» September 29, 1902: The AL season ends with the Athletics five games in front of St. Louis Browns. Philadelphia's Socks Seybold hits 16 HRs for the highest total to lead the AL until Babe Ruth's 29 in 1919.

» January 3, 1911: At Laughery club house, near Rising Sun, Indiana, the National Baseball Commission adopts a rule that bars World Series winners from playing post-season exhibition games. This obscure rule will lead to a direct confrontation between Babe Ruth and Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis in 1921.

» June 3, 1911: In Chicago, Cubs slugger Frank "Wildfire" Schulte hits a grand slam off Rube Marquard to beat the Giants, 8–4. Schulte will slam four this season, a record tied by Babe Ruth in 1919 and topped by Ernie Banks' five in 1955. The four this season are Schulte's only grand slams in his 11-year career. Ed Reulbach picks up the victory.

» April 22, 1914: At age 19, Babe Ruth's first professional game (as a pitcher) is a 6-hit 6–0 win for Baltimore (International League) over Buffalo. The 2nd batter he faces is Joe McCarthy, the manager he will play for 17 years later with New York. Ruth is 2-for-4.

» July 7, 1914: Suffering heavy losses from Federal League competition in Baltimore, the Orioles' (IL) owner Jack Dunn offers Babe Ruth (plus Ernie Shore and C Ben Egan) for $10,000 to old friend Connie Mack, who refuses, pleading poverty. Cincinnati, which has a working agreement giving them the choice of two players, ignores Ruth and takes OF George Twombley and SS Claud Derrick. Dunn finally peddles his threesome to new owner Joe Lannin of the Red Sox for a reported $25,000.

» July 11, 1914: Babe Ruth breaks in with Boston, striking out in his first at bat, but pitching a 4–3 win over Cleveland. With the score 3–3 in the 7th, Duffy Lewis pinch hits for Babe Ruth, singles, and later scores the winning run. Dutch Leonard strikes out four of the six batters he faces in relief.

» July 16, 1914: The Tigers, minus Ty Cobb who is nursing a sore thumb, knock out rookie Babe Ruth in the 4th inning and trip the Red Sox, 5–2. It is Ruth's first loss.

» August 17, 1914: In Manchester, NH, Babe Ruth pitches the Red Sox to a 4–2 exhibition win over the local New England League team. Ruth will be sent to the Providence Grays (IL) tomorrow after finally clearly waivers.

» September 5, 1914: Pitching for visiting Providence (IL) 19-year-old Babe Ruth beats Toronto 9–0 with a one-hitter, and hits his only minor league home run, a 3-run blast off Ellis Johnson.

» September 27, 1914: After losing four in Boston, the Cubs play an exhibition game against the Providence Grays and lose again, 8-7, in 8 innings. By prior arrangement, the Cubs skip the 9th to make a train. The game at Rocky Point features two splash homers hit into Narragansett bay, one by Wilbur Good and another by Grays pitcher Babe Ruth. Ruth adds a triple and on the slab he walks 7 and strikes out 3. The Cubs pocket $400 for their showdown with the Babe.

» October 2, 1914: In Boston, the Yankees make five errors to help Red Sox rookie Babe Ruth win, 11–5. Ruth, just recalled from Providence, makes his first ML hit, a double, off King Cole.

» October 5, 1914: At Fenway Park, Washington's Walter Johnson wins his 28th game of the year, a 9–3 win over the Sox. Babe Ruth, pinch hitting for pitcher Ray Collins, strikes out on three pitches.

» October 7, 1914: The Senators and the Red Sox wind up the season in a meaningless game in Boston. Washington manager Clark Griffith, 45, makes his final mound appearance, while Boston's star outfielder Tris Speaker does the only pitching of his career, giving up a run in an inning. Babe Ruth, in relief of starter Hugh Bedient, pitches three innings for Boston.

» October 9, 1914: The Boston Braves go into the World Series as underdogs, despite their strong finish. Only one regular, LF Joe Connolly, hit .300. Their strengths are pitchers Dick Rudolph, George "Lefty" Tyler, and "Seattle Bill" James, 2B Johnny Evers, who wins Chalmers' final MVP automobile, and SS Rabbit Maranville, their cleanup hitter. The Philadelphia A's Eddie Collins, with a .344 BA, wins the Chalmers AL award with 63 of 64 possible points. The A's have seven pitchers with 10 or more wins, led by Chief Bender's 17–3. Bender's World Series magic is quickly dispelled as the Braves knock him out in the 6th. Rudolph coasts to a 5-hit 7–1 victory. Hank Gowdy has a single, double, and triple. He will hit a World Series record .545, and Evers, .438. Only Babe Ruth will top Gowdy with .625 in 1928. Bender makes his last World Series appearance, finishing with a record 59 strikeouts.

» April 5, 1915: In the final match of a 3-game series against the Memphis Turtles (Southern Association), the Red Sox win 10–5 to sweep. Babe Ruth pitches the final five innings in relief. The Sox are traveling north from their spring training camp in Hot Springs, Arkansas.

» April 10, 1915: In Cincinnati, the Reds beat Babe Ruth and the Red Sox, 3–1. Boston will prevail tomorrow, 2–1.

» May 6, 1915: Red Sox P Babe Ruth clouts his first ML home run, off the Yankees Jack Warhop in the 3rd inning at New York's Polo Grounds. Ruth has two other hits but loses the game in the 13th, 4–3, as the Sox makes four errors behind him. Cy Pieh is the winner.

» May 22, 1915: The White Sox top Boston again, knocking starter Babe Ruth out in the 2nd. Ruth allows three hits in the 1st, walks 3, tosses a wild pitch and throws a potential DP ball into CF. After he strikes out on three pitches from Joe Benz, the Babe gives up two singles in the 2nd and is lifted. Chicago wins, 11–3.

» June 2, 1915: At the Polo Grounds, Babe Ruth and the traveling Red Sox stop the Yankees, 7–1. Today's game is the last stop on a 29-day road trip for the Sox. Ruth allows five hits and bangs his 2nd ML homer, a 3-run shot, again connecting off Jack Warhop. After his 2nd inning drive, the Babe is given two intentional walks. Ruth ends up kicking the bench and breaking his toe, sidelining him for two weeks.

» June 15, 1915: On Bunker Hill Day in Boston, the Browns manage just four hits and one run off Babe Ruth in six innings. Ruth strikes out 10 before collapsing in the 7th. Carl Mays relieves with one out and the Red Sox emerge with an 11–10 win, Ruth the victor. The Sox are now tied for 2nd with the Tigers.

» June 25, 1915: In Boston, Babe Ruth blasts his 3rd homer of the year, off Ray Caldwell, and is the 2nd player to hit a ball into the RF seats at Fenway. Ruth strikes out eight in pitching a complete game, 9–5, win, and adds a single off reliever Bill Donovan, Yankee skipper and his former manager.

» June 29, 1915: Led by Tris Speaker's 5-for-5, the Red Sox trip the Yankees, 4–3, in 10 innings. Babe Ruth gets the win, going all the way before Sheriff Gainer hits for him in the 10th.

» July 5, 1915: The Senators are shut out twice today against the Red Sox. Rube Foster wins the opener, 5–0, then Babe Ruth follows with a 6–0 win. Ruth scores two runs and hits his first triple. The Sox will sweep two more doubleheaders in the next two days with the Nationals to edge ahead of the White Sox for 1st place.

» July 9, 1915: In Detroit, Babe Ruth lasts a third of a inning and allows four runs as Detroit pounds the Red Sox, 15–4.

» July 11, 1915: Against Cleveland, Babe Ruth and Boston win, 4–3. Duffy Lewis pinch hits for the Babe late in the game. Jack Graney is the first batter to face Ruth.

» July 13, 1915: In Cleveland, the Red Sox split, winning 7–3 behind Babe Ruth, then losing the nitecap, 6–5.

» July 21, 1915: Babe Ruth pitches and bats the Red Sox to a 4–2 win over the host St. Louis Browns. Ruth is 4-for-4 with a tremendous homer and two doubles, and knocks in three runs. He scatters five hits with the two St. Louis runs coming on Heinie Wagner errors.

» July 25, 1915: In the first of two games, the Browns cuff Red Sox starter Babe Ruth for four unearned runs in the 3rd, and the young lefty is relieved by Carl Mays. Boston ties the score 4–4 in the 4th, but the Browns eventually win 9–8. In the nitecap, a 1–1 tie, George Sisler pitches the last two innings for the Browns.

» August 10, 1915: Babe Ruth is 2-for-4 while pitching the Red Sox to 10–3 win over the Browns in the 2nd of two. Ruth strikes out seven in winning his 10th.

» August 14, 1915: In the first matchup of Babe Ruth and Walter Johnson, the Babe comes away the winner, 4–3. He also goes 2-for-3 and scores a Boston run in the come from behind victory. Ruth is hitting .370, 2nd in the American League behind Ty Cobb.

» August 21, 1915: Babe Ruth pitches Boston to a 4–1 win over the Browns. At bat, the Babe is hitless.

» August 28, 1915: In the first of two at Cleveland, the Red Sox win 5–3 behind Babe Ruth and Carl Mays,

» September 2, 1915: Babe Ruth is hitless at bat, but pitches the Red Sox to an 8–3 win over the host Athletics. He strikes out 5.

» September 6, 1915: Babe Ruth holds the Yankees hitless till the 8th, before weakening and giving up three hits. Dutch Leonard relieves and the Red Sox win, 5–2, sweeping the doubleheader. Ruth is 2-for-3 at the plate.

» September 10, 1915: Boston's Babe Ruth wins his 15th of the year, stopping the visiting A's, 7–2 on six hits. Ruth, 3rd in the AL in hitting, is 0-for-4 at the plate.

» September 14, 1915: Babe Ruth fires a two hitter, as the Red Sox beat the White Sox, 2–1, for their 7th win in a row. Ruth has two of Boston's three hits. Boston will win four of five in the series with Chicago.

» September 20, 1915: In front of a full house at Fenway Park, including Vice-President Thomas Marshall, Babe Ruth gives Boston a 3–2 win over Detroit. Rube Foster relieves Babe with two outs in the 8th. Ruth is 1-for-3 at bat.

» October 2, 1915: In the first of two games, Walter Johnson gives Washington a 3–1 win over the Red Sox. Babe Ruth pitches the final three innings, allowing one Nats hit.

» October 6, 1915: In the 2nd game of a doubleheader, Boston's 28th twinbill of the year, Babe Ruth beats New York, 4–2 to sweep the doubleheader. Ruth is now 17–3 since June 1st. Boston takes the opener, 2–0.

» October 8, 1915: The Red Sox start Ernie Shore in game one and the Phils manage just three hits and one run through seven innings against him. Grover Cleveland Alexander gives up just one run as well. The Phils manage to push across two runs in the bottom of the 8th on two infield singles and two walks. Babe Ruth makes his only appearance in this World Series, pinch hitting for Shore and grounding out. Grover Alexander holds on for a 3–1 victory for the Phils.

» October 13, 1915: Back home, the Phils get four runs early off Rube Foster. The Red Sox break a tie in the 9th for the 3rd time, as reliever Eppa Rixey gives up Harry Hooper's 2nd solo home run of the game, and Boston wins the Series 4–1. The Sox victory comes without using Babe Ruth or Carl Mays on the mound.

» January 6, 1916: Leonard "King" Cole, who gave up Babe Ruth's first hit in 1914, dies in Bay City, Michigan at age 29. Cole pitched in 10 games with the Yankees last season.

» April 12, 1916: On Opening Day the Red Sox scratch Ernie Shore as their starter and Babe Ruth goes eight innings for a 2–1 win over the Athletics at Boston. The A's score their only run following Babe's throwing error, and Rube Foster gets the last three outs. The Babe hands the loss to poor Jack Nabors. A poor throw by Charlie Pick, A's 3B, is the first of his 42 errors—worst for any 20th-century 3B. This contributes to his overall .899 fielding average, a mark that Butch Hobson would equal in 1978.

» April 17, 1916: At Fenway, Babe Ruth and Walter Johnson square off with the young Red Sox lefty emerging the winner, 5–1 over the Washington ace. Ruth scatters eight hits in six innings and strikes out 6, while Johnson gives up 11 hits. Rain starts falling in the 7th and the game is called.

» April 20, 1916: Boston's Babe Ruth is 0-for-4 at the plate but whips the A's, 7–1, on five hits.

» April 25, 1916: At the Polo Grounds, Boston's Babe Ruth goes 10 innings to defeat the Yankees, 4–3. The Babe gives up two earned runs on eight hits, but is hitless at the plate.

» May 1, 1916: Lefty Babe Ruth loses his first game after five wins, as the Nationals beat Boston, 5–3. Ruth allows just five singles in seven 2/3 innings, but walks 9. The Babe walks the bases loaded in the 8th, and reliever Dutch Leonard serves up a 3-run double to Washington catcher John Henry.

» May 5, 1916: Red Sox pitcher Carl Mays relieves Babe Ruth with the score 4–2 in the 9th against New York. New York ties the game on a 2-out error by 3B Larry Gardner, and wins in 13 innings, 8–4. Mays makes his first appearance of the year following a tonsil operation in the spring.

» May 10, 1916: Led by Tris Speaker's two hits and three runs, Cleveland tops the Red Sox and Babe Ruth, 6–2.

» May 16, 1916: Behind the pitching of Babe Ruth, the Red Sox stop the Browns, 3–1. The only St. Louis score comes on a double steal.

» May 20, 1916: At Fenway, starter Babe Ruth walks the first two Browns hitters. With the 2nd walk, Ruth's batterymate Pinch Thomas complains so much about the call that he is tossed, and Sam Agnew takes his place behind the plate. After two outs, and runners at 1B and 3B, the Browns pull a double steal to score. The Sox take a 2–1 lead after 4, and when Ruth walks the bases loaded in the 6th, Carl Mays relieves. Mays allows two hits in three 1/3 innings to preserve the 3–1 win. Ruth allows no hits in his five 2/3 innings.

» May 24, 1916: Boston shuts out Detroit, 4–0, as Babe Ruth allows just four singles. Ruth adds two hits but Harry Hooper's fielding heroics—4 great catches—make him the day's star.

» May 27, 1916: Yankee P Ray Keating gives up three hits to beat Babe Ruth and the Red Sox, 4–2. Ruth has two hits for Boston.

» June 1, 1916: Boston's Babe Ruth tops Walter Johnson, 1–0, for his 2nd straight shutout, allowing just three hits. The Sox get their only run in the 8th inning when Mike McNally scores from 2B on an infield force out. McNally will set a major-league record this year of playing 87 game without an extra base hit: Luis Gomez will top it by two games in 1975. Both pitchers strike out six, while Ruth adds a hit by pitch on Joe Judge. Ruth strikes out twice against Johnson.

» June 5, 1916: In Cleveland, Babe Ruth shuts out the Indians, 5–0, on five hits, and has now thrown 24 straight scoreless innings. The Boston lefty is 2-for-3 at the plate.

» June 12, 1916: In St. Louis, Babe Ruth hits a 3-run pinch homer—the first of his career—in the 7th to tie the Browns at 3–3, but St. Louis scores in the 9th to beat the Red Sox, 4–3.

» June 13, 1916: Babe Ruth goes five 1/3 innings and, with relief help from Ernie Shore, beats the Browns, 5–3. Ruth allows one run and is 2-or-2 at the plate, including his 3rd homer in three games.

» June 17, 1916: The White Sox pound Babe Ruth for 12 hits, including three by Joe Jackson, in eight innings and beat the visiting Red Sox, 5–0. The loss drops Boston into 6th place.

» June 22, 1916: Babe Ruth almost duplicates teammate Rube Foster's no-hitter, allowing just three singles, two by Frank Gilhooley, in beating the Yankees, 1–0. The game takes one hour: 18 minutes.

» June 27, 1916: Boston's Babe Ruth allows two runs in the first inning, but settles down to beat the A's, 7-2, while striking out 10. Red Sox infielder Larry Gardner is caught stealing three times, the 2nd time this year that A's catchers have caught a base runner three times (New York's Fritz Maisel, April 26). On June 29th, Lee Magee will be caught three times by the A's while trying to steal, and not until Rickey Henderson, in 1982, will an AL runner be cut down thrice in a game.

» July 1, 1916: Babe Ruth retires the first 10 Washington batters, but the next five reach base, sending the Boston lefty to the showers and sending him to a 4–2 loss.

» July 7, 1916: Who?! At Fenway, the Indians score in the first off Babe Ruth, but manage just one more hit through the 7th. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the 7th, lefty hitting reserve Olaf Henrickson pinch hits for Ruth and draws a walk, forcing home the tying run. Boston scores another in the 8th to win, 2–1.

» July 11, 1916: The Red Sox sweep the White Sox, winning 5–3 and 3–1. Babe Ruth starts both games, lasting a third of an inning in the opener, but pitching a 3–1 complete game win in the nitecap. Ruth started the opener to give Rube Foster more time to warm up, and left after retiring the first batter.

» July 15, 1916: The Red Sox play their 4th doubleheader in six days, losing the opener, 2–1 to the Browns. Tilly Walker's RBI double in the 8th gives Boston its first score in 28 innings. Boston breaks out in game two, pounding four Brownie pitchers for 18 hits to win, 17–4. Babe Ruth picks up the win, leaving after six innings.

» July 18, 1916: At Boston, Babe Ruth pitches the Red Sox to a 4–3 win over the Browns. in the 3rd, Ruth triples and then scores on a infield grounder bowling over St. Louis C Hank Severeid and knocking him unconscious. Grover Hartley replaces the injured Severeid.

» July 20, 1916: The Tigers beat the 2nd place Red Sox, 3–2, in 13 innings when Ty Cobb scores on a Ralph Young single. Cobb reached on an infield chop and a throwing error by Babe Ruth, who took over for Rube Foster in the 9th with the score, 2–2.

» July 25, 1916: Tris Speaker has three hits against lefty Babe Ruth to finally drive him from the mound in the 8th inning. Reliever Rube Foster wild pitches home a run and Braggo Roth's 2nd double gives Cleveland a 5–3 lead. The Tribe wins it 5–4, with Ruth the loser. Ruth is 2-for-4 with a two run single.

» July 31, 1916: Babe Ruth fires a two hitter, by Ty Cobb and Burns, for a 6–0 win for the first place Red Sox over the Tigers. Ruth adds two hits at the plate.

» August 4, 1916: The Browns Eddie Plank allows two hits and tops young Babe Ruth to give the Browns a 6–1 win over the first place Red Sox. For the hot St. Louis Browns, it is their 14th win in a row, but the streak still leaves them in 7th place.

» August 12, 1916: At Fenway, Babe Ruth squares off against Washington lefty Harry Harper and both pitchers leave after seven innings, with Boston trailing 1–0. Ruth, with two strikeouts at the plate, is lifted for pinch hitter Hal Janvrin. Washington reliever Walter Johnson makes two errors in the 8th and gives up two runs in the 9th as Boston wins, 2–1.

» August 15, 1916: Boston's Babe Ruth outduels Nationals' ace Walter Johnson, winning 1–0 in 13 innings. Johnson allows just five hits through 12 innings, while Ruth surrenders just an infield single—by Clyde Milan in the 11th—from the 7th inning on. Milan also robs Ruth of a homer in the 12th by grabbing a ball heading into the RF stands. Ruth is now 3–0 in his meetings with Johnson.

» August 23, 1916: Babe Ruth picks up his only save of the season, relieving Dutch Leonard in the 8th with Boston leading the Indians, 6–3. Babe strikes out three in the 8th and doubles and scores in his trip to the plate. He shuts out Cleveland in the 9th as Boston completes a 4-game sweep of the Tribe.

» August 24, 1916: Babe Ruth fires his 7th shutout of the year, stopping Detroit on three hits as Boston wins, 3–0.

» August 29, 1916: The Browns top the Red Sox 5–3 with Babe Ruth pitching five innings of relief before leaving with the sacks full. Ruth also fans with the bases loaded.

» August 31, 1916: The Browns beat the Red Sox and Babe Ruth, 2–1. Ruth makes two hits and scores the lone run but pops out to end the game.

» September 4, 1916: At New York, the Yankees and Red Sox split. Boston wins the opener, 7–1, behind Babe Ruth, while New York scores in the 9th to win the nitecap, 4–3.

» September 9, 1916: In Washington, Boston's Babe Ruth tops the Senators and Walter Johnson, 2–1. Ruth gives up four hits while Johnson allows 8. It is the Babe's 4th win this season versus Johnson. Washington wins the nitecap, 4–3, in 10 innings.

» September 12, 1916: Walter Johnson and Babe Ruth, both pitching on two days rest, square off. Washington scores two runs in the 9th when John Henry lines a bases loaded double off Ruth to tie the game, 2–2. Boston scores in the 10th, but Washington tallies twice off Ernie Shore to win, 4–3. Johnson is the winner.

» September 17, 1916: At Comiskey Park, Boston lefty Babe Ruth wins his 20th, beating Red Faber and the White Sox, 6–2. A crowd of 40,000 is on hand, the largest turnout to date in Chicago history.

» September 25, 1916: Boston's Babe Ruth is 2-for-3 and shuts out Cleveland, 2–0, on seven hits.

» September 29, 1916: Boston Red Sox P Babe Ruth closes the season with his 23rd win, topping New York 3–0. It is his 9th shutout and reduces his ERA to 1.75. In 324 IP he gave up no home runs. The nine shutouts is a record for lefties that will be unmatched in the AL until Ron Guidry ties it in 1978.

