Power Days
The Yankees led by Babe Ruth's 54 homers, .376 batting ended
in 3rd place in 1920 only 3 games out of 1st. Baseball changed
its pitching rules for 1921. Pitchers were no more allowed
to cut, scuff or tamper with the balls and old dirty balls
would be removed from play. Ruth, only 26-years-old took advantage
of the white, non-doctored balls and pounded a record 59 homers,
scored 177 times and drove in 171 and led the Yankees to their
1st of 3 straight pennants.
The fans began pouring into the ballparks across the country
to see the 'Babe' in action. Baseball was again the country's
national pastime, bringing back the fans who had soured on
the sport by the Black Sox scandal in 1919. By 1923, the Yankees
were drawing huge crowds and built a new stadium, quickly
called "The House That Ruth Built," by sportswriter
Fred Lieb. Playing in the new ballpark, Ruth again led the
league in homers, runs, RBIs, walks, and slugging pct. and
and led with a scorching .393 batting average, walked 170
times and had a hard-to-believe .545 on-base-pct.The Yankees
won the World Championship.
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Lou Gehrig
Jimmie Foxx
Babe Ruth
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In 1926, Lou Gehrig joined the Yankees, and he and Babe Ruth
went on a seven-year binge the likes of which no sport has ever
seen and probably will never see again. During this period Ruth
and Gehrig averaged between them, 84 homers and 303 RBIs, and
a .365 batting average per/year. The Yankees won pennants with
their power-duo in 1926, 1927, 1928 and 1932. The Yankees swept
the Series in three of those years, with Ruth leading all batters
by hitting in the Series .400, .625 and .333 and slugging a
whopping .800, 1.375 and .733. Ruth also connected for three
homers in two different World Series' games, still an unbroken
record.
Babe Ruth's lifetime batting stats: .342 batting average,
.474 on-base, .690 slug/pct, 2503 games, 8399 at bats, 2873
hits, 506 doubles, 136 triples, 714 home runs, 2174 runs scored,
2213 RBIs, 2056 walks, 1330 Ks, 123 stolen bases. Fielding
- .963 pct.
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Herman Ruth)
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