Who did Babe Ruth pass to become the career home run leader back in his day?

Question

My son asked me this question, but if you think about its fascinating. Ruth retired in 1935 so he obviously passed someone from his era or before, but if you look at the top 100 career home run leaders there very few who played during and before Ruth, and their #'s are so small compared to Ruth. (eg.Jimmie Foxx at 14th with 534 home runs, but he still played for 10 years after Ruth retired). This means that when Ruth retired with 714 home runs the next closest player would have been way, way, way behind him. Is this true? I guess the simple question is when Ruth retired in 1935, who was in second place for career home runs and how many did he have?

I guess it may not be surprising that Ruth was so far ahead of everyone else as 1935 was still the early years of baseball and many of the great hitters we think of today came after 1935.

Answer 1

He passed Roger Conner with his 139th home run in July 18th,1921.

Answer 2

Roger Connor
"On July 18, 1921, Babe Ruth hit career home run 139, breaking Roger Connor's record of 138 during only the 8th year of a 22 year career."

Answer 3

He passed Roger Connor, who had held the record for nearly a quarter century.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/HR_progress.shtml

As for who was second to Babe Ruth when he retired, the answer is Lou Gehrig. Here's a list of the top 200 home run hitters at the end of the Babe's career:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/shareit/RMJk

At that point, Ruth had more homers than the next two guys combined!

Answer 4

Roger Conner

Answer 5

Roger Connor

Answer 6

Ian Ziering.