- 2010: Dates to Remember -
- Fall Ball - 2010 Tryouts - 2010 Registration - Scholarships  -
- Volunteer Info - Coaching Certification Course - Jets & Hornets Team Up - 
- Dugout Fences at COA - Lincoln Park Score Board !! -
- The Babe's Legend Endures - Rain/Field Conditions - Babe Ruth Volunteers - 
- A Word About Travel Teams - Coach of the Year; Cody Nelson - 
- Dontrelle & Jimmy - COA dugout clean-up -  Babe Ruth Gear - 

2010 - IMPORTANT DATES

• Tryouts/Evaluations: Sat, February 13 (see schedule below)
• American League Pre-Season Starts: Saturday, March 20
• American League Regular Season Starts: Saturday, March 27
• 14-15 National League Season Opens: Saturday, May 15
• Picture Day:  TBD
• Family Dinner: (tentatively) Saturday, June 5th (Time/Location/Details tbd)
• Awards Ceremony: Sunday, June 27th (Encinal High Gym)

2010 - PLAYER EVALUATIONS (Try Outs)

13-15 Year Olds @ Upper Washington Park

Saturday, January 23 - RAINED OUT

Sunday, January 24 - RAINED OUT

Saturday, January 30 - RAINED OUT

Sunday, January 31 -- COMPLETED

Saturday, February 6 - FIELD TOO WET

Saturday, February 13 <-- NEXT TRYOUT
    13's (ALL): 10:00 - Noon
    14-15's (ALL): Noon -2:00

Sunday, February 14 -- ONLY IF NEEDED -- weather/field conditions permitting
    13's (ALL): 10:00 - Noon
    14-15's (ALL): Noon -2:00

-- Players are required to attend at least two tryouts -- 

ALL PLAYERS who register, pay fees and attend evaluations are assured of being drafted to a team.  (Players who were on a roster of a National League team in 2009 do NOT need to attend evaluations,  but they still MUST REGISTER.)

2010 - PLAYER REGISTRATION: 

• Registration Night: Was held on Thursday, January 7, from 7-8:30 at Lum School
  (as advertised in our annual newsletter, on our website and in local newspapers).

• Fee:  This year's registration fee is $175 (the same as the last several year). 

• Mailers:  Registration mailers were also sent out in late-November.  
  
  IMPORTANT:  If you were unable to attend our Registration Night, you can print out a registration form here.  You must return the registration paperwork to us (Registration/Emergency Release form) with your check (made out to "Alameda Babe Ruth") via mail , at PO Box 1096, Alameda CA 94501 before Saturday 1/16 - OR - bring the form/check to the first Evaluation session on 1/23.

• Late Fee:  There will be a late fee for anyone who signs up after the final deadline.

• Assistance:  Assistance packages are available; contact Stacy Marino 814-8223 for details. 

a word about Travel teams 

Message from the President
April 6, 2009
TRAVEL WITH BABE RUTH LEAGUE, INC.

Babe Ruth League, Inc. is an organization that places youth first. Youth baseball and softball are meant to be fun, with tournament competition being secondary. Allowing every child the opportunity to play and providing as equal playing time as possible for younger athletes is the ultimate objective. It is important that at a young age, coaches and parents begin to teach the principles of sportsmanship, effort, teamwork and self discipline. FUN is what will keep your child in the game and eager to learn!

We are always concerned about the philosophies of travel teams and what they promote. They represent a demanding schedule, total exclusivity and high expense for a child to participate. Travel teams attempt to recruit the more talented players. There are recruiting problems as players often switch teams. And if a player does not keep on playing up to par, he will most likely be dropped from the team or see less playing time and forced to find another.

Many communities are playing travel ball today because people believe it is a higher level of competition. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Local league oriented programs such as Babe Ruth League, Inc. offer many opportunities for players to develop their skills, and to take their game to the next level.

Babe Ruth League, Inc.’s goal is to provide the best playing experience for every division in our program. The main reason kids play baseball and softball is to have FUN! Keeping the game FUN for all while at the same time teaching the basic skills is what we will always strive to accomplish.

The more talented players have the opportunity to experience an exciting and challenging post-season tournament trail, which begins at the District level and culminates at nine World Series. There is NO participation fee to play in official Babe Ruth tournament trail tournaments. Players are also able to participate in special invitational tournaments and interlocking schedules with neighboring leagues.

Babe Ruth League, Inc. was proud to take yet another step to ensure a banner experience for our players by participating in the inaugural National Youth Baseball Championships Tournament for the 12-and-under and 10-and-under divisions in 2008. This championship involved World Series champions from community-based programs such as Babe Ruth League and World Series champions from leading travel programs competing to be crowned the national champion in each division. One of our teams actually made it to the championship game. We look forward to participating in this tournament again in the future.

As you can see, the talent is not that much different among players who participate in community-based programs and players who participate in travel programs. And you cannot assume that if you child plays travel ball this will guarantee him/her a position on a high school team, a college scholarship or an easy ticket to the pros. For whatever reason, it is a rare person who gets to play professional sports – statistics state only one in 13,000 will ever receive a paycheck from a professional team. According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), fewer than 2% of high school athletes will ever receive a collegiate scholarship.

Contrary to the beliefs of many, early success in sports is not consistently correlated with success in later years. At a young age, the winning percentage should not be based on any measure of wins and losses, but rather on how much fun the children have and how many want to play again the next season. It should be about having fun and creating life-time friendships and memories. It should be about total community involvement and neighbor togetherness. What are we teaching our kids if we expect them to win at all costs? Doesn’t this make them feel that they must win for us, as parents, to be proud of them? Does it mean that doing your best and having fun does not make them a champion, both on and off the field? Of course not!! At least not in Babe Ruth League, Inc.

While youth baseball and softball can be one of the most inexpensive sports to participate in, they can come with a high price tag. It all depends on you and what you expect from your child’s experience.

Do you want your child to develop lasting friendships and learn such valuable life lessons as self-discipline, sportsmanship, teamwork, learning from mistakes, winning humbly and handling defeat gracefully, just to name a few (The skill to handle failure and overcome it can last a lifetime while youth baseball and softball careers only last a short while.) Do you want a structured environment where your kids can develop their skills? Do you want your kids to be on set rosters where you know they will be afforded playing time and not just sit the bench? Do you want your kids to be surrounded by “teachers” in an outdoor classroom who are committed to them? Do you want your kid to participate in a program where the #1 goal is to help them grow into successful and productive adults? Then having your family join the Babe Ruth Family is the route you want to take.

Steven M. Tellefsen
President/CEO
Babe Ruth League

2009 FALL BALL PROGRAM 

Regretfully, due to lack of coaching availability, we will be unable to offer our annual Fall Ball program this year. We are all disappointed, but will do our best to resurrect the program for next year.

alameda Babe Ruth scholarships  

Alameda Babe Ruth has awarded over $28,500 in College Scholarships since 1995.  Any graduating high school senior who has played at least one year in our program and will be attending a community, four-year college or university is eligible to apply for a scholarship.  Applications are due each year around April.

The Dal Porto family funds one of the scholarships in honor of Peter & Margaret Dal Porto.  The remaining scholarships come from umpires who volunteer their time instead of getting paid.

2009 Scholarships

The Babe Ruth Scholarship Committee (Ron Matthews, Bill Garvine, Geoff Kline, Shelly Dunn and Bill Dal Porto) have awarded $500 college scholarships to the following high school seniors:

AJ Atases:  Encinal High Will Boscacci:  Alameda High Bill Connacher:  St. Joseph High Dylan Flores: Alameda High Calvin Fong:  Alameda High Dan Higuchi:  Alameda High Brian Nelson:  Alameda High Daniel Pratt:  Bishop O'Dowd

Congratulations and Best Wishes
to all our 2009 Babe Ruth Scholarship Recipients in their 
ongoing educational and athletic pursuits! 

And a special thanks to all of our volunteer umpires
who have made these awards possible.