» October 9, 1916: After a Sunday off, Babe Ruth outpitches Sherry Smith to win Game Two of the World Series 2–1 in 14 innings. Both starters go the distance with Smith allowing seven hits, Ruth giving up 6. According to the Boston Traveler, each starter throws 148 pitches. Ruth allows one run in the first, a homer by CF Hy Myers that skips by Harry Hooper. It is only homer off Ruth this year. Only two Robins reach base after the 8th, one on a walk and another on an error. This is the start of 29 2/3 scoreless World Series innings pitched by Ruth.

» December 8, 1916: The National Commission fines 51 players $25 to $100 for performing in post-season exhibitions. Among the guilty: Babe Ruth, Jack Barry, Duffy Lewis, 10 other Red Sox players, and Ty Cobb.

» March 25, 1917: Babe Ruth pitches four innings against Brooklyn, allowing just one hit, before giving way to a group of inept Red Sox relievers. Brooklyn wins, 11–2, and reigns as "Hot Springs Champs."

» April 11, 1917: In pregame drills before the Yankees Opening Day at the Polo Grounds, the Yankees impress General Leonard Wood by marching in drills. The Sox, having not practiced, decline, but then drill New York 10–3 in the game. Boston breaks a 3-3 tie with four runs in the 7th, three coming home on round tripper by Dick Hoblitzell. Tilly Walker adds a double, two triples and four RBIs for Boston, while Babe Ruth allows just three hits, all singles, in beating Ray Caldwell.

» April 21, 1917: In Boston's Opener, James Curley tosses out the first ball and Babe Ruth then beats the Yankees again, 6–4, on nine hits. At bat, the Babe is 3-for-3 with a triple and two doubles.

» May 7, 1917: Red Sox P Babe Ruth allows just two singles in outpitching Washington's Walter Johnson. Ruth knocks in the only run with an 8th inning sacrifice fly. Ruth strikes out 3, while Johnson fans seven and gives up four hits. It is the 3rd time that Johnson has lost to Ruth by a 1–0 score. Ruth is now 6–0 with six complete games.

» May 11, 1917: In Detroit, the Red Sox win 2–1 behind Babe Ruth. Ty Cobb leads off Detroit's 9th with a bunt single, and when the next batter grounds out to 3B, Cobb rounds 2B and continues towards third. Ruth, covering 3B, takes the throw and tags out Cobb so viciously that the star is on the ground for two minutes.

» May 15, 1917: In Cleveland, P Babe Ruth is lifted with one out in the 6th and the Red Sox leading 6–5. Dutch Leonard then shuts down the Indians to preserve the victory, and he is awarded the win by the official scorer. The decision is eventually reversed, giving Ruth his 8th straight win. The White Sox will stop his streak on the 18th.

» May 29, 1917: The visiting Red Sox sweep two from the Senators, winning 2–1 behind Dutch Leonard, and 9–0 behind Babe Ruth. The Sox will sweep two more tomorrow.

» June 1, 1917: Guy Morton of Cleveland finally stops the Red Sox. shutting them out, 3–0, on one hit (a rifle shot over 2B by rival P Babe Ruth in the 8th). Ray Chapman and Braggo Roth both steal home in the 4th, but Ruth allows just one hit until the 9th.

» June 18, 1917: On Bunker Hill Day, the Red Sox celebrate by sweeping two from the White Sox, 6–4 and 8–7. In the afternoon game, Chicago loses a 3-run lead in the 9th when the Sox use three singles, two errors and a passed ball to score four runs. Carl Mays and Herb Pennock are the winners, while Babe Ruth is limited to a pinch hitting appearance in game 2. Bosox players Ernie Shore and assistant-manager Heinie Wagner are notified that they are suspended indefinitely for arguments voiced during Friday's game.

» June 23, 1917: In the first of two games at Boston, Babe Ruth starts for the Red Sox and walks the leadoff man, griping to plate umpire Brick Owens after each pitch. On ball 4, Ruth plants a right to the umpire's jaw and is ejected. Ernie Shore hastily relieves. The runner Ray Morgan is then caught stealing, and Shore retires all 26 men he faces in a 4–0 win, getting credit in the books for a perfect game. Ruth is not fined, but draws a 10-day suspension. Boston's Dutch Leonard then beats Walter Johnson, 5–0, in the nitecap. Ruth is suspended for his actions, a ban that will last nine days. He also is fined $100.

» July 11, 1917: In Detroit, Boston's Babe Ruth tops the Tigers 1–0, allowing just Donie Bush's scratch single in the 8th. Ruth deflects the ball but the throw by the shortstop is too late. Ruth has a single and triple, but a pinch triple by Chick Shorten in the 9th drives home the only run. Ruth strikes out Bobby Veach, Sam Crawford and Ty Cobb in the 9th; for the last he shakes off catcher and player/manager Carrigan. In early 1942, in a speech in Los Angeles, Ruth will call this game his greatest thrill. [The Babe also relates to writer John Carmichael that his greatest game was the called shot in the World Series of 1932.]

» July 19, 1917: In Chicago, Babe Ruth opens a 5-game series with the front-running Chisox, by pitching 2nd-place Boston to a 3–2 win.

» July 21, 1917: The Red and White Sox battle to a 15-inning 5–5 tie called on account of darkness. Babe Ruth tosses the last five innings for Boston, giving up no runs in his first relief appearance of the year. Chicago will win the next two games to keep a firm hold on first place.

» July 30, 1917: The host Red Sox top the White Sox, 3–1, behind Babe Ruth's 4-hitter. Chicago bunches three of the four hits in the 3rd, including an RBI triple by Joe Jackson.

» August 10, 1917: Babe Ruth beats the Tigers, 5–4, giving up just four hits. The Babe's drive into the CF bleachers, said to be the longest hit at Fenway, is the difference. The homer is Babe's first of the year.

» August 27, 1917: At Detroit, Ty Cobb is 3-for-4 to lead the Tigers to a 5–1 win over the Red Sox and lefty Babe Ruth.

» August 31, 1917: At Fenway, Babe Ruth wins his 20th, beating the A's, 5–3. Ruth gives up six hits and walks 5.

» September 4, 1917: The Yankees split a pair with Boston, losing 4–2 to Babe Ruth in the opener, then beating Carl Mays, 7–3. Ruth allows no hits until the 6th inning and just five hits overall.

» September 15, 1917: At the Polo Grounds, Boston's Babe Ruth takes an 8–0 lead into the 9th before allowing three Yankee runs. He finishes with a complete game 8–3 win and slugs his 2nd and last homer of the season.

» September 21, 1917: In Boston, the White Sox clinch the pennant with a 2–1 win in 10 innings. Pinch-hitting in the bottom of the 10th, Babe Ruth grounds into a game-ending DP.

» September 24, 1917: Babe Ruth shuts out the champion White Sox, 3–0, scattering nine hits. The Babe is 0-for-3 at the plate.

» September 27, 1917: The Red Sox play a benefit game against an AL all-star team and Babe Ruth and Rube Foster combine for a 2–0 shutout. The AL squad features Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, and Joe Jackson in the outfield. More than $14,000 is raised for the family of sports writer Tim Murnane, who died February 13th. Murnane had played and managed in Boston in the 19th century. Actress Fanny Brice helps sell programs and former heavyweight champ John L. Sullivan coaches 3B for the Sox. Ruth wins the fungo hitting contest with a drive of 402 feet, while Joe Jackson has the longest throw at an impressive 396 feet.

» September 29, 1917: Babe Ruth coasts to his 6th shutout of the year, an 11–0 pasting of the Browns. He also leads the offense with three hits and three runs scored.

» October 3, 1917: After six losses to Babe Ruth, including three by 1–0 scores (one in 13 innings), Walter Johnson finally emerges a winner against the Boston lefty. Johnson contributes a bases loaded double in the 8th to help visiting Washington win 6–0. Ruth gives up 11 hits and his ERA balloons to 2.01 for the year.

» April 15, 1918: The AL season opens with Babe Ruth pitching a 4-hit 7-1 victory over the A's. Red Sox manager Ed Barrow will start Ruth's conversion to slugger by working him into 72 games as OF-1B.

» June 3, 1918: Boston lefty Hub Leonard pitches his second no-hitter, beating the Tigers' all-right-handed lineup in Detroit 5-0, and allowing just a first-inning walk. Babe Ruth, playing CF, slugs a first-inning HR, his second in two days. Ty Cobb, out a week with an injured shoulder, pinch-hits in the ninth and fouls out.

» June 30, 1918: In the 10th, Babe Ruth hits his 11th HR to beat Walter Johnson 3-1 and boost the Red Sox back into first place. Ruth is playing CF when not pitching.

» July 8, 1918: Although Babe Ruth's blast over the fence in Fenway scores in Amos Strunk, as the Sox win 1-0 over Cleveland, prevailing rules reduce Babe's HR to a triple. He will tie for the AL title with 11 HRs, even though he plays just 95 games.

» September 5, 1918: In order to cut down on the use of trains, the first three games of the World Series are played in Chicago, the next three in Boston. The Cubs switch their home games to Comiskey Park with its larger seating capacity. Babe Ruth, having completed 13 scoreless innings in his first World Series two years ago, adds nine more in edging Hippo Vaughn 1–0 in the opener. Also, when 2B Dave Shean bats for Boston, he becomes the oldest player (40 years, three months, 18 days) to play in the World Series, a mark other graybeards will top.

» March 17, 1919: The Red Sox, minus holdouts Carl Mays and Babe Ruth, sail from New York aboard the S.S. Arapahoe. The trip to spring training is stormy and most of the players will be seasick. Ruth will sign on the 21st in New York and leave the night for Florida. Mays, unsigned will join Ruth and the Sox in Tampa.

» July 18, 1919: In a Friday game in Cleveland, the Indians one-eyed starter Hi Jasper gives up an early 2-run homer to Boston's Babe Ruth, but leaves the game in the 8th with the score tied 3–3. Joe Harris then cracks a pinch triple to drive home 3 runs as the Tribe takes a 7–3 lead. When the Sox score a run and Elmer Myers loads the bases on walks, manager Lee Fohl signals for another reliever. Tribe CF Speaker protests that it should be a righty, but Fohl goes with lefthander Fritz Coumbe, who had not pitched since May, to pitch to Ruth. The Babe pounds a high curve for a grand slam—his 3rd of the year—and an 8–7 Boston win. After the game, owner Jim Dunn fires Fohl, replacing him with Tris Speaker, who will stay on for 7 years. The first thing Speaker does is ticket Coumbe to the minors.

» August 14, 1919: Babe Ruth hits No. 17, the first of seven HRs in 12 days, which will include his 4th grand slam, an AL record until 1959. The Yankees overcome Muddy Ruel's hitting into a triple play and beat the Tigers in 15 innings 5-4.

» September 8, 1919: Babe Ruth hits HR No. 26 off Jack Quinn in New York, breaking Buck Freeman's 1899 HR mark of 25.

» September 20, 1919: Babe Ruth ties Ned Williamson's major-league HR mark of 27 with a game-winner off Lefty Williams of the White Sox. Four days later he will hit No. 28 over the roof of the Polo Grounds.

