Neal Ball - Personal Life

Personal Life

Ball was born on April 22, 1881 in Grand Haven, Michigan. After his Major League career ended, he went on to coach the Baltimore Orioles (who were a minor league team at the time). It was there that he was assigned to train Babe Ruth, who had just come out of St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys. Ball described Ruth as "the dumbest and yet the strongest player" he had ever coached. The two remained good friends after Ruth broke into the Majors and even played a friendly game of bowling against one another in 1923 (with Ball edging out Ruth, winning four out of the seven games played). Ruth held Ball in great respect, and because of their close friendship in baseball, he eventually became a fan of the New York Yankees. In the 1950s, an annual bowling tournament held at the Newfield Alleys near Bridgeport, Connecticut was named after Ball in order to honor the city's famous inhabitant. On February 12, 1952, at the age of 71, his health severely deteriorated due to a heart ailment and he was rushed to Bridgeport Hospital, where he was placed on the danger list and visitors were prohibited from seeing him. Five years later, he died on October 15, 1957 and was interred at Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport.