Babe Ruth's Greatest Hits

 

                 Not only did Ruth hit home runs in great numbers, but he hit them over vast distances. His ability to propel baseballs into the great beyond earned him dozens of colorful nicknames over the years, such as “The Mammoth of Maul,” “The Big Bam,” and the “Behemoth of Bust.” Some of Ruth’s longest homers are listed below:

--In 1917, Ruth became the first player to hit a ball into the centerfield bleachers at Fenway Park. The dimensions of the stadium were changed in later years, but in the early 1900s, the distance was well over 500 feet.

--During spring training in 1919, the Babe hit a long blast in an exhibition game at Plant Field in Tampa, Florida. It landed on the railing of a horse racing track that circled the stadium. Estimates of the drive vary from 540-612 feet.

--During the 1919 regular season, Ruth reportedly slammed a pitch over the right field roof at the Polo Grounds. Joe Jackson, playing for Cleveland, was said to have hit the top of the roof in a 1913 game. But Ruth’s shot allegedly cleared the roof on the fly.

--On July 18, 1921, the Babe went deep against Bert Cole of the Tigers at Navin Field in Detroit. By some accounts, the ball hit a parked car on Plum Street some 600 feet away then bounced/rolled another 250 feet. Some sources consider this to be the longest verifiable home run in major league history.

-- On July 31, 1921, the Babe launched a drive over the right-centerfield roof at the Polo Grounds. The blast, surrendered by Ray Caldwell of the Indians, was believed to be around 560 feet.

--During a 1926 barnstorming stop at Artillery Park in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, the Babe challenged a local pitcher to throw him his best fastball. Ruth blasted the pitch out of the stadium and beyond an adjacent a running track. Estimates of the distance vary from 600-650 feet. 

--In a 1929 exhibition game at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, Ruth hit a ball over the centerfield wall. It sailed past a watchtower and traveled around 620 feet. Prior to then, no ball had ever exited the stadium by way of centerfield.

--In a 1934 spring training game at St. Petersburg, the Babe drilled an offering from Huck Betts of the Braves out of Waterfront Park and onto the second story porch of the West Coast Inn, where players were staying. That shot is believed to have carried at least 610 feet—probably even further.

--The last homer of Ruth’s career was a memorable one. It came off of Guy Bush of the Pirates at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. It hit a house on Bouquet Street roughly 540 feet away. Some sources claim the blast was closer to 600 feet.

 

            During the 1950s and ‘60s, Mickey Mantle assumed the title of baseball’s most powerful long-distance slugger. During his 18-year career, “The Mick” hit at least 10 home runs that were estimated to have traveled in excess of 500 feet. This included a colossal drive that hit the façade at old Yankee Stadium and bounced back onto the field.  The façade was located 370 feet from home plate and over a hundred feet above the field. Mathematical estimates placed Mantle’s epic blast at around 734 feet (though the measurement is hypothetical).    

 Explore this topic further along with many others in my latest book, Lore of the Bambino: 100 Great Babe Ruth Stories, available in April through The Lyons Press.

Ruth and Gehrig at Odds

     Many fans of historical Yankee baseball are under the impression that Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig were close friends. They weren’t. Especially after the 1932 campaign. Ruth’s public image as a mentor to Gehrig was manufactured to a great extent by the Babe’s personal agent, Christy Walsh. If Walsh hadn’t brought them together, it’s doubtful the two would have forged a bond beyond the confines of the ballfield. They were polar opposites. Gehrig was humble, reserved, and respectful of authority figures. Ruth was none of those things.

            The disparity between the two men was readily apparent whenever they got together for a round of bridge. Ruth always drank during the games while Gehrig—an extremely cautious player—preferred to remain sober. The Babe invariably made outrageous bids, knowing that it drove Gehrig crazy. Many of the sessions ended with Gehrig abruptly throwing his cards on the table in frustration and asking Ruth to tally up the final score. Yet, in spite of their differences, Ruth and Gehrig maintained a friendly relationship (for awhile anyway), fishing together during the offseason and interacting regularly with one another’s families.

