There are some things about Babe Ruth, beyond his mammoth home runs and World Series titles, that cannot be measured – among them his frequent trips to orphanages and hospitals, and his willingness to play alongside black ballplayers.

“He carried this country on his back during the Great Depression,” said Jane Leavy, author of the Ruth biography, “The Big Fella.”

On Friday, President Donald Trump posthumously honored baseball’s onetime home run king with the Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in a White House ceremony. Other 2018 recipients included the late singer Elvis Presley; former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach; Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah; former NFL great and Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan Page; and conservative political donor Miriam Adelson.

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