Young George experienced little, if any, real love from his parents who made no time for their son. Ultimately, they felt that they could no longer care for their son and on June 13, 1902, George Herman Ruth took his seven-year-old to St. Mary�s Industrial School for Boys. Not only did he place young George in the school, but he signed over custody of the boy to the Xaverian Brothers, a Catholic Order of Jesuit Missionaries who ran St. Mary's.
St. Mary�s was both a reformatory and orphanage, which was surrounded by a wall similar to a prison with guards on duty. There were approximately 800 children at St. Mary�s, which had four dormitories that housed about 200 kids each. George, Jr., who by the age of seven had already been involved with mischievous altercations, was classified as "incorrigible" upon his admission. Although for a few brief periods he was returned to live with his family, he was always sent back to St. Mary�s, and no one ever came to visit him while he was there.
Perhaps the one positive thing stemming from his time at St. Mary�s was meeting Brother Mathias. Brother Mathias was the main disciplinarian at St. Mary�s. He spent a great deal of time with George, Jr., providing the guidance and support that the youngster did not receive from his parents. He even helped young Ruth develop as a baseball player. It is because of his difficult childhood and the positive influence of Brother Mathias that Babe Ruth came to love children and why all of his life he went out of his way to do things for kids, especially those in need.
Baseball was a popular and primary form of recreation for the boys at St. Mary�s and young George Ruth, Jr., displayed his potential at a young age. He played all positions on the field, was an excellent pitcher and certainly had the ability to hit the ball. By his late teens Ruth had developed into a major league baseball prospect. On February 27, 1914, at the age of nineteen, Ruth was signed to his first professional baseball contract by Jack Dunn, manager of the Baltimore Orioles, at the time a minor league franchise in the International League. Because Ruth�s parents had signed over custody of the youngster to St. Mary�s he was supposed to remain at the school until the age of twenty-one. To circumvent this, Dunn became Ruth�s legal guardian.
Jack Dunn was well known for picking up youngsters whom he thought had major league potential. When George Ruth, Jr., appeared with Dunn at the ball park the other players started cracking jokes, and one of the players quipped, "Well, here�s Jack�s newest Babe." The rest of the players also started referring to young George as "Babe" and the name stuck. Thus began the storied career of Babe Ruth.