The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs

"The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs" is a 432-page non-fiction book by Bill Jenkinson published by Carroll & Graf Publishers in March of 2007. [amazon.com] As of December 2007, its first printing had sold over 10,000 copies.

According to the introduction, the book is not a new Babe Ruth biography. Rather, it is a factual treatise of Ruth's power and his dominance of the game of baseball. ["The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs"]

Book Summary

The book is in three major sections. The first section is called Part 1: The Career. The second section is Part Two: The Analysis. The third section is Part Three: The Facts

The career section is devoted to year by year recaps of Babe Ruth's career. It starts in 1914 and runs through Ruth's final season in 1935. Each chapter features personal highlights and picks out the longest home runs Ruth hit.

The Analysis section presents arguments about the comparative difficulty of playing in Ruth's era versus playing with modern stadiums and traveling conditions. It also includes a detailed recapping of his so called "hidden career". This is his time playing exhibition games. Lastly, the section illustrates his pure power.

The third section features charts, graphs and other detailed statistical information that backs up the data from the previous sections. Included in this section is a listing of every home run Ruth ever hit, aerial photographs of the stadiums where these home runs were hit, and final home run projections.

Tape measure home runs

On pages 300-339, the author lists every home run hit by Ruth during his career, along with estimated distances that the ball flew in each case. According to Jenkinson's estimates, a sizable number of Ruth's homers exceeded 500 feet, and many exceeded 450. Some were also less than 300, in the widely variant dimensions of ballparks of that era. From that long list, as well as discussion in other parts of the book, some of Ruth's longest home runs at each ballpark can be summarized. Ruth was especially prolific in his great 1921 season:

*Griffith Stadium, Washington, DC, May 7, 1921 - 520 feet - off Walter Johnson - cleared the high wall in center field.

*Sportsman's Park, St. Louis, Missouri, May 25, 1921 - 535 feet - off Urban Shocker - straightaway center field, behind the bleachers.

*Navin Field, Detroit, Michigan, July 18, 1921 - 575 feet - off Bert Cole - possibly 600 feet - longest verifiable home run in major league history - no double deck at that time, only low-profile bleachers.

*Polo Grounds, New York, July 31, 1921 - 560 feet - off Caldwell of Cleveland - over deep right center field double deck roof.

*Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois, Aug 17, 1921 - 550 feet - off Wieneke - deep right center field - single deck bleachers at that time.

*Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts, May 25, 1926 - 545 feet - off Zahniser - 45th row of deep right center field bleachers.

*League Park, Cleveland, Aug 6, 1926 - 510 feet - off Levsen - deep over high fence, right center field, landing across street.

*Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois, Aug 16, 1927 - 520 feet - off Thomas - over 75 ft high right field roof - first homer to clear Comiskey roof.

*Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 22, 1930 - 540 feet - off Howard Ehmke - deep over right field, clearing row houses and landing next street over.

*Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York, May 24, 1930 - 535 feet - deep RCF - off Walberg of Philadelphia - deep right-center field bleachers (Ruth never hit one out of Yankee Stadium except in batting practice).

*Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois, October 1, 1932 - 490 feet - off Charlie Root - known as "Babe Ruth's called shot".

*Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - May 25, 1935 - 540 feet - off Guy Bush - first roof shot at Forbes - hit house across Boquet St - third homer of the day, final homer of his career.

Bill Jenkinson, the author

Bill Jenkinson is a renowned baseball scholar. [www.carrolandgraf.com] He resides in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, and is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). He has been a consultant for The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, ESPN and Major League Baseball. ["The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs"] The book is dedicated to his wife, Marie Jenkinson.

References