Babe Ruth's daughter steps up to the plate for Kennett High baseball team

Julia Ruth Stevens, daughter of legendary slugger Babe Ruth, is stepping up to the plate for the Kennett High baseball team. Stevens has donated funds for a set of bleachers and a scoreboard for the Bob Burns Field at Kennett's new Redstone campus.The Conway School Board unanimously accepted the donation of $2,204.44 earlier this month."This donation is for the purchase of bleachers and a scoreboard as specified by varsity baseball coach Bob Burns for placement at the new varsity baseball field at Kennett High School," Stevens wrote in an Aug. 1 letter to school superintendent Carl Nelson. "This donation is being made in the name of my son, Thomas Meloon Stevens, Kennett High School class of 1970."Stevens, 94, who resides in Conway, has been a longtime friend of Burns and a supporter of the Kennett High baseball team. She has thrown out the first pitch for the Eagles' home opener on numerous occasions.She doesn't go to as many games or baseball events as in the past, but when she does she always has a big wide smile. In June, she was a guest of honor along with some of her family at Yankee Stadium the "House that Ruth Built" and took part in a pregame ceremony."I presented Alex Rodriquez with his third (Babe Ruth) Trophy for leading the league in home runs last year," she said. "He's a very nice man. The whole day went off very nicely. After the presentation we were guests in the Steinbrenner's box. It was a fun day."Stevens was also the guest of honor this summer when the Kennett High baseball team held its end-of-season awards at Flatbread Company in North Conway. She presented the annual Babe Ruth Scholarship to senior Noah McLeavey-Weeder for community service, academics and performance as a member of the varsity baseball team at Kennett."I'm very proud of this scholarship," Stevens said. "I think daddy would be awful proud of the boys who have received it over the years."This may be Stevens' last summer in Conway, according to Burns. "The combination of travel (she winters in Arizona) and the cold each spring are starting to wear her down a bit," he said. "She's in her 90s now and is doing great." Stevens has been involved in two books about her dad: "Babe Ruth: A Daughter's Portrait," and, more recently, "Babe Ruth: Remembering the Bambino in Stories Photos and Memorabilia.""This one is a small book," Stevens said. "They requested some kind of sports book. Bill Gilbert, who did 'Major League Dad,' is doing it."Stevens was a guest of the Red Sox last summer and was invited to throw out the ceremonial first pitch against the Chicago White Sox at Fenway Park, but the game was delayed by rain. Stevens opted to watch the game from the comfort of the owner's box, where it was a little warmer. "I got an opportunity to meet Curt Schilling and his wife. What wonderful people they are. Everyone on the Sox have been great to me. Boston has done so much to make things exciting for their fans."Seeing the New York Yankees part ways with longtime manager Joe Torre disappointed Stevens. "I think it's really too bad," she said. "Goodness knows the Yankees certainly played hard but the Indians were a better team," referring to last year's American League playoffs.Ruth, whose exploits on the field are legendary the 60 homers in 1927 and the called home run shot, to name a few never accomplished everything in the game that he had hoped to. He wanted to manage the New York Yankees."He deserved the chance," Stevens said. "Daddy could have fallen flat on his face, but at least he deserved the opportunity to try. People said he didn't know how to manage or enforce rules and be a leader they were wrong. He knew how to enforce rules and regulations because he knew how to enforce them at home with Dorothy and myself. He got along so well with all of the fellows not only with the Yankees but with ballplayers on other teams."Stevens refers to Babe Ruth simply as "daddy" and last year spoke about her father's accomplishments on the ball field. With Barry Bonds then chasing his home run mark, Stevens was frequently asked how she felt about that."It doesn't matter what the record is, I don't think there is anybody who is going to take daddy's place," she said. "He was special. Daddy said records were made to be broken. It's the first person who people remember. As long as there is baseball, daddy's name is always going to be mentioned. He was one of a kind."Asked what sort of salary Ruth would command today, Stevens just shakes her head and laughs. "I couldn't even imagine," she said, smiling. "I couldn't even begin to imagine."