Tag: Babe Ruth

A STORY FROM APRIL 18 IN BASEBALL HISTORY-HOUSE THAT RUTH BUILT OPENS

TODAY IN BASEBALL TAKES US TO NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 18, 1923. ‘The house that Ruth built’ opened on this date in 1923. That’s what Yankee Stadium quickly became known as.

Babe Ruth  came to the Yankees in 1920, the result of an infamous purchase from the Boston Red Sox. He went on to become the biggest drawing card in all of sports.

The Yankee Stadium that Ruth built, in effect, disappeared in the mid-1970's when it was completely overhauled.

Yankee Stadium was baseball’s first triple deck structure. It was also the first baseball venue to be called a “stadium.” Others were usually called “Parks” or “Fields.”

It had some interesting dimensions that changed from time to time. For most of the original stadium’s history the fences down the foul lines were quite inviting: 301 down the left and 296 down the right. Left quickly ballooned out to over 400 feet. Straight-away center-field was 461 feet from home plate. The Yankee Stadium that Ruth built, in effect, disappeared in the mid-1970’s when it was completely overhauled.

Before Yankee Stadium, the Bronx Bombers played their home games in the Polo Grounds as tenants of the New York Giants. Tenant and landlord had a falling out in 1920. The Yankees were told to leave as soon as possible. The discord was partly due to the Yankees Bronx Bombers doubling their attendance that season to almost 1.3 million fans, 100,000 more than the Giants. Babe Ruth, with his prodigious home runs, was the main attraction. So Yankee Stadium was built a quarter mile from the Polo Grounds.

The Yankees won the first of many World Championships in that inaugural year of 1923. The victim – their former landlord, the New York Giants. The Giants couldn’t wait for the Yankees to move into the house that Ruth built.

April 8 – Aaron passes Ruth

APRIL 8, 1974 | ATLANTA, GEORGIA – Henry Aaron saved the best for the home town crowd. Four days after tying Babe Ruth‘s career home run record of 714 on the road in Cincinnati, Hammerin Hank broke the record before hysterical Atlanta Braves‘ fans at Fulton County Coliseum. He hit the 715th home run of his career off Los Angeles Dodger hurler Al Downing. April 8, 1974 Aaron passes Ruth.

Aaron would go on the hit 755 home runs for his career. He hit the last 22 playing in the city where he made his major league debut. He played the 1975 and 1976 seasons for the Milwaukee Brewers.

The term "home run" was originally a descriptive one. In the early days of baseball, fences were generally farther out than they are today. The batter had to literally run home before being tagged out to hit a "home run."

Babe Ruth held the career home run record for 53 years, the longest of any player. Here’s a list of the career home run record breakers and total home runs the new record-holder finished that year with.

Year  Player       HRs 
2007 Barry Bonds   762
1974 Henry Aaron   733
1921 Babe Ruth     162
1895 Roger Connor  124
1889 Harry Stovey  89
1887 Dan Brouthers 74
1885 Harry Stovey  50
1883 Charley Jones 33
1882 Jim O'Rourke  24
1881 Charley Jones 23
1879 Lip Pike      20
TOP TEN CAREER HOME-RUNS
1.  Barry Bonds     762
2.  Henry Aaron     755
3.  Babe Ruth       714
4.  Alex Rodriguez  696
5.  Willie Mays     660
6.  Ken Griffey Jr, 630
9.  Albert Pujols   615
7.  Jim Thome       612
8.  Sammy Sosa      609
10. Frank Robinson  586

The term “home run” was originally a descriptive one. In the early days of baseball, fences were generally farther out than they are today, so hitting a ball over the fence was rare. Inside-the-park home runs were more common because outfielders had more ground to cover. The batter had to literally run home before being tagged out to hit a “home run.” With home run number 715 on this date in 1974, Aaron passed Ruth. On only one of the 755 home runs did Aaron have to run as fast as he could.

Contributing sources:
Henry Aaron in the Hall of Fame
Career home run record holders

A STORY FROM APRIL 4 – MOVE OVER, BABE, HERE COMES HENRY

TODAY IN BASEBALL TAKES US TO CINCINNATI, OHIO, APRIL 4, 1974. Hank Aaron didn’t waste time. In the first inning of the first game of the 1974 season the Atlanta Braves outfielder hit a 3-run homer off Cincinnati Reds starter Jack Billingham to tie Babe Ruth with 714 career home runs. Move over, Babe, here comes Henry.

