Wanting Something Good

We are in a drought.  I’m not referring to the 100+ degrees outside…I’m referring to the shortage of news worthy of a smile.  We have a looming debt crisis in Washington and total gridlock from our elected officials.  We have rising unemployment and falling home prices.  Money is tight.  Even our weather forecast is full of misery.  We need something good, something positive.

Normally, we’d turn to sports to give us that shot in the arm.  But Maryland is sorely lacking ANY good sporting news.  The Orioles continue to struggle, the NFL is still without an agreement, the NBA has a lockout… and it goes on and on.  Marylanders are desperate for something good…so much so that Baltimore boasted the highest viewership for the Women’s World Cup.  I’m not saying the World Cup wasn’t exciting, but the lack of anything else positive suddenly made many of us instant fans.  We wanted…we needed something to cheer about.

It is a difficult time for Maryland sports fans.  But we can still make the most of it.  I just spent three days talking to Red Sox fans about Babe Ruth.  The nostalgia and history helped put a smile back on my face.  It could work for you, too.  If you are desperate for sports, now seems like a good time to visit the Babe Ruth Birthplace, the Sports Legends Museum or the Lacrosse Museum and Hall of Fame.  Come relive the exploits of the Bambino, Johnny Unitas, and Brooks Robinson.  Come relive the glory of the ’58 Game, the ’83 World Series or Michael’s Olympic gold!  Times are tough, but we’re all in this together.

Shawn Herne is the Chief Curator for the Babe Ruth Birthplace Foundation, Inc.

William Donald Schaefer

In 1981 I was working on a documentary on the life and times of George Herman Ruth for the Babe Ruth Birthplace Foundation. When the production premiered in early 1982 at the Babe Ruth ‘House,’ I met for the first time William Donald Schaefer, Mayor of Baltimore. The event was small in terms of attendees and media attention, and I wondered why the Mayor would take time from his busy schedule to be there.

I came to learn the answer to my query over the course of the next twenty-five years, as I watched him show up for any event, big, small or unscheduled, if it might push forward or benefit some component of his domain, be it city, state, county or neighborhood. William Donald Schaefer devoted, indeed donated his full life’s energy and passion to working for the community, to Baltimore, and to Maryland.

He was not really a sports fan, but that didn’t stop him from fighting tirelessly to protect and promote our Orioles and Colts, or from developing Camden Yards, or from luring the NFL to Charm city, or from proclaiming the Babe Ruth Museum the Official Archives and Museum of the Baltimore Colts, or from advocating and providing state support for the development and creation of Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards.

He did all those things, not as a diehard fan, but as a passionate supporter of any and every thing he deemed good for our city, our state and our citizens. There will never be another like him in my lifetime, and perhaps ever.

Thank you, Mr. Schaefer, for being there for all of us.

Mike Gibbons is the executive director for the Babe Ruth Birthplace Foundation, Inc.