May Marks Centennial Anniversary of Babe Ruth’s First Home Run

One hundred years ago this month Babe Ruth made his first of 714 trips around the bases after launching a pitch into the seats.

May 6, 1915 saw the lumbering lefty connect on Jack Warhop’s offering, sending the first pitch of the at-bat screaming into the second tier of the right field grandstand at New York’s Polo Grounds. Ironically, Ruth’s home run came against the team he’s most commonly associated with: The New York Yankees.

Ruth began his career as a starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox in the days when American League pitchers hit for themselves.

The Bambino’s home run came in his 18th career at-bat. Unfortunately for Warhop, a submarine-style right hander who played with the Yanks for eight years, he served up The Babe’s second career home run nearly a month later.

The Sultan of Swat connected for 259 round-trippers in Yankee Stadium. He hit 85 home runs at the Polo Grounds, a bathtub-shaped park with a deep center field and short dimensions down the lines.

Only a few parks where Ruth played still stand today. Towering housing projects have replaced the Polo Grounds in the Upper Manhattan. The Yankee Stadium Ruth played in is now a parking lot for the team’s new venue in the Bronx sharing the same name.

Boston’s Fenway Park, where Ruth began his storied career, has been home to the Red Sox since 1912.

The Chicago Cubs’ Wrigley Field, site of Ruth’s fabled “Called Shot,” is the only other park remaining from his era. It’s where Ruth’s pointed to center field in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series before sending the very next pitch into the center field bleachers.

Did Ruth really predict he was going to hit a home run or was it simply an unrelated gesture? Baseball fanatics have debated the finger pointing incident ever since.

Facts about Babe Ruth:

• Ruth, overweight and known to indulge in illicit behavior, drank whiskey and chewed tobacco before the age of 8. He spent several years in a Catholic reform school.
• A native of Baltimore, Ruth originally played for the Baltimore Orioles of the Federal League before being acquired by the Boston Red Sox.
• Ruth made 127 appearances as a hard-throwing left-hander before converting to right field.
• Ruth pitched more than 1,000 innings between 1915 and 1919 and had an ERA of 2.19.
• He pitched a 14-inning complete game in Game 2 of the 1916 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. It remains the most innings recorded by a pitcher in a postseason game.
• Ruth shattered the previous single-season home run record for three consecutive seasons. At first he topped Ned Williamson’s mark of 27 with 29 in 1919. He hit 54 in 1920 and 59 in 1921. His high-water mark of 60 would last until Roger Maris eclipsed him with 61 in 1961.
• The Yankees never played in a World Series before acquiring Ruth. They would play in seven fall classics during Ruth’s 15 years with the team and win four of them.
• Ruth was one five men included in the first Hall of Fame class. He received 95.1 percent of the vote. Only Ty Cobb earned a greater percentage out of the inaugural class.

–Source: Sports Illustrated, Baseball Reference, Ken Burns’ “Baseball”