MLB: Alex Rodriguez and the 700 Home Run Club
By Tim Haberin
Babe Ruth – 714 HR
Babe Ruth didn’t invent the home run, but he might as well have. In an era where offense was scarce, the “Sultan of Swat” truly brought the homer (and the game of baseball in general) into vogue. Most fans know that Ruth began his career as a pitcher with the Red Sox, but he still flexed his power muscles even while taking the mound. In 1918 and 1919, his final two years in Boston, he led the league with 11 and 29 long balls, respectively.
Ruth was sold to the Yankees prior to the 1920 season, and that’s when the real fun began. He belted 54 home runs during his first year in pinstripes, a truly unprecedented number. He followed that up with 59 more in 1921, along with a career high 168 RBI. The slugging parade would continue throughout the rest of the Babe’s time in New York, peaking in 1927 when he hammered a mind-boggling 60 homers. That single-season record would stand for 34 years until another Yankee by the name of Roger Maris hit 61.
(Of course, in 1961 Maris had eight more games to play with than Ruth did, and he passed the Bambino on the final day of the regular season, resulting in a temporary asterisk in the record books. In light of today’s steroid scandals, that now seems like a rather mild controversy.)
The gregarious and larger-than-life Babe had the perfect personality for a home run hitter, and his demeanor on and off the field attracted plenty of new interest in the game. Between 1918 and 1931, he led the major leagues in home runs in 12 out of 14 seasons, averaging 43 per year. He is still MLB’s all-time career leader in slugging percentage (.690), OPS (1.164) and OPS+ (206).
When Ruth retired in 1935, he did so with a truly remarkable 714 home runs in his account. At the time it was probably hard to imagine anyone else ever coming close. He has been passed twice since then, but it doesn’t diminish his standing in baseball lore one iota.
Once Alex Rodriguez reaches the 700 mark, he will need a relatively manageable 15 homers to pass Ruth. If he picks up the pace a little bit, he could accomplish that in 2016. Otherwise, he has another year on his contract, one he fully intends to play out. Unless he misses significant time to injury, Ruth’s is at least one more hallowed name that A-Rod should be able to eclipse.
Next: The Hammer