Call to the pen
Fansided

715: Uncovering the Lost Home Run of Babe Ruth

By Manny Gómez

CLEVELAND, OH - MAY 20, 1934: Babe Ruth lines a single to right field at League Park. The Yankees lost to the Indians 8-5. Ruth singled twice and struck out twice in a losing effort. (Photo by Louis Van Oeyen/Western Reserve Historical Society/Getty Images).
CLEVELAND, OH - MAY 20, 1934: Babe Ruth lines a single to right field at League Park. The Yankees lost to the Indians 8-5. Ruth singled twice and struck out twice in a losing effort. (Photo by Louis Van Oeyen/Western Reserve Historical Society/Getty Images). /
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Babe Ruth
Baseball player Babe Ruth in uniform at Yankee Stadium. (Photo by Ralph Morse/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images) /

When David Neft and a team of researchers sought out to create MLB’s first comprehensive baseball encyclopedia, they uncovered one more HR for Babe Ruth. This is the story of Babe Ruth’s 715th home run.

Before Baseball Reference, before FanGraphs, heck, before the internet, if you wanted to find – say – Babe Ruth’s stats, the go-to place for baseball’s most comprehensive stats was the Baseball Encyclopedia (aka “Big Mac”), which was published by MacMillan in 1969. This was 2338 pages and 6 1/2 pounds of baseball glory.

The book was a hit, but it sparked controversy after controversy.

The objective of the book was to have it be as understandable for the fan as possible. That meant using modern scoring rules where there is a difference. Naturally, numbers would be changed to fit the modern game, which is, as we know, a baseball no-no.

Historic stats that fans had become accustomed to were officially being changed forever. Hits reverted to walks, home runs reverted to doubles, RBI’s were given and taken away. For some, the game was under assault. For most, the game would change forever.

Technological Advancement

It all started in 1966, when David Neft, who worked for Informations Concepts, Inc. (ICI), was invited to Radnor, PA to look at a computer installation for TV Guide.

“TV Guide had regional editions for every major market, so setting type on the weekly publication for all those editions was an incredible job,” Neft told Call to the Pen, “we saw how IBM computers are going to be used to set type.”

David Neft worked under an ex IBMer whose name he could not recall, and ICI was going to use IBM computers to write the first book of any kind published in the US that was electronically typeset. That book was, of course, Baseball Encyclopedia,

Before computers electronically set type, type was set manually. The Baseball Encyclopedia would not have been possible without computers.

For those of you who may not know what it means to “set type,” Mr. Neft was generous enough to break it down for us.

“There used to be things called ‘Linotype Machines'” Mr. Neft told us.  “There were blocks of type which looks like kids toys, each one with a letter.” Mr. Neft continued, “you had a board that had rows on them and a person would have to pick out the letter and put it in the proper place on the board.”

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