» September 27, 1919: Babe Ruth's 29th HR is his first of the year in Washington; he is the first to hit one in every park in the league in one season.

» December 26, 1919: Although it will not be officially announced until January, the Yankees buy Babe Ruth from financially pressed Harry Frazee, paying $125,000 (one-fourth cash, plus $25,000 a year at six percent) plus guaranteeing a $300,000 loan with Fenway Park as collateral.

» January 5, 1920: The Yankees announce the purchase of Babe Ruth; it had been delayed until Ruth agreed to terms believed to be $40,000 total for two years.

» January 7, 1920: Babe Ruth reacts to the trade in the Boston Evening Standard saying, "Frazee is not good enough to own any ball club, especially one in Boston."

» May 1, 1920: Babe Ruth hits his first HR as a Yankee in a 6-0 win over the Red Sox. The HR clears the roof of the Polo Grounds.

» July 15, 1920: Babe Ruth ties his 1919 record of 29 HRs with a game-winner in the 13th to beat the Browns 13-10. Two days later, he will break it by hitting two off Chicago White Sox P Dickie Kerr.

» September 19, 1920: In New York, Babe Ruth's movie opens at Madison Square Garden. It has been retitled Heading Home. In St. Louis, the Browns beat the Yankees 6–1. The White Sox top the A's to stay one 1/2 game behind the Tribe.

» September 24, 1920: In the first game of a twinbill, Babe Ruth hits his 50th home run in the first inning, off the Senators Jose Acosta. He then adds number 51 in a 4-for-4 second game, a 2–1 win, to give the Yankees a sweep. The other three hits off loser Shaw are by Phelps.

» September 27, 1920: Carl Mays and the Yankees beat the A's, 3–0, as Mays allows just four hits. It is his 3rd straight shutout over Philadelphia and his 10th straight win against them. Babe Ruth drives in all the runs on a pair of homers over the RF fence off Rommel, his 52nd and 53rd homers of the campaign. He hit two other liners to left and center that were close to the wall.

» March 17, 1921: The Yankees, training in Shreveport, LA, journey to Lake Charles to play a game against the Cardinals, based in Orange, Texas. The game was proclaimed "Ruth-Hornsby Day," but the Rajah hits only a single while the Babe lofts a home run over the short RF fence. The Yanks win 14–5.

» June 6, 1921: Babe Ruth hits a HR off Jim Bagby of Cleveland. The 4-bagger is the 120th of his career, breaking the post-1900 career mark of Gavvy Cravath.

» June 8, 1921: Babe Ruth is arrested for speeding in New York, fined $100, and held in jail until 4:00 p.m. Game time is 3:15, so a uniform is taken to him. He changes in jail and follows a police escort to the ballpark where he enters with New York trailing 3-2. They rally for a 4-3 win.

» July 12, 1921: Babe Ruth hits his 137th career HR, passing 19th-century star Roger Connor's record 136.

» August 28, 1921: Despite three doubles by Babe Ruth, the Tigers drop the Yankees, 7–3. Ruth starts a record streak in which he gets at least one extra-base hit in nine straight games. Into the record books go his 119 extra-base hits, 177 runs, and 457 total bases. His .846 slugging average is one point behind that of a year ago.

» September 3, 1921: Powered by Babe Ruth's 50th homer and the pitching of Carl Mays, the Yankees down the host Senators, 9–3.

» September 15, 1921: Babe Ruth hits home run No. 55 in New York's 10–6 win over the Browns. The Yanks take game 2, 13–5.

» September 26, 1921: Babe Ruth hits Nos. 57 and 58 plus a double and a walk to beat the Indians 8–7, and the Yankees take a two game lead. George Burns adds a triple and three singles for New York in the come-from-behind win. The Indians load the bases in the 9th inning but Steve Neill strikes out on a Carl Mays fastball in the dirt to end it.

» October 1, 1921: After clinching the pennant with a 5–3 win over Philadelphia in the opener behind Carl Mays' 17th straight win over Philadelphia, the Yankees bring Babe Ruth into pitch in relief in the night cap. Ruth, with just one other pitching appearance all season, takes over in the 8th with New York in the lead 6–0. Ruth quickly allows the A's six runs to tie the score, but then knuckles down to hold them scoreless to the 11th when New York scores a run to win, 7–6. Ruth drives in his 167th run in the game, besting Sam Thompson's mark set in 1884. For Mays, it is his 7th straight win over Philley this season.

» December 22, 1921: Socks Seibold, the holder of the American League season home run record before Babe Ruth, dies at 51 when his car plunges over an embankment.

» March 6, 1922: Babe Ruth signs for three years at $52,000 a year. The-next-highest paid New York player is Home Run Baker at $16,000.

» April 12, 1922: President Warren Harding throws out the first ball in Washington, and the Senators beat the Yankees 6–5. Former Yank George Mogridge starts for the Nats against Sam Jones, making his Yankee debut, as rookie manager Clyde Milan passes over Walter Johnson as starting pitcher. The Nats star has been ill most of the spring. Both Babe Ruth and Bob Meusel are out of the Yankee lineup, suspended by the league for barnstorming, and the Babe watches the game from the presidential box. Washington outhits New York, 15–9, and comes from behind to win in the 8th.

» April 22, 1922: The Browns' Ken Williams hits three home runs, and two singles, against the visiting White Sox, with George Sisler on base each time, to lead St. Louis to a 10–7 win. He's the first American League player to hit three round trippers in a game. Given a head start on the suspended Babe Ruth, he will take the home run and RBI titles and become the first 30-30 man, with 39 home runs and 37 SBs.

» April 25, 1922: In a 5–3 win over Detroit, Ken Williams smashes his 6th home run in four days, off Howard Ehmke, tying Babe Ruth's 1921 feat. On the 29th he'll pole two more.

» May 20, 1922: Babe Ruth and Bob Meusel (and since-traded pitcher Bill Piercy), suspended on October 16, 1921, by Judge Landis, are reinstated and return to the New York lineup going hitless in New York's 8–2 loss to the rallying Browns at the Polo Grounds. The Browns, down 2–0 after 7, score one in the 8th and seven in the 9th, six of them coming after the game-ending out is called by ump Ollie Chill at first base. Pitcher Sam Jones, taking the throw at 1B from Wally Pipp, apparently makes the 3rd out and fans swarm the field. But Jones does not hold onto the ball cleanly and plate ump Brick Owens instructs Chill to make a safe call. The tying run scores on the play and, when the action resumes 15 minutes later, Wally Gerber singles to make the score 3–2. Walks to Sisler and Williams force home another run, and Baby Doll Jacobson clears the bases with a grand slam into the RF stands to complete the scoring. Winner Urban Shocker allows just three hits, including a two-run homer by second baseman Aaron Ward. The loss to Jones starts him on a 10-game losing streak, while a cold Ban Johnson will let umpire Ollie Chill go after the season.

» May 22, 1922: Down 3–0 to the Browns' Vangilder, Babe Ruth finally puts the Yankees on the board with a homer in the 8th. The Yankees win in the 13th when Ev Scott's single off Hub Pruett scores Bob Meusel.

» May 25, 1922: Babe Ruth is suspended one day and fined $200 for throwing dirt on ump George Hildebrand after being called out at 2B while trying to stretch a single in the 3rd. Babe then goes into the stands after a heckler and is restrained by GM Ed Barrow. On his way to the CF clubhouse Ruth gestures to another heckler in RF. Babe gets stripped of his title as team captain as a result. New York beats the visiting Nationals, 6–4.

» June 10, 1922: In St. Louis, Babe Ruth's 2-run homer in the third, off Urban Shocker, ties the game. Shocker then plunks Frank Baker, and a double, single, two errors on the same play, and sac fly score four more. Shocker then sends Carl Mays sprawling on three straight pitches before walking him, and fires his first pitch right at Whitey Witt. The Yanks score six off Shocker, and another six off relievers to win, 14–5. A foul fly in the seventh beans St. Louis owner Phil Ball, sitting behind the dugout. He has a slight concussion and requires four stitches.

» June 12, 1922: Brown's rookie Herb Pruett K's Babe Ruth three times enroute to a 7–1 win over the Yankees. He allows six hits. Ruth will go 2-for-13 with 10 K's against the less-than-hard throwing southpaw, who will finish his career with a 29–48 record. The Browns collect nine hits including two homers off Bullet Joe Bush—a 2-run homer in the first by Williams and a solo by John Tobin—in pinning the only loss that Bush will suffer against St. Louis. Bush will get revenge on his next outing, running up a winning streak of 17 against the Browns.

» June 19, 1922: In the Yankees eighth straight loss, a 3–2 decision to the Indians, Babe Ruth explodes at umpire Bill Dinneen and gets tossed. He'll receive a two day suspension, his fourth suspension of the year, when he continues to complain tomorrow about the umpire. Again, it was a call at 2B that sets the Bambino off.

» July 2, 1922: A's OF Tilly Walker hits two home runs, giving him four in two days, as the A's lose to New York 9–3. He will finish with 37 for the year, two ahead of Babe Ruth. The Athletics, with the American League's winningest pitcher in Eddie Rommel (27-13) and losingest in Slim Harriss (9-20) will lead the AL with 114 home runs and climb out of the cellar.

» July 26, 1922: In several pregame fights between Yankees teammates, Bob Meusel and Wally Schang duke it out in the dugout. Then Babe Ruth and Wally Pipp take a turn. The players then turn on the Browns, beating them 11–6. Ruth bangs two homers, Pipp adds another, and Schang chips in with a two-run triple.

» August 30, 1922: After hitting HR No. 28 in the first inning, Babe Ruth argues too strongly over a called strike on his next AB, and he is thrown out of the game. He'll be suspended for the fifth time of the year, and is out for three days.

» September 4, 1922: At the start of the day, both New York teams are on top, and both Boston teams are on the bottom. But today, the Red Sox will take two and knock the leaders off their perch as they sweep the Yankees, 4–3 and 6–5. Babe Ruth hits his last regular season home run, in the Polo Grounds. He gets it off Herb Pennock, who also gave up Ruth's first Yankee homer, also at the Polo Grounds.

» October 30, 1922: The Giants pay $65,000 and 3 players to Baltimore for Jack Bentley, “another Babe Ruth.” Bentley hit .349 and was 13–1 as a pitcher in 1922 (41–5 since 1920). The 3 players are to be delivered by March 20, 1923, and if not satisfactory to Baltimore, the Giants will pay $2,500 per man instead.

» April 18, 1923: The debut of Yankee Stadium is a huge success with an announced attendance of 74,217. Bob Shawkey, aided by Babe Ruth's 3-run HR, beats Howard Ehmke and the Red Sox 4-1.

» April 24, 1923: President Warren G. Harding attends the game at Yankee Stadium and sees Babe Ruth hit a HR in a 4-0 win over the Senators.

» May 22, 1923: Babe Ruth breaks a 1–1 tie between the Yanks and White Sox by clouting a 2-run homer in the 15th inning. The blow breaks up a tense pitching duel between little Mike Cvengosa and Herb Pennock, who goes all the way giving up just four hits. The Yanks have now won 12 of 13 contests in their western swing.

» August 1, 1923: Stepping in against the Indians Sherrod Smith in the ninth inning, Babe Ruth starts off batting righthanded. After taking a strike, he switches to LH and hits his 25th HR of the season. The Indians still win 5-3. The Babe will bat righty four days later.

» August 17, 1923: After 111 games, Babe Ruth is hitting .401 with 31 HRs. He'll wind up with his highest BA, .393. With 205 hits, a ML record 170 walks, and 4 times hit by pitches, Ruth will reach base a record 379 times.

» September 4, 1923: Yankee Sam Jones no-hits the Athletics, 2–0, beating Bob Hasty. Babe Ruth makes the only strikeout of the game as he slips a point behind Detroit's Harry Heilmann in the batting race. Not till Ken Holtzman's no-hitter in 1969, will another pitcher record a no-hitter with no strikeouts.

» September 4, 1923: In a twilight charity game, Babe Ruth plays 1B for Philadelphia's Ascension Catholic Club. Ruth scores the only run in a 2–1 loss to the Lit Brothers.

» September 21, 1923: Babe Ruth is the unanimous choice of the American League committee of baseball writers for the MVP award.

» September 24, 1923: Detroit pitcher Ray Francis, with a 3–0 lead over the Yankees, issues a bases loaded walk to Babe Ruth, but hangs on for the victory.

» October 3, 1923: Babe Ruth, playing in an exhibition game for John McGraw at the Polo Grounds, bashes the first home run ever hit over the RF roof.

» October 11, 1923: Babe Ruth hits two home runs, and Aaron Ward one, as Herb Pennock (19-6) scatters nine hits for a 4–2 Yankee win at the Polo Grounds.

» October 15, 1923: After Babe Ruth's first-inning home run, the Giants peck away at Herb Pennock for four runs and take a 4–1 lead into the 8th. With one out, Art Nehf loads the bases on two singles and a walk, then walks in a run. Reliever Rosy Ryan forces in another run with a walk to Joe Dugan. Ruth strikes out, but Bob Meusel raps a single that scores the go-ahead runs. Sam Jones holds off the Giants, and the Yankees have their first World Championship.

» October 16, 1923: Soon after Babe Ruth receives his World Series winner's share of $6,160.46, insurance agent Harry Heilmann, who beat Ruth for the batting title by 10 points, sells him a $50,000 life insurance policy. Beneficiaries are Mrs. Ruth and adopted daughter Dorothy.

» October 23, 1923: Babe Ruth makes a post-season appearance in a Giants uniform, as the Giants defeat the Baltimore Orioles 9–0. Ruth hits a home run over the RF roof at the Polo Grounds. The game is a benefit for destitute former Giants owner John Day.

» January 7, 1924: The Yankees buy the contract of Louisville star, Earle Combs, who hit .380 last year for the Colonels. Colonels owner Bill Kneblekamp gets $50,000, Elmer Smith and an outfielder, and demands that the Yankees play an exhibition game in Louisville with a guarantee that Babe Ruth is in the lineup. This reportedly nets Kneblekamp an additional $5,000.

» August 28, 1924: Despite Babe Ruth's two HRs, the Senators beat the Yankees 11-6 and move into first place. The Yankees will tie them for two days in September, but otherwise the Senators stay on top till the end.

» September 8, 1924: Washington, with a 2-game lead in the American League, beats the A's 8–4. Despite giving up solo home runs by Joe Hauser and Bing Miller, Walter Johnson's wins his 10th straight and his 20th of the year, For Hauser, trailing Babe Ruth in the home run race, it's his 3rd four bagger of the year off Johnson.

» April 5, 1925: Babe Ruth collapses in the railroad station in Asheville, NC, and winds up in a New York hospital. He'll undergo an operation for an ulcer on April 17th and will be in bed till May 26th.

» June 1, 1925: Lou Gehrig begins a consecutive-game streak that will surpass Everett Scott's mark by pinch-hitting for Paul Wanninger, the SS who replaced Scott in the Yankees lineup. The next day, 1B Wally Pipp shows up with a headache, and Gehrig takes over. Babe Ruth plays his first game of the season following his illness.

» August 29, 1925: After a night on the town, Babe Ruth shows up late for batting practice. Miller Huggins suspends Ruth and slaps a $5,000 fine on him for disobeying orders on the field and team rules off the field. In the showdown between the Bambino and the tiny manager, Jake Ruppert backs up his manager. Ruth is forced to apologize before he's reinstated nine days later. The day after his return to the lineup, Ruth hits HR number 300.

» September 7, 1925: After apologizing to his teammates yesterday, Babe Ruth makes his first appearance in a week, collecting one hit in a 5–1 loss to the Red Sox.

» September 10, 1925: Bob Meusel, Babe Ruth, and Lou Gehrig hit successive homers in the 4th inning of Game One versus the A's, all off Sammy Gray. New York wins, 7–3. Then, Ruth and OF Ben Paschal hit back-to-back homers in the 4th of game 2, but New York loses, 5–4.

» May 10, 1926: At Yankee Stadium, Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth hit back-to-back homers off Tiger starter Sam Gibson, and the Yankees outscore the Tigers, 13–9. Herb Pennock is the winner.

» July 24, 1926: Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth demonstrate that power hitting is not the only thing they can do when Lou scores on a double steal with the Babe in a victory over the White Sox. They had pulled the same double steal against the Red Sox on April 13th.

» October 2, 1926: Game one of the World Series before 61,658 at New York belongs to southpaws Herb Pennock (25-11) and Bill Sherdel (16-12). Two hits give the Cards a quick first-inning run. Sherdel issues three walks for a New York run without a hit. In the 6th, Babe Ruth slaps a single to left, moves to 2B on a sacrifice, and scores on a Lou Gehrig single for a 2–1 win. It is the first of Gehrig's record eight game-winning RBI in World Series play.

» October 6, 1926: In game 4, the Yankees tee off on Flint Rhem (20-7) and four other Cardinal hurlers for 10 runs and 14 hits, while Waite Hoyt (16-12) strands 10 Cardinal runners for a 10–5 win. Babe Ruth hits three home runs, to fulfill his October 1st promise to a bedridden 11-year-old, Johnny Sylvester. Ruth's 3rd clout, in the 6th, is the longest blast ever seen in St. Louis. It clears the park and goes through the window of an auto dealer across the street. In the 4th, Taylor Douthit and Chick Hafey collide in the OF as the ball drops; Douthit is sidelined for the rest of the Series.

» October 10, 1926: On a drizzling New York afternoon, only 38,093 show up at the Stadium for the deciding World Series contest. Grover Alexander, possibly sleeping off a hangover in the bullpen, barely notices when Jess Haines take a 3–2 lead over Waite Hoyt into the 7th. Haines weakens in the last of the 7th; three walks put Earle Combs, Bob Meusel, and Lou Gehrig on base with two out and Tony Lazzeri at the plate. Hornsby then waves in Alexander. On a 1-1 count Lazzeri hits a line drive into the left-field seats, a few feet to the foul side of the pole, then swings and misses for strike 3. Alexander sets the Yanks down in order until Babe Ruth draws his 11th walk with two out in the 9th, and is thrown out, inexplicably trying to steal 2B. The Cards and St. Louis have their first World Championship. Each winner collects $5,584.51, the losers, $3,417.75.

» October 23, 1926: In South Bend, Indiana, the Babe Ruth All Stars, including Johnny Mostil, Marty McManus and Urban Shocker, beat the local South Bend Indians 7-3 in a game called after six innings because of a late start. The all stars were delayed two hours when their vehicle broke down, as researched by historian Kevin Paczkowski. The Babe is 3-for-4 and hits a home run estimated at 600 feet. In preparation for the Babe's visit, the local team stocked up on baseballs at a cost of $1.23 each: in Montreal on October 17, the Babe hit 36 into a nearby river, according to the South Bend Tribune, and the ensuing game had to be stopped for lack of balls. Babe's squad will tie tomorrow when the Indians pitch the Giants Fred Fitzsimmons, who lives nearby. Joining Freddie is Fred Lindstrom.

» March 3, 1927: Babe Ruth signs for a reported $70,000 a year for three years.

» May 1, 1927: The Yankees ride the tandem of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig to a 7–3 win over the Athletics. Ruth bangs a first inning homer off Jack Quinn, and Gehrig hits one off Quinn in the 6th. Babe comes back in the 8th with another homer, off Rube Walberg as New York takes over undisputed possession of first place.

» May 11, 1927: In St. Louis, Babe Ruth belts his 2nd homer in two days and his 8th of the year, off Ernie Nevers, as the Yanks win, 4–2. The ball is to the left of the CF flag pole in Sportsman's Park, the longest ball to date ever hit there. Martin Haley in the St. Louis Post Dispatch writes: "Homeric Herman careened the animated leather for a sky-scraping bulls eye into the distant center-field bleachers, the ball clattering up the icy seats at the point where the left-center and dead-center field sections conjoin."

» May 20, 1927: At Philadelphia, the Reds win the opener, 6–3, behind Pete Donohue's mastery of the Phils. George Kelly provides a grand slam. The Phils roll to a 15–2 win in the nitecap as Cy Williams belts three home runs and a triple, collecting six RBIs and scoring four times. Williams ties Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig for the ML lead with nine homers.

» May 23, 1927: Despite first inning back-to-back home runs by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig off Sloppy Thurston, the Senators edge the Yankees, 3–2.

» May 29, 1927: In a loosely played game at Yankee Stadium, the Yanks swamp the Red Sox, 15–7, scoring seven runs in the 8th inning. Babe Ruth propels his 13th homer, off Danny MacFayden, while Johnny Grabowski is 4-for-4 with a walk. Dutch Ruether is ineffective, serving up gopher balls to Bosox Grover Hartley in the 2nd and Fred Haney in the 3rd. The Sox give it back in the 4th with three walks, two errors, a single by Bob Meusel and a double by Mark Koenig, to make four runs. Ted Wingfield, pitching 2/3 of the 4th, takes the loss.

» May 31, 1927: The Yankees slug the 3rd-place Athletics into submission, winning 10–3 and 18–5. Babe Ruth homers in each game to run his string to four straight games. He finishes the month with 12 homers, and 16 altogether. Rookie strongboy Jimmie Foxx belts his first ML homer, off Urban Shocker, in game 2. Tony Lazzeri and Mark Koenig homer in game 2, while Lou Gehrig has two singles to go along with his double, triple and homer in the opener.

» June 9, 1927: At New York, the Yanks win for the 3rd straight over Chicago, winning 8–3. New York knocks Blankenship out of the box in the 7th and Ray Morehart hits reliever Cole's 1st pitch for a 3-run homer. Babe Ruth follows with a triple and then steals home. The Yanks score six in the frame.

» June 11, 1927: In New York, Babe Ruth clouts two consecutive home runs (numbers 19 and 20) off Garland Buckeye, but in his next time up Ruth is set upon by Cleveland C Luke Sewell who demands that the umpires inspect the Bambino's bat. The umps find nothing illegal, but the crowd of 30,000 cheer the Babe, who strikes out. Lazzeri adds a homer and New York wins, 6–4. Burns is 3-for-3 with two doubles for the Tribe.

» June 30, 1927: A crowd of 3,000 at Yankee Stadium see the Yanks hand the Red Sox their 12th straight loss, beating the visitors, 13–6 on 19 safeties. Lou Gehrig takes over the home run lead when he clouts his 25th in the first inning, a bounce home run off Slim Harriss, but Babe Ruth, back in the lineup, golfs his 25th in the 4th, also off Slim. Gehrig has three hits and also swipes home. New York (49–20) wins its 5th straight while Boston loses its 12th straight.

» August 22, 1927: The Yankees lose their fourth straight for the first time 9-4 to the Indians, despite Babe Ruth's 40th HR. Detroit wins its 13th straight, moving up to second, 12 1/2 games back.

» September 13, 1927: Babe Ruth hits two (52), and the Yankees win a pair from Cleveland to clinch the AL pennant with a 98-41 record and 17-game lead. It is Miller Huggins's fifth pennant, tying him with Connie Mack.

» September 27, 1927: Babe Ruth connects for a grand slam off Lefty Grove while Lou Gehrig hits No. 46 in a 7-4 win over the A's. Ruth has 57 with three games to play. One of the HRs is a grand slam, the Babe's second in three days.

» September 29, 1927: Babe Ruth hits two HRs to tie his 59 of 1921 in a 15-4 win over Washington.

» May 24, 1928: In the first game of a doubleheader in Philadelphia, a major-league record 13 future Hall of Famers take the field as the first-place Yankees take on the 2nd-place A's. This number does not include non-playing Hall of Famers Herb Pennock and Stan Coveleski, managers Miller Huggins and Connie Mack, nor umpires Tom Connally and Bill McGowan. [HOFs: Earle Combs, Leo Durocher, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri, and Waite Hoyt for New York; Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Mickey Cochrane, Al Simmons, Eddie Collins, Lefty Grove, and Jimmie Foxx for the A's.] Led by Lazzeri's three hits and six RBIs, the Yanks edge the A's, 9–7, handing the defeat to Lefty Grove. The A's win the nitecap, 5–2, behind rookie Ossie Orwell.

» May 29, 1928: At Yankee Stadium, the Yankees sweep a pair from Washington, 3–2 and 12–3. Leo Durocher's bases-loaded triple in the opener gives George Pipgras (8-1) the win. Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth both slug a pair of homers in the nitecap: Lou hits his 9th in the 3rd, off Washington starter Milt Gaston, then Ruth and Gehrig hit back-to-back dingers in the 4th off Lloyd Brown. Ruth adds his 18th off Brown in the 7th. Earle Combs also homers.

» May 31, 1928: At Yankee Stadium, Herb Pennock tosses his 2nd shutout, beating Washington, 4–0, for his 8th win. Irv Hadley is the loser, giving up a home run to Cedric Durst and another to Babe Ruth, his 19th. Babe almost adds his 20th when he blasts a long high fly with two on, but Leo Durocher, the runner on first, holds up to see if the ball will be caught. Durocher scores but the Babe is cut down at the plate.

» June 28, 1928: Babe Ruth slugs two HRs to lead the Yankees to a 10-4 victory over the Athletics, and Ty Cobb appears in his 3,000th career game.

» August 1, 1928: Babe Ruth hits HR No. 42 and is four weeks ahead of his 1927 pace.

» September 11, 1928: In the Yankees 5–3 win at the Stadium, Ty Cobb makes his last appearance as a batter, popping out against Yankee Hank Johnson to SS Mark Koenig as a pinch hitter in the 9th. Babe Ruth's two run clout, off Lefty Grove in the 8th, seals the win for New York. The Bronx Bombers seal the fate of the A's with their 4th straight win over the Quakers, leaving the Mackmen in 2nd place, two 1/2 games back.

» October 4, 1928: The first game is a swift execution before 61,425 at New York. Babe Ruth has a single and double and scores twice, once on Bob Meusel's 4th-inning HR, and Lou Gehrig is 2-for-4 with 2 RBI off Bill Sherdel (21-10). Waite Hoyt (23-7) sets the Cards down with 3 hits, one a solo HR by Bottomley in the 7th, for a 4-1 win.

» January 22, 1929: The Yankees announce they will put numbers on the backs of their uniforms, becoming the first baseball team to start continuous use of the numbers. The first numbers are based on positions in the batting order; thus, Babe Ruth will wear number three and Lou Gehrig 4. In a few weeks, the Indians announce that they, too, will put numbers on the uniforms and by 1931 all American League teams will use them; it will be 1933 before all National League players are numbered.

» April 17, 1929: Babe Ruth and actress Claire Hodgson are married at five A.M. to avoid crowds. The Yankee home opener with the Red Sox is again rained out so the wedding party continues uninterupted.

» May 4, 1929: At Comiskey Park, Lou Gehrig wallops three home runs against the Sox in an 11–9 New York shootout. His middle home run, in the 7th inning, is sandwiched between roundtrippers by Babe Ruth and Bob Meusel. With his homer off Red Faber in the 2nd, Gehrig joins Ruth as the 2nd slugger to clear the RF stands, 75 feet high and 360 feet away from home plate. The Ruthian clout came off Tommy Thomas in 1927. His last homer of the day is served up by Dan Dugan.

» May 19, 1929: At New York, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig hit back-to-back homers in the 3rd off Boston's Jack Russell but in the 5th a cloudburst at Yankee Stadium sends a standing-room-only crowd rushing for the exits. A stampede in the RF bleachers leaves two dead, 62 injured. Jake Ruppert vows never again to sell more tickets than seats. There are two outs in the 5th when the game is stopped at 3–0.

» July 31, 1929: Babe Ruth hits a fungo 447 feet in an unofficial test, beating all trial competition records.

» August 6, 1929: After the visiting Senators outslug the Yankees 13–11, New York earns a split, 8–0, on two homers by Babe Ruth. The first is a grand slam in the 5th, his 26th homer of the year. Heimach scatters three hits to earn the nitecap win. Buddy Myers four hits, including three doubles in the opener, paces a 14-hit Nat attack. Durst, Cronin, and West homer for Washington.

» August 7, 1929: For the 2nd game in a row, Babe Ruth hits a grand slam home run as the Yanks roll to a 13–1 win over the A's in the lidlifter. Cochrane homers in his one at bat for the A's only run as the Yankees score 10 runs in the first two innings. George Pipgras is the winner. The A's take the nitecap, 4–2, as George Earnshaw goes eight innings for the win.

» August 11, 1929: Babe Ruth hits home run No. 500, in the 2nd inning off Willis Hudlin of Cleveland, but the Yankees lose, 6–5. Ruth has gone deep six times in his last seven games.

» August 25, 1929: After three straight shutouts by Browns hurlers—Gray, Blaeholder, and Crowder—the Yankees break their 32-inning scoreless streak with a 4th-inning homer by Babe Ruth. St. Louis still wins, 3–2.

» February 2, 1930: The Yankees waive Leo Durocher out of the American League and sell him to the Reds. Whispered rumors, repeated by Urban Shocker in his 2001 autobiography, contend that Leo was stealing money and jewelry from his teammates. Allegedly, roommate Babe Ruth beat up Durocher after a theft of marked money confirmed his suspicions. The Yankees, according to Shocker, prevail on the rest of the AL to waive Durocher. [Another story has Durocher, in debt, asking for a $1,000 advance on his salary from Ed Barrow so he can pay a hotel bill. When Barrow turns him down, Leo curses him, and Barrow trades him the next day to the Reds.]

» March 8, 1930: Babe Ruth signs a 2-year contract for $160,000 with New York. At $80,000 per year, he is the highest paid player of all time. When it is pointed out he is earning more money than the President of the United States, Ruth observes: "I had a better year than he did." Ed Barrow, Yankee GM, assures posterity, "No one will ever be paid more than Ruth."

» May 18, 1930: George Pipgras tosses his 3rd shutout of the season as the Yankees again support his pitching by bombing the Red Sox, 11–0, in Boston. Babe Ruth clocks an Ed Morris pitch over the RF bleachers, one of the longest homers ever at Fenway.

» May 21, 1930: Babe Ruth hits three consecutive home runs in the first game of a doubleheader against the A's, then batting against Jack Quinn in the 9th, Ruth decides to hit right handed. After two strikes, he switches to lefty but strikes out. This is the first of two career 3-homer games for the Babe. Max Bishop draws five walks for the 2nd time in his career (he is the only player to do this twice), and Jimmie Foxx homers to help the A's to a 15–7 victory. Ruth is homerless in the 2nd game, a 4–1 Yankee loss, but Bishop has three more walks. Bishop will walk eight times in a doubleheader in 1934, the only player to collect more than six walks in an afternoon.

» May 22, 1930: In Philadelphia, the Yankees and the Athletics continue the home run barrage as the Yankees take both games of a 2nd straight doubleheader, 10–1 and 20–13. Babe Ruth hits a pair of home runs in the opener, as does Ben Chapman and winning pitcher George Pipgras. The Yanks score nine runs in the 1st two innings of the 2nd second game, but the A's come back to tie it at 12 apiece. The Yanks win the assault 20–13 as Tony Lazzeri is 4-for-4 scores five runs, and knocks in 4. Ruth hits another in the 2nd game, while Lou Gehrig powers three round trippers to drive in eight runs. On the A's side, Jimmie Foxx has two homers to drive in six runs. For the afternoon, the teams combine to hit 14 round trippers, a then-record 10 in game 2.

» May 24, 1930: In New York, the Yanks and A's play their 3rd doubleheader in four days. Babe Ruth homers in both games, giving him eight in six games, and drives home seven runs to help New York sweep, 10–6 and 11–1. Newly acquired Red Ruffing is the easy winner in the nitecap.

» September 28, 1930: Babe Ruth returns to the scene of his youthful fame, the pitcher's mound at Fenway Park, and hurls a 9-3 complete game win over the Red Sox.

» April 2, 1931: Miss Jackie Mitchell, a 17-year-old gate attraction for Joe Engel's Chattanooga Lookouts (Southern Association), pitches against the New York Yankees in an exhibition game in Chattanooga. Babe Ruth waves wildly at 2 pitches and watches a 3rd strike go by. Lou Gehrig gallantly times his 3 swings to miss the ball, but unsmiling Tony Lazzeri, after first trying to bunt, walks and Miss Mitchell leaves the game. The final score is 14-4 Yankees. In 1933 Mitchell will pitch for the House of David team.

» April 22, 1931: Babe Ruth collides with Charlie Berry, Red Sox catcher and former pro football player, while trying to score on a sacrifice fly. Ruth is carried off the field at Fenway Park and taken to a hospital.

