Babe Ruth - May 16, 1915 - The First Home Run

[runningshoes]

On May 6, 1915, The Colossus of Clout hit his first major league home run at the Polo Grounds off Jack Warhop. The Yankees won the day, 4 to 3 in thirteen innings.

This is how the Boston Globe described Ruth’s record starting home run the following day:

In the third, Ruth, who impressed the onlookers as being a hitter in the first rank, swatted a low ball into the upper tier of the right-field grandstand and trotted about hte (sic) bases to slow music.

This is the New York Times’ description of Ruth’s first major league home run on:

For Boston, the big left handed pitcher Babe Ruth, was all that a pitcher is supposed to be, and some more. He put his team into the running in the third inning by smashing a mighty rap into the upper tier of the right-field grandstand………. Jack Warhop’s pitching was not badly abused by the Bostons. They did not him very often but when they did connect, the ball seemed to have every intention of going out of the lot. Ruth was the first batsman to face Warhop in the third inning and with no apparent effort he slammed a home run into the grandstand

There is no mention in either paper of this being Ruth’s first career home run.

I was going to describe the game, but I though you guys would have a better time figuring it out from the box score. Here’s the score from the New York Times. The score from the Boston Globe was not as legible.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

On May 6, 1915, The Colossus of Clout hit his first major league home run at the Polo Grounds off Jack Warhop. The Yankees won the day, 4 to 3 in thirteen innings.

There is no mention in either paper of this being Ruth’s first career home run.

That was his first home run in MLB and his second home run was hit against Jack Warhop in June.

His power was becoming evident when he hit a long home run in St. Louis on July 21,1915. He also had a single and a double in that July game. The home run cleared the bleachers crossed Grand Avenue and landed on the far sidewalk. When he left the game the St. Louis crowd cheered him wildly, as though he was one of their own.

This was 1915 and he was a pitcher hitting more like a position player. Also that long home run was hit in the dead ball era using a ball that was not as lively as the ball that would come into the game in the near future.

[Brian McKenna]

There is no mention in either paper of this being Ruth’s first career home run.

yeah, we talk about the game and little records and numbers much differently than they did back in the day - makes researching a little harder - i might be wrong but i think much of the interest in numbers and consequently of the older players was spurned by the publishing of the first macmillan encyclopedia back in 1969 - i know many older players rolled into the hall within a decade of its publishing

[Sultan_1895-1948]

Back then a homer wasn't a special event at all. It was just a long hit. The sports sections didn't even keep tabs on them. They listed stolen bases, sacrifices, and batting averages, but not homers. What surprised people that day was how easy it was for Babe to reach such a distant part of the park. 1919 did a lot for the statkeeping aspect of baseball. Papers ran detailed accounts of all Babe's homers, and researchers searched for marks he would be coming up on; Seybold, Cravath, Freeman, and Williamson.

[runningshoes]

Back then a homer wasn't a special event at all. It was just a long hit. The sports sections didn't even keep tabs on them. They listed stolen bases, sacrifices, and batting averages, but not homers. What surprised people that day was how easy it was for Babe to reach such a distant part of the park. 1919 did a lot for the statkeeping aspect of baseball. Papers ran detailed accounts of all Babe's homers, and researchers searched for marks he would be coming up on; Seybold, Cravath, Freeman, and Williamson.

I don't know.

If you look at the box score, Ruth's home run is listed and although not very inspired, the description of the home runs shows the writers were impressed by it. The Times reporter mentioned it twice.

[Sultan_1895-1948]

I don't know.

If you look at the box score, Ruth's home run is listed and although not very inspired, the description of the home runs shows the writers were impressed by it. The Times reporter mentioned it twice.

Of course they'll list it in the box score, it was part of the game. But there were no special mentions of homers outside of box scores. No big celebrations, no exploding scoreboards; it was just a homer. Although his did catch peoples attention that day, it was a far cry from '19 when most papers displayed a daily a "Ruthermometer" to keep track of his homers.