            At some point during the 1932 season, a major disagreement occurred. Ruth had always liked Gehrig’s mother, Christina, and the meals she prepared. He sometimes brought his daughter, Dorothy, along with him when he visited her home. But after the death of his first wife, Helen, the Babe was not as warmly received. When Dorothy showed up at the Gehrig home one day looking somewhat disheveled, Christina commented that Ruth’s stepdaughter, Julia, often appeared in public wearing fancy clothing while Dorothy was forced to wear hand-me-downs.  When the slugger’s second wife, Claire, heard about the remark, she issued a direct order to the Babe: “Tell Lou to muzzle his mother.” Ruth was none too happy himself and, during a clubhouse confrontation, he bluntly told Gehrig that his mother “should mind her own goddamn business.” Gehrig—a Mama’s boy since early childhood—was highly offended by the remark. The two men argued bitterly and had to be separated by teammates. It was the end of their friendship. Though they posed for group photos and traveled together with the team, they stopped speaking. Gehrig even refused to shake Ruth’s hand after his home runs.

            Hostility between the two men was rekindled in 1937, when Ruth made some disparaging remarks to reporters. By then, the Babe had retired as a player while Gehrig was padding his “Iron Man” record. Gehrig’s streak of consecutive games stood at 1,808 at the end of the ’36 campaign. Offering his unabashed opinion to reporters, Ruth commented, “I think Lou’s making one of the biggest mistakes a ballplayer can make by keeping up that ‘Iron Man’ stuff. He’s already cut three years off his baseball life with it. He ought to learn how to sit on the bench and rest because the Yankees aren’t going to pay off on how many games in a row he’s played.” Ruth’s words really got under Gehrig’s skin. The Yankee first baseman told writers that he felt fine and knew how much his body could handle. He assured them that he would bench himself if he became a detriment to the club.

            That day arrived in 1939, when Gehrig was afflicted with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis—a progressive neurological disorder that can lead to paralysis and premature death. The feud between Ruth and Gehrig continued until the day of Gehrig’s famous “Luckiest Man” speech, when “The Iron Horse” finally accepted a public gesture of affection from the Babe. 

 Explore this topic further in my latest book release, Lore of the Bambino: 100 Great Babe Ruth Stories, available in April through The Lyons Press.

CURSE OF THE BAMBINO (And a Dozen Other Players)

 

            Most people with a basic knowledge of the game have heard about the Babe Ruth Curse. For anyone new to the topic, the thumbnail version is as follows: After the Babe was sold to the Yankees before the 1920 campaign, the Red Sox failed to win another World Series for the remainder of the twentieth century. They had some great teams and marquee players. They had their fair share of opportunities, capturing four pennants between 1946 and 1986. But something always happened on the road to baseball’s most coveted title. When conventional wisdom failed to properly explain the second-longest dry spell in major league history (behind the long-suffering Chicago Cubs), sportswriters began to consider the supernatural.

            The initial idea of a curse was proposed by New York Times sportswriter George Vecsey after Boston’s heart-breaking loss to the Mets in 1986. The Sox had been on the verge of clinching the Series before a routine grounder went through the legs of sure-handed first baseman Bill Buckner in the tenth inning of Game 6. Vecsey’s alleged curse gained momentum in 1990, when Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy published his seminal work, The Curse of the Bambino. From that point on, the concept became firmly embedded in popular culture.

            In 2004, the Red Sox finally ended their long championship drought with a World Series victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. They have added three more titles since then, making them the most successful franchise of the 21st century (to date). Though no one talks much about “The Curse” anymore, it’s interesting to note that Ruth was not the only player generously donated to the Yankees by former Red Sox owner Harry Frazee. In fact, Frazee’s frivolous trades kept the New Yorkers in contention for many years.   

            Before assuming a controlling interest in the BoSox, Frazee made a fortune in the performing arts. He opened a Chicago theater in 1907 and followed with the construction of a New York City venue a few years later. He also gained control of Boston’s Arlington Theater, producing a string of hit musicals. In 1916, he expanded his interests to the world of baseball. His ill-advised transactions transformed the Red Sox from champions to non-contenders. Beginning in 1920, the team finished in fifth place or lower for 14 consecutive seasons. And by the end of the 20th century, the Yankees had won 25 championships to Boston’s five.

            Though the infamous “Curse” will forever be associated with Ruth, the following player transactions helped the Yankees capture six pennants during the 1920s:

December of 1918

Frazee traded pitchers Ernie Shore and Dutch Leonard to the Yankees along with outfielder Duffy Lewis. Leonard was sold to the Tigers and Shore saw limited action, but Lewis had two excellent seasons in New York.

