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September 24, 1919
The fifth place Boston Red Sox were visiting the third place New York Yankees for a double header late in the season. The Red Sox had won the first game by a score of 4-0. The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the second inning, and they were holding on to it going into the top of the ninth. That is when Babe Ruth came up to the plate and hit the home run that broke the single season record. It was his 28th home run, and he would hit one more to finish with a Major League record 29. The Babe became the first hitter to hit a home run in every American League ballpark in a single season.
The previous record was held by Ned Williamson of the Chicago White Stockings, who had hit 27 in 1884. Most baseball historians are not very impressed by Williamson’s record, as he hit them at Lakeshore Park, which had notoriously short fences. Just the year before, a ball hit over those fences was considered a ground-rule double. Twenty-five of his home runs that year were hit at home. Buck Freeman’s 25 home runs in 1899 and Gavvy Cravath’s 24 in 1915 seemed more impressive.
If the Babe’s 29 home runs in 1919 made it a moot point, then the totals he put up in the next two years as a Yankee practically erased any controversy. He hit 54 home runs in 1920 and followed that up with 59 in 1921. He hit his iconic 60th home run in 1927, and that record stood for 34 years. The Babe became the first hitter to hit a home run in every American League ballpark in a single season.
Ruth’s record breaking home run managed to send the game to extra innings, but the Yankees won the game in the 13th inning. The Red Sox would lose the remaining three games and finish in fifth place. The Yankees would finish in third in 1919, but they purchased Ruth before the 1920 season, and the rest is history.
Birthdays
1946 Mean Joe Greene
1964 Rafael Palmeiro
1973 Eddie George