Dave Boyd, Mark Clement, Bill Dal Porto, Dennis DiFabio, JP Frary, Darrell Holt, Dave Jones, Geoff Kline, Mike LaFleur, Eric Litzky, Randy Marmor, Ron Matthews, Mike McMahon, Jim Ogden, Dave Opperud, Kelly Park, George Phillips, Ryan Rogers, Greg Schopf, Doug Skinner, Marcus Tucker, Mark Villa

Babe Ruth president:  Ron matthews 

Long-time Alameda baseball volunteer, Ron Matthews, has assumed the position of President of Alameda Babe Ruth.

For the past several years, Ron has been our Liaison Director with the Alameda Recreation and Parks Department, but Ron's baseball chops go much deeper than that.

In addition to coaching and umpiring at several levels of Little League and Babe Ruth, Ron has a distinguished list of baseball credentials - past and present, which include:

• President, Alameda Little League 1998-2003, 2006

• President, Alameda All Stars 1998 - current

• President, Alameda Babe Ruth 2006

• President, Greater Bay Area Sr. Babe Ruth 2005 - current

• Co-Founder, Alameda Umpire Association, 2000

• Member, Northern California Babe Ruth Umpire Association and Babe Ruth Baseball National Umpire Association 2003 - current

• District 4 & 5 Commissioner, Norcal Babe Ruth League 2005 - current

• Vice President & General Manager to Osaka, Japan, Alameda World Tournament Baseball 2002, 2003 (Brazil), 2006

• Member Official, East Bay Football Officials Association 2003 - current

• Administrative Assistant to Ken Arnerich & Statistician, Alameda High School Baseball Program

Thanks Ron for taking on this new responsibility and thanks for adding us to you resume.  

REMINDER:  Rain / Field Conditions

After a rain, always call the ARPD Field Hotline to find out whether fields are playable or closed.

The number is:

747- 7540

NEVER go onto fields that have been closed by ARPD. 
Thank you for your cooperation.

BABE RUTH VOLUNTEERS

See also, "ONLINE COACHING CERTIFICATION COURSE"; required for all coaches.

In order to keep our kids playing baseball at a quality level, it takes a LOT of volunteer effort.   We need everyone to try to help out wherever they can, whether that's as a Board Member, Manager, Coach, Umpire, Publicity Person, Grounds Keeper, Picture Day Coordinator or Family BBQ volunteer, we welcome and encourage every parent to participate.

Safety
It is the league's policy that ALL volunteers working with our players be "vetted"; this includes all umpires, coaches, managers, Board Members, grounds keepers, score keepers, as well as anyone else that works directly with the players and/or helps on the field during games & practices.

The vetting procedure involves completing and then submitting a Volunteer Application together with a copy of your Driver's License.  The League's Director of Legal Affairs then simply runs a routine check of each volunteer through the Alameda Police Department to confirm that there is nothing that would prevent that individual from working with our kids.

The procedure is routine, and is being practiced by more and more youth organizations as a simple precaution and an unfortunate sign of the times.

The vetting procedure will be kept in the strictest confidence and be assured that minor infractions that have no bearing on your ability to work with our players will have no impact on the approval of your application.

Again, to be able to work as a volunteer with Alameda Babe Ruth, 
you need to:

1. Print out & complete a Volunteer Application

2. Make a copy of your Driver's License

3. Submit both the Application and copy of Driver's License directly to the League General Manager for processing, or simply turn in to your Team Manager, who then is responsible for passing along the paperwork to the General Manager.

Thank you for your cooperation & understanding,
and thank you for volunteering to help our young athletes. 

---

REMINDER:  always CLEAN-UP DUGOUTS AFTER GAMES It is each team's responsibility to ensure that the dugouts are clean after every game - especially when we play at the College of Alameda.   Babe Ruth will be charged if the field maintenance person has to spend extra time cleaning the dugouts, so please remember to remove all your trash, seed shells, etc. from the dugouts before you leave.     There SHOULD be brooms in each dugout. Thank you.

---

ONLINE COACHING CERTIFICATION COURSES 
(Reprinted from 3/26 National BR Newsletter)

Note From Ron:  This certification is now a required course. 