July of 1919

Frazee sent pitcher Carl Mays to the Yankees to complete an earlier deal. Mays won 80 games for New York over portions of five seasons.

December of 1919

Babe Ruth was sold to the Yankees for a record $100,000. His lifetime home run record stood for nearly 40 years.

December of 1920

Frazee dealt pitcher Waite Hoyt and catcher Wally Schang to the Yankees. Hoyt forged a Hall of Fame career in New York while Schang established himself as one of the top offensive catchers in the American League.

December of 1921

Shortstop Everett Scott became a Yankee along with pitchers Joe Bush and Sam Jones. Scott was named captain of the Yankees in 1922. Jones averaged 13 wins per year over 5 seasons and Bush posted a 62-38 record during his three-year stint in the Bronx.

July of 1922

Frazee parted ways with infielder Joe Dugan. Dugan served as the Yankees’ primary third baseman for the better part of seven seasons. He was a clutch performer in World Series play.

January of 1923

Pitcher Herb Pennock was traded from Boston to New York. He won no fewer than 16 games in six consecutive seasons and ended up in the Hall of Fame.   

A more detailed version of this story appears in my latest book, Lore of the Bambino: 100 Great Babe Ruth Stories, available through The Lyons Press.  

What Do Einstein and Babe Ruth Have In Common?

 

            Some people are light years ahead of the curve. Plato, Leonardo daVinci, and Albert Einstein are just a few examples. Mentioning Babe Ruth in the same breath may be a bit of a stretch, but in a purely baseball sense, the Babe was miles above the competition. At the time of his retirement, he held dozens of statistical records while his closest rivals lagged far behind.

            Ruth began his career as a full-time pitcher, which limited his playing time. When it became evident that he was a looming power threat, Red Sox manager Ed Barrow began using him in the outfield on a regular basis. By the end of the 1919 campaign, the Babe had moved into ninth place on the all-time home run list. Over the next 16 seasons, he established himself as the game’s reigning home run king with 714 blasts—more than double the amount of Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx, who ranked second and third respectively when Ruth played his last game in 1935. Neither came close to breaking the Babe’s record as Foxx finished with 534 and Gehrig with 493. There were no serious challengers until the 1970s, when Willie Mays and Hank Aaron both approached the 700-homer mark. Mays ultimately fell short, but Aaron became the all-time leader in 1974.

            On an interesting note, it took Ruth fewer at-bats than any player in history to gather 700 home runs. Aaron didn’t even come close to matching the Babe’s vigorous pace, hitting number-700 in his 2,920th game. Ruth accomplished the feat in 2,418 games. Barry Bonds, who surpassed Aaron’s lifetime mark of 755 homers with the help of performance enhancing drugs, needed 2,702 games to collect 700 blasts.  

            In addition to his record-setting home run pace, Ruth remains baseball’s all- time leader in slugging percentage—a statistic that measures the average number of bases a player records per at-bat. The Babe’s mark of .6897 is miles ahead of Red Sox slugger Ted Williams, who ranks second on the list with a percentage of .6338.

            Over the course of his career, Ruth became part god and part mortal—a mythical hero who hit baseballs farther than any player before him. Describing his prowess at the plate, a former teammate joked, “No one hit home runs the way that Babe Ruth did. They were something special. They were like homing pigeons. The ball would leave the bat, pause briefly, suddenly gain its bearings, then take off for the stands.”   

            One of the most compelling facts about Ruth is that he might have found his way into the Hall of Fame as a pitcher. A left-hander, he set a World Series record for consecutive scoreless innings (29.2) that stood until 1961. During the four seasons in which he made at least 20 mound appearances (1915-1918), he averaged 19 wins per year. In that same span, he compiled a .301 batting average with 20 homers and 111 RBIs. No pitcher in major league history has demonstrated such marvelous two-way abilities, although Shohei Ohtani of the Angels had a remarkable year in 2021. Serving double-duty as a designated hitter and pitcher, Ohtani posted a 9-2 record in 23 starts while gathering 46 home runs—a Ruthian feat to say the least.

Explore this topic further in my book, Lore of the Bambino: 100 Great Babe Ruth Stories.               

