Babe Ruth

George Herman Ruth, Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948), best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935. Ruth originally broke into the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox as a starting pitcher, but after he was sold to the New York Yankees in 1919, he converted to a full-time right fielder and subsequently became one of the league's most prolific hitters. Ruth was a mainstay in the Yankees' lineup that won seven pennants and four World Series titles during his tenure with the team. After a short stint with the Boston Braves in 1935, Ruth retired. In 1936, Ruth became one of the first five players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Ruth has since become regarded as one of the greatest sports heroes in American culture. He has been named the greatest baseball player in history in various surveys and rankings, and his home run hitting prowess and charismatic personality made him a larger than life figure in the "Roaring Twenties". Off the field he was famous for his charity, but also was noted for his often reckless lifestyle. Ruth is credited with changing baseball itself. The popularity of the game exploded in the 1920s, largely due to his influence. Ruth ushered in the "live-ball era", as his big swing led to escalating home run totals that not only excited fans, but helped baseball evolve from a low-scoring, speed-dominated game to a high-scoring power game.

In 1998, The Sporting News ranked Ruth number one on the list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players". In 1999, baseball fans named Ruth to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In 1969, he was named baseball's Greatest Player Ever in a ballot commemorating the 100th anniversary of professional baseball. In 1993, the Associated Press reported that Muhammad Ali was tied with Babe Ruth as the most recognized athletes, out of over 800 dead or alive athletes, in America. The study found that over 97% of Americans over 12 years of age identified both Ali and Ruth. According to ESPN, he was the first true American sports celebrity superstar whose fame transcended baseball. In a 1999 ESPN poll, he was ranked as the third-greatest US athlete of the century, behind Michael Jordan and Muhammad Ali.

Ruth was the first player to hit 60 home runs in one season (1927), setting the season record which stood until broken by Roger Maris in 1961. Ruth's lifetime total of 714 home runs at his retirement in 1935 was a record, until first surpassed by Hank Aaron in 1974. Unlike many power hitters, Ruth also hit for average: his .342 lifetime batting is tenth highest in baseball history, and in one season (1923) he hit .393, a Yankee record. His .690 career slugging percentage and 1.164 career on-base plus slugging (OPS) remain the Major League records. Ruth dominated the era in which he played. He led the league in home runs during a season twelve times, slugging percentage and OPS thirteen times each, runs scored eight times, and runs batted in (RBIs) six times. Each of those totals represents a modern record (as well as the all-time record, except for RBIs).

Description above from the Wikipedia article Babe Ruth, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

The ESTP personality type is constantly looking for action, for the 'next big thing,' throwing themselves in social activities, difficult situations and projects with real zest and energy. The imaginative, reflective life is not for them, preferring to jump in and see what happens. Supreme optimists, ESTPs will work long and hard on activities which interest them but can switch tack entirely once they begin to lose this interest. The ESTP does not enjoy the constraints of deadlines, schedules or end-dates so if an ESTP does exactly what you asked them, it is only because they wanted to do so in the first place. ESTPs love to be at the centre stage, demonstrating feats of wonder and daring.

An ESTP will need lots of practical, real-life experiences as it is through such activities that they best learn and understand, and indeed where they are happiest and at their best. The 'P' aspect of their characters means that they are flexible, but this can also mean they become bored by routine, procedures which they see as irrelevant, and impatient with those who say: 'let's think about it first.' The ESTP wants to suck it and see and, if it doesn't work, well there will always be another opportunity just around the corner. Real hard workers, ESTPs will immerse themselves activities which interest them, but they’ll become bored and lose interest if the task becomes more steady state and then their energies will become depleted or focused in a totally different direction. The ESTP is pragmatic, tough-minded and will act on the facts and data, rather than emotion. They don't like to be controlled, need to know they can switch horses in mid-stream and may slide out of obligations, if they get a 'better offer.' An ESTP will generally be able to switch tasks with good nature and humour, will enjoy interaction and 'the craic.' Being so action-oriented, the ESTP will look to get on with it and may therefore jump in without being in possession of all the facts as the excitement and rush of potentially interesting action will spur them on. This makes them excellent champions for the cause, provided someone is checking progress and can sweep up any debris behind them. The ESTP sees life through their own very subjective lenses and it is a fun packed, great-tasting adventure with one sensory experience after another. They jump into the ‘next big thing’ without thinking through the consequences so keen are they to immerse themselves in something new. If the project needs an injection of energy or there’s a big immediate problem, step forward the ESTP. They are spontaneous, active individuals.

Strong ‘T’ types the ESTP may often forget to factor in the implications on other people as this new experience is to be grasped immediately and anything that stands in the way may be inadvertently trampled underfoot in the rush. The impulsive nature of the ESTP can see them cut to the car chase and bring great energy to bear on any new project that captures their interest, but this expedient side can also see them drop the idea once the initial fascination has passed and a new experience is ready and waiting. This need for excitement means the ESTP will learn ‘on the hoof,’ by actually throwing themselves into the experience without thought or planning, and “let’s see what happens.” Every new experience is ‘the big one’ and will consume their energies, attention and time until…er...it doesn’t! The ESTP loves to get involved and will be great at enthusing others although their expedient side means that once others have been through several cycles and see how they operate there may be a feeling of ‘here we go again’ and ESTP leaders can create ‘initiative fatigue’ in organisations and staff, with their constant desire to try out new activities, ideas and projects.

Theories or anything conceptual makes the ESTP restless, bored and then they will disconnect from the process and go look for something else, often without telling anyone. The ESTP has an attention span which is very short and their energies wane if they think they’re ‘treading water.’ Having to sit and read or reflect would just not ‘compute’ with the ESTP and so they would move on, swiftly and often leaving debris in their wake. Follow-through isn’t the forte of the ESTP but if the project needs an injection of energy or there’s a big immediate problem, that is where they excel. Like the other SPs, ESTPs love acting on impulse. Activities involving power, speed, immersion and risk are attractive to the ESTP and supressing these de-energises them. The ESTP may be the ‘first to try it out,’ but then they’re onto the next experience as soon as it becomes predictable, the need for the thrill outweighing anything else.