As previously indicated, Babe Ruth League and Ripken Baseball have partnered with the American Sport Education Program (ASEP) to provide online training and certification for our baseball and softball coaches. A long-time vision of the Babe Ruth program and its partner, first-ballot 2007 Major League Baseball Hall of Fame Inductee Cal Ripken, Jr., is finally a reality!

It is a known fact that the managers and coaches are the individuals who spend the most time interacting with the participants. Experts in the youth sports industry agree that the real value of a good coach is his or her ability to impart information to their players. As players develop, it is important that we develop with them as coaches, both in our knowledge of the game and our ability to translate that knowledge through instruction.

We have reviewed many coaches training programs and are confident the courses offered through ASEP, and which have been customized by Babe Ruth League, Inc. and Ripken Baseball, Inc., are the best in the market for today’s amateur coach. The program offered through ASEP can be implemented with ease, no matter the experience level of a coach. Not only does it instruct a coach on how to teach the basic fundamentals of the game, but it also provides a goal-oriented process for measured improvement. The result will be players who measure success in terms of personal development, not simply wins and losses.

Babe Ruth League and Ripken Baseball are establishing a leadership role in youth baseball and softball by requiring all Babe Ruth League coaches to successfully complete coaching education and certification by July 31, 2008.

ASEP designed the customized online courses with considerable content developed and provided by Ripken Baseball, reflecting its “Ripken Way” coaching philosophy. Each course features more than 200 pages of material that is delivered as PDF downloads within the course. Also included is a “Coach’s Clipboard” feature that contains assessment tools, checklists, worksheets, and drill sheets that coaches can print and use at practices and games. The online courses take roughly 3 to 4 hours to complete and contain the following units:

Introduction: The Ripken Way
Unit 1: Coach responsibilities
Unit 2: Communication
Unit 3: Safety and fitness
Unit 4: Expectations and goals
Unit 5: Practice and practice planning
Unit 6: Skill development
Unit 7: Rules and equipment
Unit 8: Skills and drills
Unit 9: Tactics and strategies
Unit 10: Game day

The courses conclude with a 30-question online test that is scored automatically. Once a course is completed, coaches can print a certificate directly from the website and email a copy of their course transcript to their league administrator for documentation of course completion.

To date, many Babe Ruth coaches have signed on to take the courses offered through ASEP, and the feedback has been very positive. Here are just a few of the comments we have received…

“…The course was very well done. Hats off to Babe Ruth for providing a coaching program that is the same across the board. One team should not suffer because the coach doesn’t have the tools to teach the kids.” – Colonie, New York

“…As parents, we spend endless hours teaching our kids right from wrong, as well as many principles that will help them grow into productive adults. Anyone from teachers to community leaders has an obligation to be a role model for today’s youth and to reinforce the values that begin at home. We congratulate Babe Ruth for their foresight in requiring all coaches to become certified so they can inspire our players and teach them that winning at all costs is not as important as teamwork and having fun.” – Colorado City, Colorado.

“Coaches need to be certified to learn both the practical part of the game as well as the theories which will help them to understand the fundamentals behind the sport. The theories help you to understand the children of the age group you are coaching, for example, the physical limits and the emotional influences they are going through at that age. Every coach in our league has been certified through ASEP. The training was excellent, and we absolutely recommend it to everyone.” – Tell City, Indiana.

To order the online course, which retails for $19.95 and is good for life, Babe Ruth League and Ripken Baseball coaches can visit www.BabeRuthCoaching.org and click on the “Coaches” tab from the home page and follow the simple prompts. The course is not limited strictly to Babe Ruth League coaches. Coaches of any affiliation would benefit from taking the comprehensive course and are encouraged to enroll.

To gain access to the Administrator area of the website and make bulk purchases, league administrators must first be assigned a unique administrator access code. These codes are distributed by Babe Ruth League, Inc. To receive an administrator access code, contact your respective Babe Ruth Headquarters Service Representative.