It was only a matter of time before Aaron broke the record. Despite Aaron’s heroics, the Reds beat the Braves 7-6.

There’s an interesting side-light to this story. Atlanta Braves management wanted Aaron to break the record at home. They planned to sit him for the first three games of the season in Cincinnati. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn wouldn’t have it, and ruled that Aaron had to play two out of three.

The rest is history. Aaron tied Babe Ruth’s record in his very first at bat and, fortunately for the Braves, didn’t hit another home run in the series. So, the Braves returned home with the anticipation of Aaron breaking the record in front of the home crowd, which he did four days later.

Henry Aaron retired in 1976. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1982. He is the only player in major league history to hit at least 20 home runs in 20 seasons. On this date in 1974 it was – move over Babe, here comes Henry.

Piece of trivia: Who was Sandy Koufax’s first strike out? Hank Aaron.

MARCH 2: RUTH HIGHEST PAID

TODAY IN BASEBALL TAKES US TO NEW YORK, MARCH 2, 1927. Babe Ruth became the highest paid player in the major leagues on this date. The New York Yankees announced that the 32-year old Bambino will earn $70,000 per season for the next three years.

Seventy-thousand dollars a year in 1927 translates to about $1,000,000 in today’s dollars. Not a huge amount compared to today’s salaries, but that was before free agency when a player was the property of a team till the end of his career. The only way he could put on another uniform was if he were traded or released.

Major League Baseball salary records compiled by economist Michael J. Haupert of the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse show Ruth was also the highest paid player of the 1930’s. He earned $80,000 in 1930 and 1931.

Below is Haupert’s list of the highest annual salaries per decade, as best he can determine. Haupert says records of the late 19th and early 20th centuries are “tenuous,” but illustrate how salaries have changed:

1870’s (Al Spaulding) $4,000
1880’s (Fred Dunlap, Buck Ewing) $5,000
1890’s (Hardy Richardson) $4,000
1900’s (Nap Lajoie) $9,000
1910’s (Ty Cobb) $20,000
1920’s (Babe Ruth) $70,000
1930’s (Babe Ruth) $80,000
1940’s (Joe DiMaggio) $100,000
1950’s (Joe DiMaggio) $100,000
1960’s (Willie Mays) $135,000
1970’s (Rod Carew) $800,000
1980’s (Orel Hershiser/Frank Viola) $2,766,667
1990’s (Gary Sheffield) $14,936,667
2000’s (Alex Rodriguez) $33,000,000
2010’s (Alex Rodriguez) $33,000,000

Contributing sources:
“MLB’s Annual Salary Leaders, 1874-2012,” by Michael Haupert 
“Ruth gets 3-year contract; $210,000,” Chicago Daily Tribune, March 3, 1927

FEB 5: The King is born

TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY TAKES US BACK TO  MOBILE, ALABAMA IN 1934.  That was the day Henry Aaron was born. He would become major league baseball’s all-time home-run king in 1974 when he eclipsed Babe Ruth‘s record of 714.

Aaron finished his career with 755 home runs. Barry Bonds broke Aaron’s record in 2007, tainted, however, by allegations of steroid use.

Henry Aaron, not unlike his unassuming demeanor, quietly set many major league records and is among the leaders of many more. Here are some as compiled by the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR):

Most seasons with at least 20 HRs            20 (1st)
Most career RBI                                              2,297 (1st)
Most career extra base hits                        1,477 (1st)
Most career total bases                                6,856 (1st)
Most seasons at least 100 runs scored     15 (1st)
Most career home runs                                 755 (2nd)
Most career hits                                               3,771 (3rd)
Most career runs                                             2,174 (4th)
Most career at-bats                                       12,364 (2nd)
Most seasons at least 100 RBI                     11 (4th)
Most career games                                         3,298 (3rd)

It’s also remarkable, considering he was the all-time HR king for almost 40 years, the lists Aaron is not on:
Most seasons with at least 60 HRs             0
Most seasons with at least 50 HRs             0

Henry Aaron was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982.

Contributing sources:
MLB batting leaderboards, Baseball-Reference
More on Hank Aaron