Who was the $10,000 Babe.?

If we are discussing how George Herman Ruth got his nick name "Babe", then it happened during his very first training camp as a Baltimore Oriole in 1914. The name was hung on him by the veteran players who trained with him at the place.

Originally it was "Dunne's Baby" because a man named Jack Dunn had signed the then 19 year old and still growing young Ruth out of St Marys School for wayward or abandoned boys to a contract.

This was soon shortened to "Babe" and that was that..

All of this is covered in Robert Creamers biography of Babe Ruth. A well written and exhaustively researched book that is considered one of the most factual and best biographies of any ball player.

Where or when 10,000 dollars got involved is not discussed. But yes, he was called Babe before being sold to the Boston Red Sox in early July 1914, along with Ernie Shore and Ben Egan. All three were bought for close to $ 30,000 according to Boston sources. And the the Babe was referred to as the $ 25,000 Baltimore beauty.

Of course, six years later, the Red Sox sold him to the Yankees for $100,000. The deal was finalized in January, 1920.

Ruth was given his nickname when he was in the orphanage. Babe was a common nickname for young baseball players.