Help your coaching personnel meet their responsibilities. Visit www.baberuthcoaching.org and you will be on your way to providing your participants with the ultimate playing experience.

Steven Tellefsen
President/CEO
Babe Ruth League, Inc.

Arch-rivals Merge Forces in Summer 

By Jake Leonard
Oakland Tribune
7/18/2007

BACK: Coach Tim Marr, Mike Senter (E), Charlie Targett (E), Zack Braband (SJ), Mark Severy (EC), Anthony Woodd (A),
Zach Boyd (E), Jeff Croft (A), Devin Grigg (A), Tommy Adkins (E), Will Sherratt (A), Coach Mike Ballerini
MIDDLE: Paul Wada (A), Casey O'Reilly (A), Jim Klien (CP), John Dunn (A), Coach Rich Sherratt, Todd Surdez (N)
VOGUEING:  Casey Henneman (E)

HAYWARD — A foul ball dropped from the sky, heading straight for a pair of bench-warming players, both only half paying attention.

Realizing their dangerous positioning, Encinal High's Casey Henneman and Alameda's Casey O'Reilly fumbled into each other, in turn making bids to catch the popup and to dodge it.

Plunk. Laughter all around.

The ball landed harmlessly between them, becoming a quick and friendly bickering point, as the pair heckled each other and gave fraternal shoulder-checks and fist jabs of blame.

It's a bizarre sight. Alameda and Encinal: not at each other's throats, not spouting trash-talk, not even seeming to hate each other.

"Must be summer," called a voice from the stands.

From early February until late June, Encinal and Alameda baseball players are the bitterest of rivals: ACCAL and inter-Alameda Island arch-foes. But once the high-school season ends, there's a 180-degree attitude adjustment, as those same players morph into the eagerest of teammates.

"People say Encinal and Alameda baseball players are so different," Alameda alum Devin Grigg said. "Really, we've all known each other since Little League. We come together pretty well when we have the chance."

The stage for that easiest of uneasy alliances on Tuesday evening was Chabot College, where the Alameda Merchants — a Babe Ruth Senior League all-star team made up of players from ages 16 to 18, consisting almost exclusively of players from Encinal and Alameda — faced the Castro Valley Thunder Sox in the state tournament.

Smiles weren't wide throughout the evening on the Alameda bench, as the Merchants suffered a 7-0 loss to the 2002-, 2004- and 2006-champion Thunder Sox, who were led by a nine-strikeout performance from Arroyo's Alex Jack.

But, after winning its first two games of the double-elimination tournament by a combined 18-9, Alameda remains alive, and will send ace Zach Boyd out against Mountain View today at 5:30 p.m, with a championship rematch against Castro Valley on the line.

"We had a bad game today," head coach Tim Marr said. "As good as we were on Sunday (beating Santa Rosa 8-7), we were that bad today. These kids have been champions all year, though. We'll rebound."

Many members from Alameda's 2000 11-year old championship team, and Alameda High's 2006 NCS championship team are on the roster.

Of the six hits collected by the Merchants against Castro Valley, fittingly, three came from Encinal (two for Boyd and one for Mike Senter), and three came from Alameda High (two for alum Jeff Croft, now at Laney College, and one for Paul Wada).

dugout fences @ the college !!! 

In a cooperative effort, Alameda Babe Ruth and Alameda Little League pooled resources to finally have safety fences installed in front of the dugouts out at the College of Alameda baseball field.  The fences were part of the facility's original design, but were dropped as funding dried up during construction.

The new fences not only will protect the players in the dugouts, but also the fielders who risk tumbling into the cement dugouts chasing after fly balls.

Lincoln park score board !!! 
A Message From League President Matthews

On behalf of Alameda Babe Ruth League and Alameda High School baseball, I wish to thank everyone who was involved in this great effort to install a baseball scoreboard at Lincoln Park. This was one of those unique community efforts that started with an idea from Ken Arnerich and myself, and required the teamwork efforts from Alameda Recreation and Park Department and Alameda Power & Telecom, as well as considerable financial contributions from Rodgers Trucking Company, Diamond Tool & Die, and Fabpro. Not to be overlooked was the individual effort of Babe Ruth Board Member Tony Missaggia, who provided the welding to complete the job.

