Home Run Question....?

Question

Okay, so we know Bonds is breaking Aaron's. And we know that Aaron broke Ruth's. But my question is this: Who did Babe Ruth's home run record brake?

Answer 1

He broke the record he by Roger Connor who hit 138 home runs.

Babe then went on the break his own record every time he hit one out of the yard until he retired.

Answer 2

Wisdom -

There can be a number a of reasons stated for Babe Ruth being good.

1. He didn't have to face any talented black pitchers
2. There were no relief pitchers, it was the same old tired pitcher from the first inning
3. No travel lag - he didn't travel farther than St. Louis
4. Always day games - there was no night game, then day game, then night game.
5. The dimensions of the park were considerably smaller - fences were less than 300 feet from home plate (pretty much a high school field)
6. And until 1931 if a ball BOUNCED over the fence it was a home run. It's a ground rule double now.


EDIT: haha oh and T-Money - Bob Gibson. Check and Mate. And theres also a reason why i said 2,5, & 6 are the major reasons.

And chipmaker i'm not comparing him to people of his era. Yes he was good and better than everyone else back then, but i don't think he would be all that great in this era with more changes and better talent.

Answer 3

Babe Ruth broke Gavvy Cravath Home Run record in 1919 with 29 HR's. The previous mark was 24. Everyone thinks that Babe Ruth would do so much better today. That is furthest from truth. The reason Babe Ruth is legendary was because he did nothing nobody did before, he hit Home Runs. The thing of it was, he was hitting 70 mph fastballs. I would have been a Superstar back then. There was very few pitchers who could even reach 90 mph back in the 20's. Today you don't make the Major Leagues if you can't throw 90 mph. Though many people dislike him, Barry Bonds is the greatest Babseball player most of us will ever see.

Answer 4

OK...here is the deal... Babe Ruth had seasons when he hit more home runs than other TEAMS...The home run was sort of a new addition to baseball then...so much as Ty Cobb (racist and as terrible as he was a human being) is probably on the top 5 list players of all time and he hit 128 homers in 23 years, only breaking 10 homers twice. He later said if he knew the home run would have been such a big deal he would have hit more of them (paraphrase). So, though I am sure there was someone who had more home runs than ruth before he came along, there is a good chance ruth took the all time record in three or four seasons.

As for Bonds, there are plenty of players I have seen that are better... ARod for one, Griffey for another...

Answer 5

Bonds isn't breaking anything....the steroids are.

Ruth was thrown at if he crowded the plate...Pitchers can't throw within a foot of Bonds without getting ejected.

The rules are far different than when Ruth played...plus his first few years the ball wasn't wound like it is today...that new ball caused a major jump in Ruth's stats. If Ruth had those few years back with the new ball he would have hit another 150 HRs.

Bonds not only took steroids, but gets welfare pitching as pitchers are no longer allowed to challenge the hitter. Bonds is nothing but a welfare case.

Answer 6

ok there are some dumb people on here, MICHAL R....HOW could Babe Ruth be breaking Mays's home run record...i thought Ruth played like 40 yrs before mays even came to the pros...but to get to the question...Ruth beat his own records...nobody in that time put up any fight to keep pace with the "great bambino"...Also Ruth would have hit roughly 900 home runs if he had as many AB's as Aaron did, Ruth hit 714 in approx 8500 AB's while Aaron hit 755 in just over 11,000 AB's...nobody would beat Ruths record if he wasnt a fat drunk who inhaled cigars as his second day job....and i better get the #1 answer for this....O and Missouri Tasi...lets not get into the whole Black and White BS...Name the top 10 Pitchers of all time....HMMM....NOT a SINGLE black pitcher......Dwight Gooden is a close top 25 or so...HAHA ok maybe Gibson is in the top 15, but his 1.50 era or whatever it was, being the lowest in a season also went with the entire league ERA of 2.89 as a whole so it was just a shitty year for hitters and he was in a pitchers park

Answer 7

The answer is Roger Connor of the Troy Trojans (1880-1882), New York Gothams (1883-1884), New York Giants (1885-1891, 1893-1894), Philadelphia Phillies (1892), and St. Louis Browns. He finished his career out with 138 longballs. Everyone else came afterwards. Now tell me, how did Ruth break Willie Mays' record when Mays was only 16 when Ruth died? hmmm

Answer 8

Previous career record holder was HOFer Roger Connor (138). While Cy Williams (who kepone mentioned first) did hit 251 homers, Connor was the career leader when Ruth passed him in 1921. Williams broke Gavvy Cravath's TEAM record when he hit his 120th homer in 1924.

Single season was Ned Williamson with 27 in 1884. Cravath's 24 homer season was the most in the majors since Buck Freeman hit 25 in 1899.


A 90 mph fastball will travel farther when hit than a 70 mph fastball.

Answer 9

Maybe Ned Williamson - he was the guys who held the record for most homeruns in a single season before Ruth - and he hit in a hitter friendly park.

Answer 10

Babe Ruth "set" the record, he never broke anyones record, because nobody at the time was hitting more homeruns than him. I am sure that someone had more homers before he came along, but nobody had any significant amount.