Claire Merritt Hodgson Ruth, born Clara Mae Merritt (September 11, 1900 – October 25, 1976), was a native of

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the st ...

, United States, who is most famous for having been the second wife of

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

Biography

Claire's first husband, Frank Hodgson, died February 16, 1921, leaving her with a daughter, Julia. She met Ruth in 1923. Ruth was still married to Helen Woodford, his first wife, at this time. Woodford died in a house fire in January 1929, and Ruth and Hodgson married that April 17, staying together until Ruth's death in 1948. In later years, she indicated her responsibility, in part, for the poor relationship between her husband and teammate

Lou Gehrig Henry Louis Gehrig (born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941) was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was renowned f ...

. According to Claire, Gehrig's mother indicated that the Ruths' adopted daughter, Dorothy, was not as well dressed as Claire's biological daughter, Julia; when Ruth was informed of this, he angrily demanded that Gehrig never speak to him off the ballfield again. Ruth and Gehrig did not make up until the day of Gehrig's famous "I'm the luckiest man on the face of this earth" speech in 1939. Later, Claire admitted that she had overreacted, apologetically accepting full responsibility for the rift between the two players—which, however, had numerous other causes besides the one indicated by Claire. Babe Ruth 1937 CROPPED

Claire lived to see two of Ruth's most famous records broken: his single season record of 60 home runs, superseded by

Roger Maris Roger Eugene Maris (September 10, 1934 – December 14, 1985) was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He is best known for setting a new MLB single-season home run record with 61 ...

in 1961; and his career record of 714 home runs, which was broken by Hank Aaron in 1974. In her twilight years, she sometimes attended games that Aaron was playing, and was supportive of Aaron's effort. Ruth was quoted as saying: "The Babe loved baseball so very much; I know he was pulling for Hank Aaron to break his record."Lowitt, Bruce (December 25, 1999)
"Oh, Henry! Aaron swings past Ruth"
''St. Petersburg Times''. Accessed August 13, 2012. Mrs. Ruth was portrayed by Claire Trevor in the 1948 film '' The Babe Ruth Story'', by Lisa Zane in the 1991 TV-movie ''Babe Ruth'', by Kelly McGillis in the 1992 film '' The Babe'', and by Renee Taylor in '' 61*''. Claire Ruth is buried next to her husband at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York. The inscription on the headstone lists her birth year as 1900, instead of 1897.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodgson, Claire Merritt 1900 births 1976 deaths Babe Ruth Burials at Gate of Heaven Cemetery (Hawthorne, New York) People from Athens, Georgia