Babe Ruth,
The Babe Ruth story is an integral part of the Yankee story and it is hard to imagine that the Yankees would even exist without having the babe in their history. He would lift the team and the entire sport out of a period of pubescent mediocrity into a maturated state of national adoration. Babe Ruth would with his great charm and zeal for life add a personalizing touch to his sport and become the first sport role model. His talents are considered almost untouchable and his personalaity even bigger than the city in which he played, but Ruth's image and talents along with his past would created a symbol of it's own. Ruth would come to symbolize the very rags to riches stories that are so popular in American culture, and his unparalleled success would illustrate the limitless potential of the American Dream.
George Herman Ruth was born on Febuary 6th 1895 to German American parents in a rough part of Baltimore Maryland (Wikipedia/Ruth). Not much is really know about his early youth and can only be speculated that in a rough east coast city around the turn of the 19th century he would have seen great poverty and been subject to it as well. Ruth himself described his youth as "rough" and with a mother whom was constantly ill it is imaginable that he may have fended for himself at times. After his mother had succumb to tuberculosis his father remanded George into the care of St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys. Removed from his family in an impoverished American city the young Ruth was now under the care of a Catholic Mission. Many, if not all of those who read this post will be unable to imagine the conditions that he would have faced, or the conditions that other children of this time faced on a daily basis. George was a lucky from some perspectives of the time, and the children who lived on the streets of Baltimore would agree. However it is hard to ignore the parallels of the young Babe Ruth and the character Ragged Dick from the Alger novel. Ruth did for all intents and purposes lose both his mother and father and like Dick was a child of the street and of hardship. While at St. Mary's Ruth would learn the game of baseball from Brother Matthias Boulier who, like Ragged Dick's Mr Whitney who taught Dick the game of life, would act as some sort of father figure and turning point in Ruth's life. Ruth would play baseball for the school while learning how to become a tailors apprentice. His talents would not go unnoticed and Ruth would be discovered by a past St. Mary's school boy whom had also become a professional baseball player. This lead to his eventual play in Boston and then to New York.
The Babe would become the most popular baseball player of his time and his compassion and charity for the young kids of every town he played in was well known. His connection with the popular fictional character Ragged Dick and other Alger characters would not have been lost on the fans of the time and his every success would and could be seen as proof positive that the American Dream was achievable for all no matter where one began. In this way Babe Ruth was more than just a giant on the Baseball Diamond he was a walking, talking advert for "meritocracy " and the belief that "everyone presumably has a equal chance to succeed"(McNamee 4). His success was and still is held along with Yankee success as undeniable evidence of the American Dream's validity.
Lou Gehrig,
Lou Gehrig was know as the Iron Horse while he played for the Yankees. Now the name Gehrig is synonymous with a debilitating disease that bears his entire name. Lou's name was not attributed to a disease just because he happened to have the affliction or the fact that he was one of the Godlike New York Yankees, but rather the fact that this disease was able to end the 2,130 game streak that stood until 1995. Only an illness that powerfull could have stopped a man whom had played after being almost knocked unconscious by a errant pitch, or played with multiple fractured bones during his career. No the reputation of Gehrig as a persevering hard working American gave credence to the power of the illness when it ended his illustrious career. Gehrig's character as the embodiment of hard work and perseverance overshadowed his other worldly baseball statstics. His ability to play game after game year after year at such a high level created such a fantastic balance to the Rags to Riches story of Babe Ruth. While Gehrig's own story could be seen through the Alger prism, his steady and unrelenting drive was the hallmark of his career. His ethic of hard work is a keystone of the American Dream, and is his totem that fans of baseball subscribe to his name.
Lou Gehrig was born to German immigrants in a section of Manhattan called Yorkville. Lou's parents were quite differnet from one another, his father was constantly out of work due to his drinking and his mother was constantly working and teaching Lou his indomitable work ethic. Lou grew up on Manhattan Island and attended college at Columbia(Wikipedia/Gehrig). He would play both baseball and football in the years before his career as a Yankee. Once a Yankee he was part of the of the team during the 1923 season but did not play for the team during the World Series. His career would start with the Yankees in 1925, but his real production began during the 1926 season. During Gehrig's career he would be second only to Ruth in categories like Home Runs,, and RBI's all while never missing a single start. He would be a part of the six World Series titles and would win the MVP twice. His accomplishments beyond his hard work ethic were enough to secure his legacy for generations to come, but his fall was part of what made him too.
Gehrig's skills had began to diminish by the end of the 1938 season and in some cases were quite dramatic. Other player started to notice his decline as Cecil Travis a shortstop for the Washington Senators recounted, "He didn't look sick at all, but his reflexes weren't quite right...balls he used to glove easily were getting by", and "at the plate, the ball didn't sound the same coming off his bat"(Lally 19&20). Once Gehrig realized he could no longer perform he pulled himself out of the line up for the first time in 2,130 games on May second 1939. He was honored on July 4th later that same year at Yankee stadium with a outstanding ceremony. He would took to the podium himself knowing and the waiting crowd knowing that he was terminal, and give a sincere speech that would culminate with Lou stating "that today I feel like the Luckiest man alive". His speech and his reputation along with the patriotic symbolism of the day lends even more credibility to Gehrig's status as a symbol for the credibility of hard work and the American Dream. His hard work that lead to his achievements and his enlightened state of understanding his purpose in life that Tocqueville would describe as an American philosophical method, and comparative to the frontier myth.
Mickey Mantle
Mickey Mantle always seemed like a God to me and I think that is because he was such a God to my father as a kid, and by all reasoning to me he must have been the greatest thing ever. It was true to many baby boomer generation males that "the Mick" was the best that there was and his unparalleled talent was reason enough for the praise he would receive. Mantle came around to prominence during a time after World War II and unseen American influence around the globe. He played the most popular sport for the most powerful team in worlds most influential city during this period.
Micky was born in Spavinaw Oklahoma in 1931 during the raging dust bowl of the Great Depression he was off to rough start in life. His birth in the middle of America would add even more to his mystique as an All American boy who was talented beyond belief. In high school he would play all sports and become superior at all, and was even offered a scholarship to the University of Oklahoma to play football (Wikipedia/Mantle). An injury in his football career would almost end his storied career as a Yankee before it ever happend, when he was lucky enough to receive the newly developed penicillin to save his leg from amputation (wikipedia). This episode adds to the idea that Mantle was exceptional and that his fate was set to become the next Yankee great. His path from middle - America during the Great Depression to the highest heights of baseball world also reflect an American exceptionalism that he represented.
From Mantles arrival in New York he was seen as the next big star for the organization. Even though his early career showed potential it was not the super studded success that many had expected. However the faith of the fans and of the team never ended. The belief in the Myth of American exceptionlism and the destiny of and All-American boy to succeed was unwavering. Mantle would eventually meet the expectations of the fans and the team all while leading a life of partying and chasing women while not on the field. He would succeed despite himself, despite the pressure, and despite world into which he was born. It is not hard to see why Mantle was so easy to idolize and able to represent the exceptional American myth that is such a part of the American Dream.
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