Homage to a Legend.

 

Just thought I would squeeze this in before tonight's LGL (Losing Game Log):

Hear an incredible stat I heard on the Mets' broadcast the other day (because, of course, the nonentities on most of the Yankees' broadcasts now have nothing to say).

That is, that Babe Ruth STILL holds the record for the most home runs hit against 7 different times.

Pretty amazing, eh? But like most things with The Babe, it gets even better when you think about it for a moment.

Ruth played in the majors from 1914-1935. This was a period when there were only 8 teams in each league, and there was no inter-league baseball. The Babe played a mere 28 games in his one fragment of a season in the National League.

The Babe also played for the Yankees from 1920-1934, all within the "live ball era." For much of his time with the Red Sox he was a pitcher, of course, meaning that he played a grand total of 52 games against the Yanks, all of them in the deadball era.

So...the leader in home runs against 7 teams?

This means that, 91 years after his death, The Babe STILL holds the lifetime record for home runs versus every team he played any significant amount of time against. 

It breaks down like this:

Detroit Tigers:                 360 games, 123 home runs.  (The all-time record for one man against one team, according to the Metsies' voices.)

Philadelphia Athletics:    347 games, 108 home runs.

Chicago White Sox:        354 games,   98 home runs.

St. Louis Browns:           360 games,   96 home runs.

Cleveland Indians:          361 games,   92 home runs.

Boston Red Sox:             293 games,   90 home runs.

Washington Senators:     349 games,   89 home runs.

Even in his 52 games against the Yankees, Ruth hit 12 home runs, which projected over his entire career would have put him up in this neighborhood, too.

Just thought I'd put that bright spot out there, during a season which is getting dimmer and duller by the moment. 

And all I can do is quote the great John Kieran:

"Was there ever a guy like Ruth?"