Many details of Ruth's childhood are unknown, including the date of his parents' marriage.

[4] As
a child, Ruth spoke German.[5] When Ruth was a toddler, the family moved to 339 South
Woodyear Street, not far from the rail yards; by the time he was six years old, his father had a
saloon with an upstairs apartment at 426 West Camden Street. Details are equally scanty
about why Ruth was sent at the age of seven to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, a
reformatory and orphanage.[6][7][8] However, according to Julia Ruth Stevens' recount in 1999,
because George Sr. was a saloon owner in Baltimore and had given Ruth little supervision
growing up, he became a delinquent. Ruth was sent to St. Mary's because George Sr. ran out
of ideas to discipline and mentor his son.[9] As an adult, Ruth admitted that as a youth he ran
the streets, rarely attended school, and drank beer when his father was not looking. Some
accounts say that following a violent incident at his father's saloon, the city authorities decided
that this environment was unsuitable for a small child. Ruth entered St. Mary's on June 13,
1902. He was recorded as "incorrigible" and spent much of the next 12 years there. [6][7][8]
Although St. Mary's boys received an education, students were also expected to learn work
skills and help operate the school, particularly once the boys turned 12. Ruth became a
shirtmaker and was also proficient as a carpenter. He would adjust his own shirt collars, rather
than having a tailor do so, even during his well-paid baseball career. The boys, aged 5 to 21,
did most of the work around the facility, from cooking to shoemaking, and renovated St. Mary's
in 1912. The food was simple, and the Xaverian Brothers who ran the school insisted on strict
discipline; corporal punishment was common. Ruth's nickname there was "Niggerlips", as he
had large facial features and was darker than most boys at the all-white reformatory. [10]
Ruth was sometimes allowed to rejoin his family or was placed at St. James's Home, a
supervised residence with work in the community, but he was always returned to St. Mary's. [11]
[12]
 He was rarely visited by his family; his mother died when he was 12 and, by some accounts,
he was permitted to leave St. Mary's only to attend the funeral. [13] How Ruth came to play
baseball there is uncertain: according to one account, his placement at St. Mary's was due in
part to repeatedly breaking Baltimore's windows with long hits while playing street ball; by
another, he was told to join a team on his first day at St. Mary's by the school's athletic director,
Brother Herman, becoming a catcher even though left-handers rarely play that position. During
his time there he also played third base and shortstop, again unusual for a left-hander, and
was forced to wear mitts and gloves made for right-handers. He was encouraged in his
pursuits by the school's Prefect of Discipline, Brother Matthias Boutlier, a native of Nova
Scotia. A large man, Brother Matthias was greatly respected by the boys both for his strength
and for his fairness. For the rest of his life, Ruth would praise Brother Matthias, and his running
and hitting styles closely resembled his teacher's.[14][15] Ruth stated, "I think I was born as a hitter
the first day I ever saw him hit a baseball."[16] The older man became a mentor and role model
to Ruth; biographer Robert W. Creamer commented on the closeness between the two: