Babe

Our word for today is babe, as in I got you, babe. It might seem to you an innocent enough word, but that's because you weren't at the fancy-schmancy restaurant with us the other night.There are four couples, all old friends, and we are making conversation over designer appetizers when one of the guys says to his wife, "Would you please pass the salt, babe?"What you expect to happen is just what does happen.(We pause for dramatic effect.)She passes the salt.Then, another woman turns to -- actually, on -- her husband, who is sitting across the table, and all hell breaks loose.

Saint Agnes Hospital and the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation said Friday that they have raised $1.4 million to renovate the baseball field of the former Cardinal Gibbons School, preserving a site where Babe Ruth once played. The hospital, meanwhile, is firming up plans to add homes and offices around the field, on the campus of the Catholic school that closed in 2010. Saint Agnes plans to break ground on the baseball field within the next year, launching what officials have envisioned as Gibbons Commons, a mixed-use development on Caton Avenue, across the street from the hospital.

It must have been the hand-eye. Nestled in that bosun's body, concealed in those meaty arms, lurking behind those tiny, narrow-set eyes there had to be something akin to a radar system -- computer driven, of course, so precisely engineered it could read the rotation on the ball, solve the intercept problem, flash the correct coordinates down the arms to the wrists while simultaneously unleashing the full strength of the trunk, all this in less than three-hundredths...

In case you missed it last night, Orioles utility man Danny Valencia was linked to a now-defunct South Florida clinic, Biogenesis, that allegedly provided performance-enhancing drugs to Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez, among others. In a report that came out Tuesday night, Yahoo Sports had documents from the clinic that include Valencia's name, though the list doesn't connect Valencia to any specific performance-enhancing drug. On a national scope, Valencia, who is with his third organization since the beginning of the 2012 season, is a footnote.

On April 21, 2003, BABE RUTH SCOTT JR., beloved husband of Geneva Scott. He also leaves to cherish his memory, 2 daughters, Tiffany Scott and Christia Scott, and a host of other relatives and friends. The family will receive friends at Howell Funeral Home, 4600 Liberty Heights Ave., on Friday, April 25 from 3 to 7 P.M. Funeral Services in the Sanctuary of Higher Dimensions Christian Center at the Palladium, 2900 Liberty Heights Ave., on Saturday, April 26, family hour 10 A.M. with service to follow at 10:30 A.M. Interment King Memorial Park.

On April 5, 2004, CONCETTA "BABE" J. (nee Fedeli), beloved wife of Thomas C. Scilipoti, owner of Thomas Studio on Eastern Avenue. Loving mother of Maria Young, Diane Pajak and Mario Scilipoti, dear grandmother of Dawn Marie Mason, Thomas A. and Anthony M. Scilipoti, Josh and Jill Pajak. Also survived by four great-grandchildren, loving relatives and friends Christian Wake Services will be held at the family owned LILLY & ZEILER, INC., FUNERAL HOME, 1901 Eastern Ave. on Wednesday at 4 P.M. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Leo's Church on Monday at 10 A.M. Friends may call on Wednesday and Thursday from 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M.

TIME LINE1895Feb. 6: Babe Ruth was born in Baltimore.1896June 4: Henry Ford made a successful test run with his car in a nighttime drive through the streets of Detroit.1898Dec. 10: A treaty was signed in Paris officially ending the Spanish-American War.1901Dec. 12: The first radio signal to cross the Atlantic was picked up near St. John's, Newfoundland, by Guglielmo Marconi.1902June 13: Babe Ruth was sent to the St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys.Aug. 22: President Theodore Roosevelt became the first U.S. chief executive to ride in an automobile, in Hartford, Conn.

In the summer of 1967, a brief item in "Mr. Peep's Diary," an Evening Sun column, reported the imminent destruction of four dilapidated Baltimore rowhouses, including one thought to be the birthplace of one George Herman Ruth.I brought the story to the attention of Mayor Theodore Roosevelt McKeldin, for whom I then worked as press secretary.Since he had saved the Carroll Mansion, home of the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, I thought he should also save the Ruth house.

Ruth's first train ride was with the Baltimore Orioles, to Fayetteville, N.C., for his first spring training. His teammates called him "Dunnie's Babe." Sportswriters shortened it to Babe. He homered in his first pickup game as a professional and was so impressive as a rookie that he attracted the attention of the Boston Red Sox, who bought him from the minor-league Orioles and put Ruth in the major leagues in July 1914, less than six months after his departure from St. Mary's.

