Babe Ruth was the main star of the Yankees 'Murderous Row' as baseball was still in the process of moving out of the dead ball era - Ruth captured the attention of the entire nation, baseball fan and non-fan alike. He created a sensation by leading the majors with 47 home runs, and to show what a feat that was - the player that was 2nd - Hack Wilson of the Cubs hit only 21.

His on-base pct was a resounding .516 - meaning he got on base over 1-out-2 trips to the batters' box. He led the majors with a .737 slugging percentage, led with 367 total bases, led with 139 Runs, led with 146 RBIs, and was second in baseball with a .372 batting average, just missing the coveted 'Triple Crown'. For 1926, Ruth collected 144 walks, 76 strike outs, 30 doubles, 5 triples, to go with his 47 homers. And stole 11 bases. Baseballhistorian.com - Archives

Babe Ruth First Home Run

Boston at New York, May 6, 1915 - In the most exciting game played this season, the New Yorks scored a 13-inning victory over Boston. Ruth pitched well, errors by Wagner and McNally and the inability of the Boston catchers to stop base runners preventing him from winning in nine innings.

Warhop was hit fairly hard, but Pieh, who pitched the last five innings, was invincible. Boone's double drove home the tying run with two outs in the ninth inning, and the winning run was scored in the thirteenth on High's single and steal , and Cook's single. Yanks win 4 to 3.

BOX SCORE:

Note: the original newspaper clipping does not list first names... and RBIs were not listed as was the custom of the day... Players and fans did not think they were important... hits, runs scored and fielding were most important during this era. The players who batted the highest and scored the most runs in the season were the most valuable to their team. baseballhistorian.com - Archives - Research Department - All Rights Reserved.

AB. R. B. P. A. E... (B is Base Hit)

Boston:

Harry Hooper rf, 5-0-0-1-1-0... Heine Wagner 2b, 5-0-3-4-2-1... Tris Speaker cf, 4-0-0-2-0-0... Duffy Lewis lf, 5-1-3-2-0-0... Dick Hobilitzel 1b, 5-0-0-20-0-0... Everett Scott ss, 5-0-1-0-6-0... Mike McNally 3b, 6-0-0-2-5-1... Bill Carrigan c, 4-1-1-3-1-1... Olaf Henriksen ph for Carrigan 1-0-1-0-0-0... Thomas c, Pinch Thomas 0-0-0-2-0-0... George Herman 'Babe' Ruth 5-1-3-1-5-1

New York:

Fritz Maisel 3b, 5-1-2-3-1-1... Roy Hartzell lf, 4-0-0-0-0-0... Hugh High cf, 6-1-3-4-2-0... Wally Pipp 1b, 6-0-1-14-0-0... Doc Cook rf, 5-2-2-2-0-0... Roger Peckinpaugh ss, 5-0-0-3-6-0... Luke Boone 2b, 4-0-2-4-3-0... Les Numamaker c, 5-0-0-10-2-0... Jack Warhop p, 2-0-0-0-1-0.. Charlie Mullen ph 1-0-0-0-0-0.. Cy Pieh p 2-0-0-0-2-1

Two base hits - Carrington, Lewis, Scott, Boone. Home Run - Ruth. Stolen Bases - Cook 2, Maisel, Hooper, Hartzell, High. Earned Runs - New York 3, Boston 3. Sacrifice hits - Speaker, Hartzell, Hoblitzel. Double Play -Peckinpaugh, Pipp. First on balls - Warhop 4, Ruth 3. Hits - Off Warhop 10 in 8 innings. Pieh 3 in 5 innings. Hit by pitcher - By Ruth 1. Struck out- By Warhop 1, Pieh 6, Ruth 3. Wild pitch - Ruth. Time - 3:35. Umpires - Evans (or Dvans) and Mullaney.

Note: It's easy to see in the above box score that Ruth yielded only six fly balls to the outfield in 13 innings. Five were caught and one was a double by New Yorks' Luke Boone.

Babe Ruth was only 20-years-old and 1915 was his first full season in the majors. For the year, he posted a 18-8 record, a 2.44 ERA and completed 16 of 28 starts. And got 29 hits in 92 at bats for .315, with 10 doubles, 1 triple, 4 home runs, scored 16 runs and had 21 RBIs - Ruth pitched in 32 games and played 10 games in the outfield (Players in this era were required to earn their pay by playing some games in the field).

Whoa! Think about that! - Can you see Randy Johnson playing first base on days when he's not pitching. How about Tom Glavine playing left field?

An intelligent team leader, after being traded to the Senators, he teamed with 2nd baseman Bucky Harris to form a first-class double play combination, and together the duo played a big part in the Washington Senators winning back-to-back pennants, 1924-25.

When the Senators won the pennant in 1925 Peckinpaugh was voted the league's Most Valuable Player by hitting .294 with 16 doubles, 13 stolen bases. However, in the World Series the veteran shortstop made eight errors, including a few at critical moments that almost handed the championship to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4 games to 3. Roger Peckinpaugh career: .259 BA, 1,876 hits in 2,012 games, 7,233 at bats, 256 Ds, 75 Ts, 48 Hr, 1,006 Runs, 739 RBI, 814Ws, 609Ks.