Ken Arnerich and I would like to invite all of you to celebrate the formal unveiling ceremonies to be held next Friday at 3:00PM, which is immediately prior to the final game of the regular baseball season between Alameda's two High Schools, Alameda High and Encinal High. I have included the Mayor's Office in this invitation and I'm sure we can expect some City dignitaries to recognize this contribution to our community with their attendance.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to give me a call at 769-6031. We look forward to seeing you on Friday, May 18th!

Ron Matthews, 
President Alameda Babe Ruth League

Records May Fall, but the Babe Endures
By Ron Kroichick
SF Chronicle
May 2006

By October 1934, after his final full season in the major leagues, Babe Ruth's fame stretched around the globe. He was among several all-star players, from Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx to Lefty Gomez and Charlie Gehringer, who visited Japan on a goodwill baseball tour.

Julia Ruth Stevens, the Babe's teenage daughter, joined her parents on the journey -- it was her high school graduation present. Their boat docked, and they hopped in cars, but the cars could barely move amid the crush of Japanese fans gathered to greet Ruth.

"Oh, my goodness alive, the people in Japan absolutely mobbed Daddy," Stevens said recently in a telephone interview. "They kept saying, 'Baby Ruth! Baby Ruth!' "

It seems clear that Barry Bonds will soon surpass Ruth's magical milestone of 714 career home runs, the major-league record from 1935 to 1974 and now No. 2 behind Hank Aaron's 755. Just as clearly, Bonds will make virtually no dent in Ruth's everlasting legend.

More than 70 years after his last game and nearly 60 years after his death, Ruth remains uniquely powerful. A Google search for "Babe Ruth" results in almost 8 million hits. His 1919 contract was auctioned off at Sotheby's last year for $996,000. The adjective "Ruthian," to describe any larger-than-life person or feat, has become an accepted part of the vocabulary.

Or consider Babe Ruth League Inc., a staple of youth baseball. Today, nearly 900,000 players compete in more than 7,300 leagues around the world; among the alumni is one Barry Bonds, who played in the San Mateo league while growing up on the Peninsula.

Stevens was 17 when she went to Japan. She's 88 now and still awash in memories of her long-departed father, an epic figure in U.S. sports history.

"It seems like it doesn't make any difference where you go: If you say the name Babe Ruth, people know who he is," Stevens said from Chicago, where she participated in a ceremony at Wrigley Field last week honoring Ruth's called-shot home run. "I never dreamed his name would be as big today, in many ways bigger, than when he was alive."

Said Linda Tosetti, Ruth's granddaughter through another daughter, Dorothy: "The name is magic, as my mom used to say."

That might not have happened had Ruth not insisted on becoming an everyday hitter. He had offered early signs of his talent by winning 23 games in 1916, and another 24 in 1917, as a young pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. But he soared into another realm in the '20s after the Red Sox infamously sold him to the New York Yankees and Ruth began smacking home runs at, well, a Ruthian rate.

He hit 29 homers for Boston in 1919 while still starting 15 games on the mound. After the season, Ruth, wanting to concentrate on hitting, demanded that owner Harry Frazee double his salary to $20,000. Frazee instead sold Ruth to the Yankees, calling him selfish and inconsiderate.

Frazee also acknowledged that he was the greatest hitter the game had ever seen, as Ruth quickly proved by swatting 54 homers in 1920, his first season with the Yankees, and 59 more in 1921. Those were unfathomable numbers at the time: Del Pratt led the Red Sox with five homers in '21.

The Yankees shared the Polo Grounds with the New York Giants at the time of Ruth's arrival, but fan interest skyrocketed because of his unprecedented power display. The rush of support prompted the club to build Yankee Stadium, which opened in 1923 and was aptly dubbed the House that Ruth Built.

Those are the roots of his legend, but the numbers still merit mention. Ruth led the American League in home runs, or shared the lead, 12 times; five times, his total was more than double that of the National League leader. His 54 in 1920 dwarfed the 15 by Philadelphia's Cy Williams, and his 59 the next year far exceeded the 23 by George Kelly of the Giants.

