Babe Ruth

George Herman Ruth, (b. February 6, 1895, d. August 16, 1948), better known as Babe Ruth, also commonly known by the nicknames The Bambino and The Sultan of Swat, was an American baseball player and United States national icon. He was one of the first five players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame and he was the first player to hit over 30, 40 and 50 home runs in one season. His record of 60 home runs in the 1927 season stood for 34 years until it was broken by Roger Maris in 1961. He also was a member of the original American League All-Star team in 1933. In 1998, The Sporting News named Ruth as Number One in its list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players."

1928: Repeat

The Yankees' dominance of 1927 carried over to the first half of 1928 season, where they built a 13 game lead in July. But the Yankees were soon plagued by some key injuries, erratic pitching and inconsistent play, and a talented Philadephia Athletics club quickly closed the gap. In early September, the A's took over first place with a 1-game lead, but in a pivotal series later that month, the Yankees took 3 out of 4 games and held on to win the pennant.

Related Topics:
1927 - 1928 - 13 - July - Philadephia Athletics - September

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Ruth's play in 1928 mirrored his team's play. He got off to a hot start, and on August 1, had 42 home runs, well ahead of the pace of his record 60 home run season set the previous season. But Ruth's power waned, and he hit just 12 home runs in the last two months of the regular season. Still, he ended the season with an impressive 54, the fourth (and last) time he passed 50 home runs in a season.

Related Topics:
1928 - August - 42 - 54 - 50

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The Yankees had a World Series rematch with the St. Louis Cardinals, who had upset them in the 1926 series. The Cardinals had the same core players as the 1926 team, except Frankie Frisch was now playing secondbase instead of Rogers Hornsby, as the two had been traded for each other after the 1926 season.

Related Topics:
World Series - St. Louis Cardinals - 1926 - Frankie Frisch - Rogers Hornsby

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The series was no contest. The Yankees swept the Cardinals, no game was close, and Ruth and Gehrig demolished Cardinal pitching. Ruth went 10-16, a .625 average (still a record for average in World Series play), and hit 3 home runs, all hit in game 4, and the second time he had hit 3 homers in a World Series game. Gehrig was just as great, going 5-11, a .545 average, with 4 home runs, and 9 RBI's. The Yankees also extracted some revenge on Grover Alexander, who went 0-1, with and ERA of 19.80 in 5 innings pitched. The Yankees had their second straight title, and the 4 game sweeps in back-to-back World Series has been only accomplished one other time, by the 1938 and 1939 Yankees.

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