On this historic date, September 30, 1927, Babe Ruth, an enduring figure in American sports culture, left the baseball world in awe as he smashed his 60th home run while playing for the New York Yankees. He lifted a pitch from Senators’ Tom Zachary to the homer at Yankee Stadium.
This remarkable feat continues to amaze sports enthusiasts even a century later. This event was so extraordinary that the National Baseball Hall of Fame pays homage to this monumental milestone. The very ball that Babe Ruth hit for his 60th home run has found its place of honor in Cooperstown.
“While Roger Maris, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds have all exceeded the iconic single-season record, Ruth — the charismatic, larger-than-life figure from the Golden Age of Sport — is still remembered as the first to attain the hallowed milestone,” the Hall of Fame notes.
Aaron Judge, the standout player for the Yankees, earned a place in the exclusive club of 60-plus home run hitters just last year, achieving the feat with his 61st homer.
“Babe Ruth took a slow stroll around the bases as the crowd celebrated by tearing paper into confetti and throwing hats into the air,” writes History.com of his landmark 60th home run. “Upon assuming his position in right-field for the ninth inning, those seated in the bleachers waved hankies at the famed slugger; Ruth responded with multiple military salutes.”
Babe Ruth made history
Nonetheless, Babe Ruth’s historic accomplishment continues to shine even brighter in the eyes of numerous sports analysts and enthusiasts, despite five other players having surpassed his 60-home run mark by now.
During the Bambino’s remarkable season, not a single American League team collectively hit more than 56 home runs. In just the months of August and September, Babe Ruth hammered an astonishing 26 home runs, a tally that matched the entire season’s output for the entire Cleveland Indians team that year.
His batting exploits during the 1920s were nothing short of breathtaking, pushing the boundaries of what was thought possible in his era. These extraordinary feats gave birth to a fresh sports descriptor, “Ruthian.”
This term, which endures in contemporary sports, characterizes a statistical feat of such monumental magnitude that it eclipses everything in its vicinity. During Babe Ruth’s remarkable 60-home-run campaign, not a single American League squad managed to eclipse the mark of 56 home runs.
Babe Ruth stands tall despite new records
Babe Ruth’s impressive feat of 60 home runs occurred within the confines of a 154-game season. It was in 1961, the year when Maris, another formidable Yankees power hitter, achieved his then-record 61 home runs, that the American League extended the schedule to 162 games.
This adjustment to the schedule led to Maris’s record bearing a lingering asterisk, a notorious symbol recognized by baseball authorities for decades. Bonds, McGwire, and Sosa, in a rather peculiar sequence, collectively delivered their seasons of 60 or more home runs in quick succession between 1998 and 2001.
These extraordinary seasons happened to align with what has since been labeled baseball’s infamous Steroid Era, a period marked by controversy and scandal.
Babe Ruth’s legendary career was fueled by an iconic, hard-living lifestyle that persisted even during the era of Prohibition. In 1927, he took on a unique role as the star of a silent film titled “Babe Comes Home.” This cinematic tale revolved around a semi-fictional baseball player named Babe Dugan, who found inspiration to smash a colossal home run when his romantic interest handed Babe Ruth a plug of chewing tobacco just before he approached the batter’s box.
During an extraordinary September that year, Babe Ruth achieved the remarkable feat of smashing 17 home runs, effectively obliterating his own previously considered insurmountable record of 59 home runs, a mark he had set six years prior.
The 1927 Yankees, famously known as Murderers’ Row due to their formidable hitting lineup, compiled a dominant season with a record of 110 wins and 44 losses. They capped off their remarkable year by sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series. They are hailed as one of the most lauded and esteemed teams in the annals of baseball.
Babe Ruth’s hitting prowess was complemented by the presence of Lou Gehrig in the lineup, who himself smacked an impressive 47 home runs during that season. In any other era, Gehrig’s total would have stood as the pinnacle of baseball history, had it not been eclipsed by Babe Ruth’s extraordinary seasons of 1921 and 1927.
Babe Ruth’s batting exploits during the 1920s were of such a mesmerizing caliber that they gave birth to a novel sports descriptor, “Ruthian,” a term that encapsulates unparalleled excellence in the world of athletics.
Gehrig also claimed the top spot in the major leagues when it came to doubles (52), runs driven in (173), a record that reigned supreme in its era, and total bases (447). Yet, amidst all these impressive statistics, it’s Babe Ruth’s unparalleled home run tally, truly embodying the essence of Ruthian, that continues to be revered and venerated to this very day.
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