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This Day In Sports…May 21, 1930:
After hitting three home runs in a game against the Philadelphia A’s, the Yankees’ Babe Ruth decides to bat right-handed in his final trip to the plate. The one-time-only experiment in switch-hitting failed, as the Great Bambino was struck out by Jack Quinn. It was a missed opportunity—only 19 players have hit four homers in a game in modern major league baseball since 1900, and Babe Ruth is not one of them. (This was one of four times in his career he hit three.)
The Babe did just about everything else in the home run almanac, though. Ruth began his career as a pitcher with the Boston Red Sox in 1914, and he was good. He notched 23-win seasons three different times and was a starter on three Boston world championship teams. Most famously, the Red Sox won the World Series in 1918 with Ruth starring on the mound (Boston would not win it all again until 2004). By the time the 1919 season arrived, it was clear what a great hitter the Babe could be if he played every day, so he switched primarily to the outfield. Ruth clubbed 29 home runs in 1919 to set the major league record.
But Red Sox owner Harry Frazee, needing quick cash to continue producing his Broadway plays, sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees that winter for $125,000 and a $300,000 loan. And the “Curse of the Bambino” was born. In 1920 with the Yanks, Ruth became the first major leaguer ever to hit 30 homers, and 40 homers and 50 homers. He ended the season with a staggering 54, more than most teams collected at the time.
The zenith was 1927, when Ruth, the anchor of the Yankees’ legendary “Murderers’ Row,” clubbed an unfathomable 60 home runs. “Sixty! Let’s see some son of a bitch try to top that one!” Ruth shouted after the season’s final game. That mark would last until 1961, when Roger Maris hit 61. The Sultan of Swat broke the MLB career record of 138 in 1921 and would go on to be the first big leaguer to reach 200 career home runs, and 300, and 400, and 500, and 600, and 700. Ruth finished his career in 1935 with that legendary number: 714. The mark stood until 1974 when it was eclipsed by Hank Aaron.
The L.A. Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani is the only player who compares to Ruth as a two-way player (hitting and pitching). The Babe had better years as a pitcher from 1914-18 and a jaw-dropping run as a home run king in the 1920s. What sets Ohtani apart is that he’s doing it at the same time. He’s been merely good at the plate this season, with a .272 average and eight homers. But on the mound, he’s 4-2 in eight starts with an eye-popping 0.73 ERA. Ohtani will probably end up in a class by himself.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