Ruth was the first player to hit 30 homers in a season, then the first to hit 40, then 50, then 60 (in 1927). That total stood as the single-season record for 34 years, nearly as long as 714 lasted as the career record (39 years).

"His baseball exploits were so extraordinary, so above and beyond what any player had done," said Mike Gibbons, executive director of the Babe Ruth Museum in Baltimore, the slugger's birthplace. "He broke all kinds of records as both a hitter and pitcher. I think it just made a nation's worth of fans and media go, 'Holy cow!' "

Ruth also changed baseball into a power game. That he launched his home runs in New York enhanced his popularity, as did his team's success: Ruth and Gehrig helped the Yankees start an incomparable dynasty, leading them to the first four of their 26 World Series championships.

As Gibbons pointed out, Ruth blossomed into a star in the Roaring Twenties, a decade in which America strutted forward after World War I. His big, brash, fun-loving, nightlife-seeking personality played well in New York and across the land.

"If ever there was a time made for somebody like Babe, it was the Roaring Twenties," said Tom Stevens, Julia's son and Ruth's grandson. "He was a roaring 20. He had the personality to match."

Tom Stevens was born in 1952, four years after Ruth died, but he quickly learned about his grandfather's fame. In the late 1950s, Edward R. Murrow took his network television show to the Riverside Drive apartment of Claire Ruth -- Babe's widow and Tom's grandmother -- to shoot an episode. Stevens mostly recalls the enormous cameras and the cords slithering all over the place.

In the '60s, young Tom occasionally accompanied his grandmother to Yankee Stadium to watch games. Even then, autograph seekers lined up for Claire's signature to seize any connection to the Babe. Stevens and his grandmother were treated like royalty.

Ruth cemented his legacy in the fifth inning of Game 3 of the 1932 World Series against the Cubs. He supposedly pointed to the center-field bleachers and then, on Charlie Root's next pitch, crushed one of the longest homers ever hit at Wrigley Field. Ruth initially downplayed the incident, but he soon came to say he indeed had called his shot, perhaps knowing it would embellish his legend.

Ruth's fame endures today. Gibbons tells of talking to a sportswriter friend who covered the Olympics in Athens in 2004. The Greeks didn't know much about baseball, his friend recounted, but when asked if they knew any baseball players, they offered one name: Babe Ruth.

Every year, similarly, Gibbons asks students in his writing class at the University of Baltimore if they know about Babe Ruth -- and all do. He also asks if the students have heard of Orioles legend Brooks Robinson -- as the years pass, only a few raise their hands.

"So why is it that Babe Ruth keeps on trucking?" Gibbons said. "I think it's because he's now fully entrenched in our culture as a pop icon -- like Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, JFK, Abe Lincoln. There are just a handful of names like that."

Ruth, like those other icons, died prematurely -- throat cancer took him at age 53 in August 1948. His body lay in state for two days at the entrance to Yankee Stadium, where more than 100,000 people came to pay their final respects.

Tom Stevens, who is 53 and works for an engineering firm in Las Vegas, sometimes struggles to comprehend his unlikely connection to sports history.

"I look at it as having the good fortune of being born into baseball royalty," Stevens said. "It's kind of like Prince Charles, without the ears, the castle and the polo ponies."

Said Julia Ruth Stevens of the Babe's enduring impact: "I'm sure he thought it would last for a while, but I think he would be astounded to know how many people still think about him and talk about him."

-------------------

29:  Record home-run total by Babe Ruth in 1919 for the Boston Red Sox.

54:  Home runs hit by Ruth in 1920, his first season as a New York Yankee.

50:  Most home runs by any other American League team in 1920

714:  Ruth's career homer total

Coach of the Year 

Cody Nelson -- former standout player and now a coach with Alameda Babe Ruth -- was honored at a recent Warrior's game as one of Positive Coaching Alliance's "Coaches of the Year". Congratulations Cody!! ...photo