Ruth's 714 Home Runs

Babe Ruth was baseball's first great home run hitter. He hit his first as a member of the Boston Red Sox on May 6, 1915, off New York Yankees pitcher Jack Warhop. Five years later, in 1920, he was sold to the Yankees, where he became an outfielder and gained fame as "The Bambino" for his power hitting. He will always be known as the man who made the home run famous.

In the early 1900s baseball was dominated by pitching and speedy base runners. Frank "Home Run" Baker earned his nickname by leading the American League with 11, 10, 12, and 9 homers in the years from 1911 to 1914. When Ruth hit 29 in 1919, he stunned the baseball world. The next-highest home run total that year was 12. The following year the player they would call "The Sultan of Swat" smashed 54 home runs in a year in which nobody else hit more than 19. Ruth knocked more balls out of the park than any other team in the league. The next year the Babe did even better, belting a mind-boggling 59 homers to break his own single-season home run record for the third year in a row. During the 1921 season, in just his seventh major league season, Ruth had become the top home run hitter in the history of baseball.

Ruth — already the first batter to slug 30, 40, and 50 home runs in a season — became the first man ever to hit 60 home runs in a season in 1927. He also had a .356 batting average with 164 RBIs, even though he was walked intentionally game after game. Ruth hit his record-breaking 60 home run off Tom Zachary of the Washington Senators at Yankee Stadium on September 30, the next-to-last day of the 1927 season. The ball rocketed into the right-field bleachers, now called Ruthville. When he went to his position in right field in the top of the ninth inning, fans waved handkerchiefs and the Babe responded with military salutes. In the clubhouse after the game, Ruth boasted, "Sixty, count 'em, sixty. Let's see someone match that." Nobody took the invitation for 34 years.

Ruth was also the first hitter to reach 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, and 700 career homers. (Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds have since also passed the 700 mark.) He hit home run No. 500 on August 11, 1929, and No. 600 just two years and 10 days later. In July of 1934, Ruth hit home run No. 700. Asked if he followed any superstitions after hitting a home run, the Babe replied, "Just one. I make certain to touch all four bases." In all, Babe led the American League in home runs 12 times, including six consecutive seasons from 1926 through 1931, when he averaged more than 50 home runs per year.

Spurred on by his fantastic long balls, fans flocked to ballparks to watch the Babe in action. Yankee Stadium was built to hold the large crowds that came to see him. Fittingly, Ruth hit the first home run there, in 1923. He won his first and only Most Valuable Player award that season and led the Yankees to the first of their record 27 world championships.

Babe Ruth changed the very way the game was played. He ushered out the age of the singles hitters and turned baseball into a power hitting game. Ruth's on-field record speaks for itself: 714 career home runs, a .342 batting average, 2,062 bases on balls, and the MLB-record 72 games in which he hit two or more home runs. His hitting ability was so awesome, it is sometimes forgotten that he began his career in 1914 as a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. He was so talented that had he remained a pitcher for his entire career, he probably would be celebrated today for his skill on the mound. He pitched for the Red Sox from 1914 to 1919, posting an 89–46 record. He threw 29 consecutive scoreless innings in the 1916 and...