Posted by: Ashley Sprenkel
In 1927, Babe Ruth was playing right field for the New York Yankees. It was a memorable season, not only for Babe Ruth, but also for the entire New York Yankee team as they won the World Series that year. They beat the Pittsburg Pirates in just four games as they swept the 1927 World Series. The Yankees were determined to not have the same upset that they faced with the St. Louis Cardinals the year before, in 1926, as the Cardinals took the World Series in seven games.
On September 30, 1927, before the Yankees advanced to the World Series, “Babe Ruth broke his own record when he hit his sixtieth home run of the season in the game with the Washington Senators” (Washington Post). “With the score tied at 2-to-2 in the eighth Koenig tripled with one out and came home as Ruth shattered his old mark of fifty-nine homers with a bull mashie shot in to the sun seats of the right field stand” (Los Angeles Times). “10,000 fans at Yankee Stadium watched the ball settle high in the right field bleachers. Ruth danced around the circuit with a grin a yard wide on his face, while the Pandemonium reigned. Ruth accomplished a feat which two weeks ago appeared an impossibility. Today it appeared the King of Clout would have to postpone his record-breaking clout until tomorrow when the Yanks end their season. In the first inning Tom Zachary walked Ruth on four consecutive balls, not intentionally, while the big fellow singled in the fourth and sixth. In the eighth inning he watched a ball cross the plate and then took a strike, but then the next pitch seemed to be ‘just what the doctor ordered’ the hit won the game for the Yankees” (Washington Post). After the record-setting home run, Ruth said, “Sixty, count ‘em sixty! Let’s see some son-of-a-bitch match that!” (Wikipedia).
During this time for the New York Yankees the first six hitters in line Yankee line-up were given the honor of being named “Murderer’s Row.” The first six batters in the line up in 1927 were: Earle Combs, Mark Koenig, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Bob Meusel, and Tony Lazzeri. Four out of the six of these players are now in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Of these first six hitters, the lowest batting average was held by Mark Koenig with .285, the other five ranged from .309 to .373.
Both Newspapers that I looked at covered the story in the same way. In this type of story, there are not many ways to look at something like this with a different perspective. Both articles were fairly short, covering the breaking of the record itself, as well as the result of the game. Both papers had a long, drawn out way of describing the feeling of being there at the game, and then ended abruptly with the other people who were involved in the game and their number of hits they contributed to their teams.
Over the years, there have been many batters attempt to break the records. Ruth’s record remained number one until, 1961 when Roger Maris broke Ruth’s 60 home runs with 61. Although today’s top batters have surpassed Ruth’s 60 home runs, Ruth still holds the top eighth and ninth spot for most home runs hit in a single season. The most recent record for home runs in a single season, was made by Barry Bonds, in 2001 with 73 home runs. Bonds also holds the most home runs ever hit with 762, but Ruth holds the number one spot of most home runs ever hit playing for the American League, with 708.
Works Cited:
1.“Ruth Hits 60th Home Run to Break His Own Record,”
Washington Post. Oct. 1, 1927
2. “Bambino’s Hit Beats Solons,”
Los Angeles Times. Oct. 1, 1927
3. “Babe Ruth”
Wikipedia.org
This post serves to prove my point that both Jackie Robinson and Muhammad Ali deserve recognition in the 'Top 100 News Stories'. As written here, "there are not many ways to look at something like this with a different perspective." True. He hit 60 dingers, it shattered records, awesome. Definitely a big story at the time and even still today, even though the record has since been broken by Bonds and several others. Yet, can the importance of this story really even be compared to Robinson or Ali and their contribution to the civil rights movement and freedom? I, for one, do not think that there is even a comparison here, and Newseum should really take a long, hard look at their publication.
ReplyDeleteAs baseball fanatic myself, I was thrilled to see Babe Ruth's 60 Homers make the list of top stories. However, you are absolutely right in that there isn't too many ways to present a story such as this. Here is the accomplishment, here's who did it and when it happened. The End. It's unfortunate that the more recent important stories surrounding baseball and its athletes involve the use of steroids and that we don't see more accomplishments like these sweeping the national papers.
ReplyDeleteSteroids and drugs also came to my mind as well. Sports reporting has been centralized around scandal and abuse as oppose to accomplishment. Some argue that the amount of talent makes the bar of accomplishment higher. Still, incidents like Michael Phelps and his possession of grass seemed to overshadow his great success. Kind of sums up how society jumps at the opportunity of pointing fingers and expressing disgrace.
ReplyDelete