They met a week ago today at the Camden Club, and it was not your standard business luncheon.
Julia Ruth Stevens, 85, the daughter of baseball legend Babe Ruth, was making her annual visit to Baltimore. The Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum had recently come into possession of a treasure trove of memorabilia from a man who had reversed the path her father had followed to legend status, so it came to pass that she broke bread with John Unitas.
"They chatted for about an hour and a half, and it was a conversation only the two of them could have," said Mike Gibbons, the museum's director. "They understand celebrity, all the things you and I can't."
Ruth, who, as a New York Yankee, established home run records that dwarfed his peers, was born at 216 Emory St., a few blocks from Camden Yards. Unitas, the nonpareil passer, made his fame here, and Baltimore is where his personal collection of game balls, photographs, trophies and trinkets will stay. He handed it over to the Babe Ruth Museum in March, and before it was ever decided exactly what to do with all of those pieces, Unitas is gone.
"He had debated the perfect place for his collection," Gibbons said. "The possibilities were the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the University of Louisville and here. This is where he achieved all his football glory. His family wanted to keep the collection together and display it for fans, so we agreed that, come hell or high water, in this museum we would create a permanent facility for John's collection."
Until plans to renovate Camden Station and relocate some of the museum's collections get beyond the planning stage, Baltimore's sports attic will remain crowded. The museum's biggest fund-raiser is Oct. 22, and it will require some adjustments.
"We are reuniting the Baltimore Colts," Gibbons said. "It's supposed to be the largest gathering of Colts ever. Of course, Unitas was going to be the centerpiece. Now, I expect that the evening will somehow become a tribute."
Unitas had already figured prominently in that week. On Oct. 20, at halftime of the Ravens' game against Jacksonville, a statue of Unitas to be erected on the north side of Ravens Stadium will now be unveiled posthumously. The museum will go ahead with plans to unveil a temporary exhibit dedicated to him on Oct. 24.