How Babe Ruth Helped Change the Game of Baseball

 

            In the early-20th century, strategies differed greatly from the ones of today. Though rules prohibiting pitchers from defacing baseballs existed, they were rarely enforced. Hurlers used every dirty trick in the book, scuffing up balls and covering them with mud and/or tobacco juice. Rather than replacing the old ones in a timely manner, umpires kept balls in play until they were lopsided and spongy. Most major league ballparks had spacious dimensions in the outfield, putting hitters at a further disadvantage. Runs were manufactured one base at a time using old school tactics such as bunting, stealing, and sacrificing. Home runs were a somewhat rare event.  

            In August of 1920, Indians shortstop Ray Chapman was struck and killed by a Carl Mays pitch. The sound of the ball hitting Chapman’s skull was reportedly so loud that Mays assumed his offering had made contact with the infielder’s bat. When the ball rolled toward him, Mays actually scooped it up and threw to first base. Chapman collapsed on the field, dying hours later at a nearby hospital. Things took another dark turn for the sport in September of that year when pitcher Eddie Cicotte of the White Sox admitted that he had conspired with gamblers to throw the 1919 World Series. Eight Chicago players were permanently banished in the wake of the scandal.

            Prior to the 1920 season, major league executives decided to enforce a ban on spitballs (with the exception of 17 pitchers who were allowed to use the pitch under a grandfather clause). In the wake of the Chapman incident, umpires were encouraged to put fresh balls into play more often. The result was an offensive explosion unparalleled in the game’s history.

            In his first campaign as a full-time outfielder, Babe Ruth set a new single-season record for home runs with 29. With the new guidelines in place, the Babe eventually increased that number to 60. Ruth wasn’t the only one breaking down fences. In 1930, Hack Wilson pushed the National League single-season home run mark up to 56—a record that stood for nearly 70 years.   

            With Ruth and Wilson leading the way, baseball was transformed from a ponderous game of strategy to an explosive exhibition of raw power. The outcome of games could be changed with a single swing of the bat. And as balls began flying out of parks with regularity, old strategies were virtually abandoned. There were 3,265 stolen bases recorded in 1910. By 1930, that number had dwindled to 1,080—a decrease of 67 percent. Baseball historians now refer to the 1920s and ‘30s as the “Lively Ball Era.”

            Conditions in the major leagues continued to favor hitters until the 1940s, when collective batting averages fell into the .260-range. Prior to then, they had hovered in the .280s for nearly two decades. Baseball’s offensive renaissance peaked in 1930 with an average of 5.5 runs scored per game. The composite major league batting mark that year was .292—the highest single-season average since the dawn of the 20th century. By way of comparison, the game has seen a sharp decline in batting averages over the past several years. Between 2010 and 2021, collective major league averages ranged from .257 to .244.

Read More about this topic in my latest book, Lore of the Bambino: 100 Great Babe Ruth Stories. 

Little Known Facts About Babe Ruth

 

--Ruth’s father was accidentally killed by a family member. George Ruth Sr. owned a number of taverns in Baltimore. While tending bar one day, a fight between two of his brothers-in-law erupted on the street outside. Ruth Sr. attempted to separate the two men but ended up slamming his head on a curb and sustaining a fatal skull fracture.

--Ruth’s first wife, Helen, was killed in a house fire. The two were separated but still legally wed at the time. Since the fire took place under somewhat suspicious circumstances, Ruth was implicated as a suspect along with Helen’s boyfriend—a Boston dentist named Edward Kinder. In the wake of a formal investigation, both men were absolved of any guilt.

 

--Ruth worked tirelessly over the course of his career to interact with fans. In October of 1933, he actually visited a leper colony during a barnstorming tour of Hawaii. He did so against the wishes of his handlers.

 

--Ruth purchased a number of fancy sports cars during his playing days. He had little regard for the rules of the road, parking his vehicles wherever he pleased, driving them too fast, and smashing into things repeatedly. In 1917, he collided with a trolley car in Boston, derailing it. In July of 1920, he drove his expensive Packard off the road with his wife and several teammates in it. The vehicle flipped over, but no one was seriously hurt. In June of 1921, Ruth was stopped for speeding and arrested. Police officials released him from jail in time to appear in an evening game.

 

--Though Ruth was generally good-natured, he demonstrated his hot temper a number of times on the field. In 1922, he was thrown out of a game for tossing dirt at umpire George Hildebrand. After getting booed by fans, he climbed into the stands to confront two men who were heckling him. Unable to reach them, he jumped onto the roof of the Yankee dugout and challenged anyone in the crowd to a fight. There were no takers.

