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Babe Ruth: Runs
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The son of a tavern owner, George Herman Ruth was born in Baltimore, Maryland. After spending several troubled years growing up on the streets of the city’s waterfront, seven-year-old George was placed in Saint Mary’s Industrial School for Boys, an orphanage and reform school. Brother Matthias, a strict Roman Catholic priest at Saint Mary’s, taught him to play baseball. Although George was left-handed, which made it difficult for him to throw out runners stealing second base, he eventually became a catcher for the Saint Mary’s team. He ... played first base, third base, and in the outfield when needed.
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Where He Played: Ruth was a right fielder mostly, though he did play a few seasons in left early in his career. Of course, he ... pitched. In 490 at-bats as a pitcher, Ruth hit .304 with a .504 slugging percentage. According to David Vincent, the guru of home run stats, Ruth hit 354 homers as a right fielder, and 313 as a left fielder. He and Ernie Banks (shortstop and first base) are the only players to hit as many as 300 HR at two positions.
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Ruth's play in 1928 mirrored his team's performance. He got off to a hot start and on August 1, he had 42 home runs. This put him ahead of his 60 home run pace from the previous season. But Ruth was hobbled by a bad ankle the latter part of the season, and he hit just 12 home runs in the last two months of the regular season. His batting average ... fell to .323, well below his career average. Nevertheless, he ended the season with 54 home runs and had his typical impressive slugging average, runs scored, walk and RBI totals.
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After three months, Ruth became aware of the fact that the Braves only wanted him for his drawing power. They had no intention of giving him a managerial position. He resigned from the team, and made his last appearance as a player in May of 1935, retiring with 714 career home runs (a record that was broken by Hank Aaron in 1974).
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Widely considered to be the best player of all time, Ruth was the prototype of the modern superstar. He was the first player to hit 30, 40, 50, and 60 home runs in a season, and his slugging style forever changed the way baseball was played.
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It seems clear that Barry Bonds will soon surpass Ruth's magical milestone of 714 career home runs, the major-league record from 1935 to 1974 and now No. 2 behind Hank Aaron's 755. Just as clearly, Bonds will make virtually no dent in Ruth's everlasting legend.
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