85% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
What turned up
The Babe Ruth Story (with Bob Considine, 1948), opening paragraph; reproduced in Arthur Daley's New York Times column, April 26, 1948.
Work
The Babe Ruth Story (with Bob Considine, 1948)
Occasion
1948 · opening page of his life story, admitting he was a troubled kid at St. Mary's school and wanted the book to help children like him
Sources checked
en.wikiquote.orgChecked using claude-fable-5, 22 August 2026Sourced section: opening paragraph of his 1948 autobiography, reproduced in the NYT (Daley, April 26, 1948). The archive.org scan of the book is lending-restricted, so wording rests on the Wikiquote-sourced tier. Preceding line ('I was a bad kid') is his own honest setup — no reversal.