 

--Much has been made of Ruth’s alleged “called shot” off Cubs pitcher Charlie Root in the 1932 World Series. Few people are aware that he called one of his October shots four years earlier. Facing pitcher Bill Sherdel of the Cardinals in Game 4 of the 1928 World Series, the Babe engaged in some semi-friendly banter at the plate, bragging that he was going to deposit the next hittable pitch into the outfield seats. He made good on the boast, laughing all the way around the bases and waving mockingly to the St. Louis crowd.  

 

--The use of performance enhancing drugs in baseball has generated a lot of controversy over the past several decades. But it is not a new problem. In the 1920s, team trainers began injecting players with a substance made from sheep’s testicles, which was said to increase stamina. Ruth agreed to give it a try, but he became severely ill after a single injection and abruptly ended the experiment.    

You can read more about all these topics in my latest book: Lore of the Bambino: 100 Great Babe Ruth Stories, which is set for release in early-April of 2022. Pre-order it now on Amazon!    

Jackie Mitchell: The Girl Who Struck Out Ruth and Gehrig

 Greetings, fans of old-time baseball!! Over the next couple of months, I'll be posting a series of blogs to help promote the release of my latest book, LORE OF THE BAMBINO: 100 GREAT BABE RUTH STORIES. The book is scheduled to hit the shelves in early-April. You can pre-order it on Amazon. Without further ado, I hope you enjoy this little snippet. The full story appears in my book.  

                         

            During the heart of the Great Depression, most major league teams reduced the number of spring training games to cut down on travel costs. The Yankees broke with this trend in 1931, scheduling more than 30 stops on their annual spring tour. A visit to Chattanooga in early-April produced one of the most memorable moments in baseball history as a teenage girl named Jackie Mitchell struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in succession.

            A Chattanooga native, Mitchell learned the basics of the game from her father. As the story goes, she was taught by Hall of Fame pitcher Dazzy Vance (who was a neighbor) to throw a sinking fastball. Mitchell mastered the pitch and began playing for local teams. She caught the eye of Chattanooga Lookouts owner Joe Engel at an Atlanta training camp.

            A savvy promoter, Engel was known to stage unusual publicity stunts to draw fans to the ballpark. He once traded a player for a turkey that he cooked and fed to sportswriters. Recognizing a golden opportunity, he signed Mitchell to a minor league contract and booked a pair of games against the Yankees.   

            In the wake of a rainout, the Lookouts faced the Yankees at Engel Stadium in front of 4,000 fans. After Earle Combs and Lyn Lary led off the game with a pair of hits, Chattanooga manager Bert Niehoff summoned Mitchell from the bullpen. Fans were cheering wildly as Ruth stepped up to the plate to face her. Mitchell’s windup consisted of a dramatic windmill motion and sidearm delivery. The Babe swung through two of her first three offerings. After failing to connect a second time, he asked the umpire to inspect the ball. Finding nothing amiss, the arbiter called for play to continue. Mitchell’s next pitch caught the outside corner for a called third strike. Ruth flung his bat in disgust and barked at the umpire. Gehrig’s at-bat was far less dramatic in comparison. He swung through three straight pitches and returned to the dugout without complaint.

            After disposing of the Yankees’ primary offensive threats, Mitchell walked Tony Lazzeri and was promptly removed from the game. An ongoing debate as to whether or not her strikeouts were legitimate has never been definitively settled. Outfielder Ben Chapman, who was in the lineup that day, believed that Ruth and Gehrig were willing victims. Hall of Fame pitcher Lefty Gomez was of a different mindset, insisting that Yankee manager Joe McCarthy would never have allowed such a stunt—even in a meaningless exhibition game. Years later, Engel said that Mitchell’s appearance was an elaborate hoax, but Mitchell denied that this was true until the time of her death in 1987.

            Ruth and Gehrig never publicly admitted to intentionally striking out. In fact, Ruth seemed a bit peeved by the incident. After the game was over, he remarked to reporters, “I don’t know what’s going to happen if they let women in baseball. Of course they will never make good. Why? Because they are too delicate. It would kill them to play ball every day.” Commissioner Landis was inclined to agree, voiding Mitchell’s contract on the grounds that baseball was “too strenuous” for her. She continued to play for various barnstorming teams into the late-‘30s.