» April 26, 1931: Dusty Cooke, Yankee RF, is hurt diving for a fly ball off the bat of Ossie Bluege of Washington. 1B Gehrig winds up playing the ball, which becomes an inside-the-park HR. With Babe Ruth still sidelined, the shorthanded Yankees send P Red Ruffing to the outfield. The game's most significant play comes with Lyn Lary on base when Lou Gehrig's drive into the CF stands at Washington bounces back and is caught by CF Harry Rice. According to the rules, this is a home run, but when Lary sees Rice catching the ball, he thinks it's the final out of the inning. Unnoticed by Joe McCarthy, coaching at 3B, Lary heads for the dugout after crossing 3B. Gehrig circles the bases. He is called out and gets credit for a triple instead of a HR and loses 2 RBI. As a result Gehrig will end the season tied for the HR title with Babe Ruth and will have "only" 184 RBI.

» May 4, 1931: At Yankee Stadium, Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth, back in the lineup, switch positions to spare Ruth's lame leg. Despite five hits by the pair, the Red Sox beat the Yankees, 7–3, as Gehrig makes an error. It is the last game in which Gehrig plays OF.

» July 2, 1931: Babe Ruth homers to drive in a run for the 11th consecutive game as the Yankees drub Detroit 12-1. Ruth has 18 RBI in the string.

» August 21, 1931: After belting #599, a grand slam in yesterday's game, Babe Ruth hits his 600th home run, off George Blaeholder of the Browns, as the Yankees win 11–7. Lou Gehrig homers immediately after the Babe's historic blow. In their 10 years as teammates, they will homer in the same inning 19 times and in the same game 72 times.

» September 9, 1931: To raise funds to help the unemployed in the Depression, the Yankees, Giants, and Robins agree to a series of benefit games. Sixty thousand fans, paying regular prices, raise $59,000 in the first matchup, as Babe Ruth homers and the Yankees beat the Giants 7–2.

» September 17, 1931: In the first of two, the Yankees and Red Ruffing rough up the Browns and George Blaeholder, 17–0. Bill Dickey's grand slam is the big blow. The Yanks take the nitecap, 6–1 behind Lefty Gomez's three hitter and Babe Ruth's 41st and 42nd homers of the year.

» September 24, 1931: The round-robin playoff among New York City's three ML teams, to raise money for the unemployed, concludes with Brooklyn losing to both the Giants and the Yankees at the Polo Grounds. Again, a near capacity crowd turns out and adds $48,000 to bring the fund to $108,000. In field events held between games, Babe Ruth, normally a left-handed hitter, bats right and wins the fungo hitting contest. He breaks the old distance record held by Big Ed Walsh. Ruth's drive lands in deep center field, 421 feet away. The old record, set 20 years earlier, was 4191/2 feet.

» September 27, 1931: Lou Gehrig hits a home run to tie Babe Ruth at 46 while the Yankees pound Lefty Grove, 13–1, and deny him his 32nd victory. Grove throws just three innings in the warmup for the Series.. Gehrig drives in two runs as he (184) and Ruth (163) combine to drive in 347 runs for the year, the most productive duo in history. Dickey has four hits and ends the year with no passed balls, the only AL catcher—and the Yankees are the only AL team—to ever accomplish the feat.

» January 14, 1932: Babe Ruth rejects a Yankee offer of $70,000, as the major leagues vow to cut salaries by $1 million.

» March 16, 1932: In St. Petersburg, Babe Ruth signs a one-year contract for $75,000.

» April 20, 1932: The Yankees draw the largest paid attendance, 55,452, for any home opener. Babe Ruth homers, as Lefty Gomez beats Lefty Grove, and the Yankees defeat the Athletics 8-3.

» September 3, 1932: Against the Red Sox, Jimmie Foxx of the A's poles his 50th and 51st home runs to become the 3rd player to reach 50 in a season, joining Babe Ruth and Hack Wilson. Foxx's 2nd homer, in the 9th, ties the game at 4–4, and McNair follows with a game winning home run.

» September 7, 1932: Babe Ruth is hospitalized with pains in his side. The slugger will be out of action for five days.

» September 8, 1932: The Yankees and Tigers replay protested August 1st game as the nightcap of a doubleheader, but end in a 7–7 tie. After the game, Babe Ruth experiences abdominal pains he believes are an appendicitis attack. He will be out of the lineup indefinitely. Sam Byrd, subbing for Ruth in the opener, collects five hits for the Yankees, including two home runs in a 5–4 win.

» September 20, 1932: Babe Ruth returns to the Yankees lineup.

» September 24, 1932: In a battle of Boston collegians, Harvard beats BC. Charlie Devens, former Harvard hurler, makes his ML debut for the Yankees and beats Boston, 8–2. The loss goes to Eddie Gallagher, former Boston College pitcher who exits in the 5th. Babe Ruth swats his 41st homer of the year in the 9th and Lou Gehrig belts his 34th in the 5th.

» March 24, 1933: Babe Ruth signs for $52,000, down from last year's $75,000. The large cut is significant of the Depression era.

» July 6, 1933: The first major-league All-Star Game is played at Comiskey Park, and Babe Ruth is the star. His 2-run HR is the margin of victory in the AL's 4-2 win. John McGraw comes out of retirement to manage the NL.

» September 19, 1933: The Yankees pile up 34 hits and drub the White Sox twice, 10–1 and 10–3. George Uhle and Charley Devans are the recipients of the offensive largesse. Joe Sewell has six hits for the afternoon, while Lou Gehrig has six RBIs. Gehrig hits #30 in game one, following immediately after Walker hits a homer. Lou is now even with Babe Ruth, who sat out the afternoon.

» September 23, 1933: Despite the 5th-place Tigers' 5–3 win over the Browns, manager Bucky Harris submits his resignation. Babe Ruth's name will be prominent in the newspapers as a possible replacement.

» October 1, 1933: Babe Ruth, in a season-ending stunt, pitches the final game of his career, defeating the Red Sox 6-5 with a complete game. Ruth hits a HR to help his effort.

» December 29, 1933: Yankees owner Jake Ruppert refuses to release Babe Ruth so he can become manager of the Cincinnati Reds.

» January 15, 1934: Babe Ruth accepts a cut of $17,000 and signs a 1934 contract for $35,000.

» April 5, 1934: Babe Ruth is to be sponsored by Quaker Oats to do three 15-minute broadcasts a week over NBC. The total of $39,000 for 13 weeks is $4,000 more than Ruth's baseball salary.

» May 13, 1934: For the second time in his career, Cleveland's Lloyd Brown serves up a grand slam to Lou Gehrig, as the Yanks roll, 8–0, behind Lefty Gomez. Ben Chapman adds a homer and a pair of triples to lead New York. Babe Ruth leaves in the 4th inning when he is hit on the knee cap by a pitch from Thornton Lee.

» May 28, 1934: In St. Louis, Lou Gehrig hits a 6th inning homer, off Paul Andrews, then follows Babe Ruth's 7th inning homer with another round tripper. The back-to-back homers, off Jack Knott, are the last the pair will combine on. New York gets homers from Jack Saltzgaver and Tony Lazzeri to rumble to a 13–9 victory.

» June 6, 1934: Myril Hoag, subbing for Babe Ruth, ties the AL record with six singles in six at bats in the first game of a doubleheader with the Red Sox. The Yanks rout Lefty Grove and roll to a 15–3 win. Boston wins the nitecap, 7–3, to drop the Yanks to 2nd place.

» June 24, 1934: After being hitless in his last 21 at bats, Babe Ruth hits a grand slam in a 5–0 Yankee win over the White Sox

» July 1, 1934: Bill Terry is the top vote-getter in the All-Star balloting. Babe Ruth leads all AL outfielders.

» July 5, 1934: Lou Gehrig hits an inside-the-park grand slam, as the Yankees beat the Senators 8-3. It is his 4th of the season and 17th overall, passing Babe Ruth's career total. Gehrig will eventually set a career record of 23 grand slams. Gehrig now has 321 career HRS to Ruth's 698.

» July 13, 1934: Babe Ruth hits his 700th HR to win the game at Detroit's Navin Field and put the Yankees back in first place. Lou Gehrig has a lumbago seizure and is helped off the field.

» July 17, 1934: Babe Ruth draws his 2,000th base on balls at Cleveland. He will retire with a still untopped walk record of 2,056.

» July 18, 1934: Twenty-two players hit safely in the Cleveland 15-14 win over New York. Babe Ruth is hit in the leg by the ball and will be out for 10 days. It is the second time an injury has sidelined him this season.

» August 10, 1934: Babe Ruth announces 1934 is definitely his final season as a regular player. He says he will seek a managerial role and will pinch-hit.

» August 12, 1934: Making a farewell appearance in Boston, Babe Ruth draws a record 46,766 fans, with an estimated 20,000 turned away at Fenway Park where he began his career as a pitcher 20 years ago. Ruth singles and doubles in the first game, but the Yankees lose to Wes Ferrell 6-4. Walks hold him to one official at bat in the second game, which the Yankees win, and he leaves the field to standing cheers in the 8th inning.

» September 7, 1934: Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx, heirs to Babe Ruth's HR championship role, are in battle for the title. Gehrig hits his 44th in Chicago, and Foxx, his 41st in Detroit.

» September 29, 1934: Babe Ruth hits his last HR as a Yankee, as New York splits a doubleheader in Washington.

» September 30, 1934: Babe Ruth is hitless in his last game in a Yankee uniform.

» October 21, 1934: An all-star team led by Babe Ruth and Connie Mack sails on tour to Hawaii and Japan. Players with wives include Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Charlie Gehringer, Lefty Gomez, Earl Averill, and Lefty O'Doul.

» November 20, 1934: Seventeen-year-old Eiji Sawamura gives up one hit, a home run to Lou Gehrig, as the touring American all-stars win in Japan 1–0. At one point Sawamura strikes out four in a row -- Charlie Gehringer, Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, and Gehrig. The all-stars easily win the other 15 games against high school and post-college players. College players in Japan are prohibited from playing against foreigners.

» February 26, 1935: Babe Ruth is released by the Yankees to sign with the Boston Braves for $20,000 and a share in the team's profits.

» March 20, 1935: At St. Petersburg, the Cards set a spring training record, drawing 6,467 in a match against the Boston Braves. The big draw is Babe Ruth, who hits a towering fly against Dizzy Dean, then, after Diz departs, laces two doubles into the overflowing crowd. The Cards win, 5–4.

» April 16, 1935: Babe Ruth's NL debut draws the largest Opening Day crowd, 25,000, in Braves' history. The Babe's 2-hit debut includes a 430-foot HR off Carl Hubbell, as Boston beats New York 4-2.

» May 5, 1935: Thirty thousand fans are on hand in Boston to watch two superstars face each other—the Cardinals with young Dizzy Dean on the mound against the Braves with 40-year-old Babe Ruth. Diz walks Ruth his first two times up, then with two strikes on the Bambino, Dean waves his outfielders back and pipes a fast ball down the middle that Ruth misses. Dean wins the game, 7–0, and in his first at bat, homers over Ruth's head in right. Dean will face Ruth again on the 19th, holding the Babe hitless again, and win that game as well.

