Babe Ruth left $360,000 estate

            While digging through an old issue of The Sporting News, I discovered some data about the estate Babe Ruth left upon his death at the age of 53 on Aug. 16, 1948, According to a New York tax appraisal, the estate was valued at $360,000 (that's about $3,230,000 in today's dollars). 

            In his 24 years of professional baseball, his baseball earnings were estimated to have been about $1,425,000. His total income in that period, of course, was much higher due to many lucrative endorsements.

            Of Ruth’s estate, $179,611 was in a trust fund in which his widow, Claire Ruth, was left a life interest. He also left her a $5,000 bequest.

            Ruth bequeathed $5,000 each to his adopted daughters, Julia Ruth Landers of Kearsage, N.H., and Dorothy Sullivan Ruth Tirone of New York.

            His sister in Baltimore, Mary H. Moberly, received $10,000.

            Upon the passing of his widow, 10% of the trust fund was to go to the Babe Ruth Foundation that he had established for “the kids of America.”