LOS ANGELES -- Pigs can fly. If you don't believe it, just ask video retailers that are having trouble keeping "Babe" in stock.Many retailers report that they have sold through their initial order of the MCA/Universal Home Video title, which was released March 19, and are quickly running through reserve inventory."

Navy football Four seniors invited to All-Star games Navy seniors Brandon Turner , Gee Gee Greene , Tra'ves Bush and Keegan Wetzel have been invited to postseason All-Star games. Turner was invited to both the Casino Del Sol All-Star game on Jan. 11 in Tucson, Ariz., and the East-West Shrine Game on Jan. 19 in St. Petersburg, Fla. Turner will play in the East-West Shrine Game. Greene was invited to the Raycom All-Star Football Classic, which will be played Jan. 19 in Montgomery, Ala., and to the inaugural South Carolina College All-Star Game, which will be played March 23 in Greenville.

Phoenix Festival Theater will perform "Babes in Toyland" in Harford Community College's Chesapeake Theater Dec. 7 to 9. The play, which is directed by Eyvo Johnson, is recommended for all ages. Join Widow Piper, Bo-Peep, Miss Muffet, Goldilocks and other Mother Goose friends as they help Alan and Mistress Mary defeat the wicked villain Barnaby in this charming musical tale. The show is based on the book by Rebecca Ryland. Music and lyrics are by Bill Francoeur. Harford Community College is a proud contributor to the Empty Stocking Fund and invites our patrons to bring a donation of a new and unwrapped children's gift to this special holiday performance for less fortunate children in Harford County.

They pass through the tiny row home at a steady clip, 50,000 pilgrims a year on a mission to visit their mecca. Here, in a second-floor bedroom of a narrow little residence on Emory Street, on a bitter cold day in 1895, George Herman Ruth was born. Humble digs, indeed, for one who'd grow up to be larger than life. But as Lorie Vaughan toured Babe Ruth's birthplace on Tuesday, she said the locale wasn't as important as the aura around it. "I've been to Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's home)

Sixty miles east of Babe Ruth's birthplace, in the drowsy town of Sudlersville (population 497), stands a statue of the other great slugger from Maryland's past. But you'll have to stop at the town's only red light, corner of Church and Main, to view the life-size likeness of Jimmie Foxx at roadside. From his follow-through swing to the look on his face, it's clear that the bronzed Foxx has just done what he did 534 times in his 20-year career - he knocked one out of the park. That lusty swing landed the Queen Anne's County farmboy in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

There are just a few days left to help us decide how to rank our final Top 10 athletes on our list of 175 top athletes we've been unveiling every Sunday as part of the newspaper's special anniversary. You tell us who should be No. 1. Is it Michael Phelps, the greatest Olympic swimmer of all-time? How about the old crew cut, former Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas? We have some of baseball's top players in Frank Robinson, Cal Ripken Jr., Brooks Robinson, Jimmy Foxx and some guy named Babe (Ruth that is)

Babe's Birthday Bash Stover to receive Ruth Museum award The Babe Ruth Birthplace Foundation will host its annual "Babe's Birthday Bash" on Feb. 10 and will present former Ravens kicker Matt Stover with the 2012 Babe Ruth Museum Community Service Award during the festivities. The gala, from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards, will celebrate the 117th anniversary of Babe Ruth 's birth in Baltimore on Feb. 6, 1895. Stover and his wife, Debbie , formed the Matt Stover Foundation in 2002, helping pool and provide generous private donations for community-based charitable organizations.

A recent article about the declining marriage business in Elkton suggested there was an "unconfirmed" report that Babe Ruth had been married there ("Wedding chapel and amenities for sale in Elkton," Dec. 28). Such reports are not only unconfirmed, they are completely untrue - despite the claims of several publications, including the Cecil County government tourism Web site. At the age of 19, after his first season in professional baseball, George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. married Helen Woodford, a waitress whom he met in Boston.

We have a Babe in Baltimore. 33-year-old Lisa Ponzoli, Timonium native and owner of the trendy Fells Point boutique, has been involved in the apparel and fashion industries since college. After working in the buying offices at Nordstrom and Hecht's in D.C., she decided it was time to come back to her home city. In 2007 she opened Babe, which carries hand-picked clothing and accessories from popular brands such as BCBGeneration and Ella Moss, and even items from obscure labels such as Vintage Havana and Wooden Ships.