Babe Ruth Breaks his own record Hitting his 60th home run of the season, 1927
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Babe Ruth broke the single season home run record in 1919, 1920, 1921 and 1960
When Babe Ruth hit 59 home runs in 1921, he broke his own record of 54 homers, which he had set in 1920. His 1920 record also broke a record that Ruth already held. He hit 29 homers in 1919, the year that is generally considered to be the last of the “dead ball era.”
After 1921, the Yankee slugger went five whole seasons without breaking the home run record, in fact 47 homers was the best he could manage from 1922 through 1926. Then on September 30, 1927, he hit the his 60th home run of the season and set a record that would hold up until Roger Maris hit 61 in 1961.
Here’s what they wrote about it, back in the day
The Washington Post:
Babe Ruth has confirmed his right to be known as the mightiest hitter that baseball has ever known. Yesterday he hammered out his sixtieth home run of the present season, surpassing his own record of 59 in a playing year, which he established in 1921… Never has any sport produced a hero who has attracted as much attention as Ruth, whose renown lies in the fact that he can hit a ball harder and farther than any other living mortal. He has been written about until he is almost a legendary figure. He receives in payment more than any other player, a salary comparable to the one enjoyed by the President of the United States.
And the New York Times:
Babe Ruth scaled the hitherto unattained heights yesterday. Home run 60 a terrific smash off the southpaw pitching of Zachary, nestled in the Babe’s favorite spot in the right field bleachers, and before the roar had ceased it was found that this drive not only had made home run history but also was the winning margin in a 4 to 2 victory over the Senators… When the Babe stepped to the plate in that momentous eighth inning the score was deadlocked, Koenig was on third base, the result of a triple. One man was out and all was tense. It was the Babe’s fourth trip to the plate daring the afternoon, a base on balls and two singles resulting on his other visits plateward. The first Zachary offering was a fast one, which sailed over for a called strike. The next was high. The Babe took a vicious swing at the third pitched ball and the bat connected with a crash that was audible in all parts of the stand. It was not necessary to follow the course of the ball. The boys in the bleachers indicated the route of the record homer. It dropped about half way to the top. Boys, No. 60 was some homer, a fitting wallop to top the Babe’s record of 59 in 1921.
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