George Herman Ruth (06/10)

For those of you that didn’t know (myself included), here is how George Herman Ruth became known as Babe Ruth…

When George Herman Ruth was seven years old, his father sent him to St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys, a reformatory and orphanage, and signed custody over to the Catholic missionaries who ran the school. This is where he first learned the game of baseball, thanks to Brother Matthias Boutlier.

n 1913, St. Mary’s Industrial School was playing a game against Mount St. Mary’s University (then college) in Emmitsburg, MD. That day, the game was attended by Joe Engel, a former Mount St. Mary’s student who was now a pitcher for the Washington Senators. Impressed with Ruth’s pitching abilities Engel, along with a teacher at St. Mary’s, Brother Gilbert, brought Ruth to the attention of Jack Dunn, owner and manager of the then minor-league Baltimore Orioles. After watching Ruth pitch in a workout for half an hour, Dunn signed Ruth to a contract. He signed a contract for $250 a month on February 14, 1914.

Since Ruth was only 19 years old, Dunn had to become Ruth’s legal guardian as well; at that time, the age of majority was 25. When the other players on the Orioles caught sight of Ruth, they nicknamed him “Jack’s newest babe.” The reference stayed with Ruth the rest of his life, and he was most commonly referred to as Babe Ruth from then on.

Babe Ruth

Ketchup time…(04/12-04/18)

I have been traveling lately and have fallen behind on these postings, but I have been keeping up in my journal. Here is a weeks worth in one post:

DOUBLE, DOUBLE TOIL AND TROUBLE; FIRE BURN, AND Blood BOIL? (04/12)

I learned about this Saint from a homily on Easter Sunday & it’s quite a story.

A sealed glass vial containing a dark unknown substance, allegedly the clotted blood of San Gennaro (St Januarius), is shown several times a year to a packed crowd in the Cathedral of Napoli (Naples). Whilst the container is being handled during a solemn ceremony, the solid mass suddenly liquefies before everybody’s eyes.

read more.

NIGHT BASEBALL (04/13)

In 1988, Wrigley Field was the last major league park to install lights for night games.

August 8, 1988

It wasn’t for lack of trying though, lights were to be installed for the Cubs 1942 season. But after Pearl Harbor was attacked, all of the equipment was donated to the United States Armed Forces.

(The following 3 “WORD OF THE DAY” entries were learned from Dr. Oliver Sack’s book Musicophilia)

WORD OF THE DAY (04/14)

daven |’dävən|
verb (davened, davening) [ intrans. ]
(in Judaism) recite the prescribed liturgical prayers.

ORIGIN Yiddish.

WORD OF THE DAY (04/15)

bonhomie |’bänə,mē; ‘bänə,mē|
noun
cheerful friendliness; geniality : he exuded good humor and bonhomie.

ORIGIN late 18th cent.: from French, from bonhomme ‘good fellow.’

WORD OF THE DAY (04/16)

dyskinesia |diski’nē zh ə|
noun Medicine
abnormality or impairment of voluntary movement.

DERIVATIVES
dyskinetic |-‘netik| adjective

CHICORY, DICKORY DOCK (04/17)

CHICORY (Cichorium intybus)

I learned all about the chicory flower from my sister (& about.com), who recently became fascinated with the flower.

It’s best known for its association with coffee.

At many points through history, coffee has become unavailable or too costly. During these times, people have often turned to roasted chicory as a substitute. Folks also used to make coffee from roasted acorns, yams and a variety of local grains.

There is no caffeine in chicory, and it produces a more ‘roasted’ flavor than coffee does. Many coffee producers offer blends with up to 30% chicory, which cuts down on the caffeine content of your cup. (It cuts down on the bitterness, too)

AQUATIC APE THEORY (04/18)

This is a theory that I was not aware of and will now share it with you…

One suggestion is that there was a good living to be made on the sea shore for any ape that left the forests to exploit it. Gradually adopting an upright stance would have been useful since it would free the hands to poke around and find food, while maybe also allowing the ape to wade into deeper water. Some suggest that a semi-aquatic past can also explain many modern human peculiarities (reduced body hair, subcutaneous fat, and our descended larynx for example).

read more theories here.