his first wife Helen Woodford, and one with his second wife, actress and model Claire Merritt Hodgson.
Babe’s paternal grandfather was John Antone/Anton Ruth (the son of Jacob Antonius Ruth and Catherine Schmidt). John was born in Maryland, to German parents. Jacob was born in Main Tauber Kreis, Regierungsbezirk Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, the son of Georgus Adami Riedt/Ruth and Maria Anna Hegmann. Catherine was born in Baden-Württemberg.
Babe’s paternal grandmother was Mary Strodtman (the daughter of John Harman Strodtman and Mary Daverman). Babe’s grandmother Mary was born in Maryland, to German parents, from Hannover, Lower Saxony. John was the son of John Strodtman and Margaret.
Babe’s maternal grandfather was named Pius Schamberger (the son of Pius/Andreas Schamberger). Babe’s grandfather Pius was German, and was born in Baden-Württemberg.
Babe’s maternal grandmother was named Johanna “Annie” Schawtze Keller. Johanna was German.
Sources: Genealogies of Babe Ruth – http://www.wikitree.com
http://www.findagrave.com
https://www.geni.com
Babe’s father on the 1880 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Babe’s mother on the 1880 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Ruth himself has said: “In the first place I was not an orphan. My mother, whose maiden name was Schanberg, lived until I was 13. My father, George Herman Ruth, lived until my second year in the majors. Few fathers ever looked more like their sons than my pop and I. My mother was mainly Irish, and was called Kate. My father was of German extraction. It is not true that our family name was Erhardt, as has been repeatedly written. Or Ehrhardt, or Gearhardt.”
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0206.html
It’s possible one of his maternal grandparents had Irish heritage.
Either the censuses were wrong or Ruth was.
Perhaps he was thinking about anti-German sentiment in the U.S. at the time.
Yes but there were also a lot of anti-Irish sentiments in the U.S. at the time as well.
Not the same, because of World War I.
True. Follers please confirm Grover Cleveland Alexander. I love baseball :)