» May 21, 1935: With Babe Ruth leading the way with a home run, the Braves beat the Cubs, 4–1. Fred Frankhouse is the winner over Tex Carleton.

» May 25, 1935: Babe Ruth has a last hurrah, hitting three home runs at Pittsburgh. The first shot is hit off Red Lucas, while the last two homers come off veteran Guy Bush. The final one, the last of his 714 career home runs, is the first to clear the RF grandstand at Forbes Field and is measured at 600 feet. With that, Ruth sits down in the dugout—Pittsburgh's—next to rookie Mace Brown. Ruth, who hit three homers in a game just once in the American League (May 21, 1930), is the first player to turn this hat trick in both leagues. Ruth lifts himself in the 7th inning, finishing the day at 4-for-4 and six RBIs. But Ruth's old teammate Waite Hoyt, in relief of Bush, is the winner as Pittsburgh defeats the hapless Braves, 11–7.

» May 26, 1935: In Cincinnati, Babe Ruth K's three times and makes an easy out in his 4th at bat on "Babe Ruth Day" as his Braves lose 6–3 to the Reds. Syl Johnson is the winning pitcher. Tomorrow, the Babe will walk as a pinch hitter in the 9th as the Reds win, 9–5.

» May 28, 1935: The Reds run their winning streak to six games, their longest in four years, beating Boston, 13–4. Babe Ruth is 0-for-3, scoring a run, but stumbles twice and injures his leg running and is replaced in LF by Hal Lee.

» May 30, 1935: Babe Ruth plays only the first inning of the opener of a doubleheader between Boston and Philadelphia at Baker Bowl, going 0-for-1. It is his final ML appearance. The Phils win 11–6 and 9–3.

» June 2, 1935: Babe Ruth announces his retirement as a player at age 40.

» September 4, 1935: Babe Ruth receives a lifetime pass for all National League games from NL prexy Ford Frick.

» February 2, 1936: The baseball writers vote for the first players to be named to the new Baseball Hall of Fame. Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson each receive the requisite 75 percent of ballots cast. Active players also are eligible in this first election, with Rogers Hornsby finishing 9th, Mickey Cochrane 10th, Lou Gehrig 15th, and Foxx 19th. Tainted former star Hal Chase receives 11 votes for 25th place, and Joe Jackson has two votes to tie for 36th place.

» December 8, 1936: Babe Ruth turns down an offer to manage the Albany farm team.

» May 31, 1937: A Memorial Day crowd of 61,756, the 2nd-largest crowd in Polo Grounds history, sees the Dodgers end Carl Hubbell's consecutive-game winning streak at 24 over two seasons. Babe Phelps leads the way, going 5-for-6, as Brooklyn routs King Carl in the 4th inning and wins 10–3. Although Hubbell loses the first game of the doubleheader, he is honored in between games when Babe Ruth makes the presentation of the National League's 1936 MVP Award. The Giants take the nitecap, 5–4.

» August 31, 1937: Detroit's rookie Rudy York sets a new record for HRs in a month, hitting his 17th and 18th to eclipse Babe Ruth's mark set in September 1927. He knocks in seven runs against Pete Appleton, as Detroit beats Washington 12-3.

» June 15, 1938: Johnny Vander Meer stuns baseball by pitching his 2nd successive no-hitter, defeating the Dodgers and Max Butcher, 6–0. Brooklyn plays the first night game ever at Ebbets Field. In front of 38,748 fans, including spectators Babe Ruth and several hundred fans from Vandy's home town of Midland Park, NJ. Vandy strikes out seven and walks 8, including three one-out walks in the 9th. A force out at home on a grounder by Ernie Koy and a fly ball by Leo Durocher ends the game. In a pregame event, Koy, with a 10-yard start but running in his Reds' uniform, beats Olympic champion Jesse Owens in the 100-yard dash.

» June 18, 1938: Babe Ruth is signed as a Dodgers coach for the rest of the season. He is in uniform for batting demonstrations the following day.

» September 10, 1938: Jimmie Foxx of the Red Sox hits 2 HRs in a game for the 9th time this season, breaking a record held by Babe Ruth and Hack Wilson.

» June 12, 1939: The greatest gathering of members and future inductees of the Baseball Hall of Fame assembles in Cooperstown, NY, for the dedication of the museum. A six-inning game at Doubleday Field presents lineups studded with players who will be elected in the future, as Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson, Grover Alexander, Nap Lajoie, George Sisler, Eddie Collins, Tris Speaker, Cy Young, and Connie Mack accept their plaques.

» May 21, 1940: Jimmie Foxx hits a grand-slam home run for the 2nd day in a row against Detroit in an 11–8 Red Sox win. Only Babe Ruth, twice, and Bill Dickey have slammed in consecutive days in the American League. Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, and Doc Cramer also homer for Boston. Hank Greenberg and Rudy York homer for the Bengals, while Wally Moses has a pair of triples and two singles.

» August 24, 1940: At Fenway, LF Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox pitches the last two innings in a 12–1 loss to the Detroit Tigers and Tommy Bridges. Williams allows three hits and one run scores when 3B Charlie Gelbert juggles a DP grounder. On three pitches Williams strikes out Tiger slugger Rudy York, who had driven in five Detroit runs. Joe Glenn, who caught Babe Ruth's last pitching appearance in 1933, is Williams' catcher. Pitcher Jim Bagby plays the OF for the Sox.

» August 23, 1942: Walter Johnson pitching to Babe Ruth is the pregame attraction that draws 69,000 for the New York-Washington game at Yankee Stadium that provides $80,000 for Army-Navy relief. Ruth hits the fifth pitch into the right-field stands, and then adds one more shot before circling the bases. Sixteen relief games contribute $523,000 during the season. In the doubleheader between the Senators and the Yankees, the Senators win the opener, 7–6 and New York cops the nitecap, 3–0, in five 1/2 innings.

» July 12, 1943: In Boston, a team of Armed Forces all-stars managed by Babe Ruth and featuring Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams plays the Braves in a fund-raising effort. Ruth pinch-hits in the eighth and flies out to right. The all-stars win 9-8 on a Williams HR.

» August 1, 1945: Mel Ott hits the 500th home run of his career, a total exceeded only by Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx. He will hit 10 more this season and one on Opening Day of 1946 to finish with 511. Ott leads the Giants to a 9–2 win over the Braves at the Polo Grounds.

» April 27, 1947: Today is Babe Ruth Day at all ML parks. A crowd of 58,339 at Yankee Stadium honors the ailing slugger, A frail Babe, choking back tears, tells the "kids of America" that, "the only real game in the world is baseball. In this game you have to come up from youth. You've got to start way down at the bottom, if you're going to be successful like those boys over there." pointing to the Yankee dugout. "There's so many lovely things said about me, I'm glad I had the opportunity to thank everybody." The program was broadcast nationwide and piped into all the ball parks. Ruth receives a bronze plaque with his image on it from the American League: the National League's gift is a leather book with signatures of all the players in the league. The Yankees lose to Sid Hudson and the Washington Senators 1–0, but move into first place as the White Sox lose two. Hudson scores the only run after singling.

» May 8, 1948: At Griffith Stadium, Larry Doby pounds a 408-foot homer to CF, which hits the loudspeakers 35 high, to help the Indians top the Senators, 6–1. Larry's ball bounces back onto the field and was initially declared in play. The 8th-inning three-run homer is the longest home run in the Stadium since Babe Ruth's shot in 1922, and is the first of Doby's four career inside-the-park homers. World War two veteran Gene Bearden makes his first start, allowing just three Nat hits. He walks four in the 9th inning to allow the lone run, as Washington finally scores after three straight shutouts.

» June 13, 1948: The Yankees retire Babe Ruth's No. three jersey in the Babe's final appearance at Yankee Stadium on the 25th anniversary of Yankee Stadium. After the ceremonies the Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians 5-3.

» July 26, 1948: Ruth makes his last public appearance, at the New York premiere of the film The Babe Ruth Story. He will die three weeks later.

» August 16, 1948: Babe Ruth dies of throat cancer at age 53 in New York. His body will be put on display at Yankee Stadium and be viewed by more than 100,000 fans.

» April 19, 1949: At pregame ceremonies marking the season opener in Yankee Stadium, a granite monument to Babe Ruth is unveiled in center field. Plaques honoring Lou Gehrig and Miller Huggins are also presented. Mrs. Babe Ruth, Mayor William O'Dwyer, and Governor Thomas E. Dewey are at the game.

» September 25, 1949: Despite 71 injuries that kept players out of games, Casey Stengel and his Yankees have been in first place all season. But today the Red Sox move into a tie for first place with a 4-1 victory over Allie Reynolds. Ted Williams hits his 43rd HR, and Mel Parnell wins his 25th game of the season. The lefty is 16-3 at Fenway this year. Joe DiMaggio listens to the game from a hospital, bedridden with pneumonia. The Yankees return to New York and are greeted at Grand Central Station by a huge crowd of fans, including Mrs. Babe Ruth, who predicts, "Whoever wins tomorrow should go all the way."

» April 13, 1952: Babe Ruth's widow unveils the site of his first HR in Fayetteville, NC.

» July 19, 1955: Playing like Babe Ruth, Detroit relief P Babe Birrer pitches four innings and hits two 3-run HRs.

» May 22, 1958: Ted Williams hits his 16th career grand slam to provide the Red Sox with the margin in an 8–5 win over the A's. Ted's 4th inning blast, off Jack Urban, tied him with Babe Ruth for 2nd place on the career slam list.

» July 29, 1958: Ted Williams hits his 17th career grand slam, tying him for 2nd place with Babe Ruth, and behind Lou Gehrig, who had 23. Williams also added a 3-run HR, as Boston beats Detroit 11-8.

» May 2, 1961: In their first appearance in Minnesota, the Yankees top the transplanted Washington team, 6–4. Mickey Mantle's grand slam in the 10th inning off Camilo Pascual, is the big blow. Luis Arroyo picks up the save after the Twins score 2. Mick's extra inning grand slam is the 6th by a Yankee, joining Wally Pipp (1923), Babe Ruth (1925), Bob Meusel (1929), and Joe DiMaggio and Tommy Henrich (1948).

» June 23, 1961: At home, the Cards win 10–5 over the Giants. With two home runs, Stan Musial passes Lou Gehrig on the all-time list for extra-bases hits. Babe Ruth remains first.

» July 17, 1961: Commissioner Ford Frick decrees that Babe Ruth's record of 60 home runs in a 154-game schedule in 1927 "cannot be broken unless some batter hits 61 or more within his club's first 154 games."

» July 19, 1961: Ford Frick, an old friend of Babe Ruth's, announces that should Ruth's record be beaten after 154 games, the record will carry an asterisk. When asked about the ruling, Roger Maris replies, "A season is a season."

» September 20, 1961: The Yankees' 154th game of 1961 (including a tie) is Roger Maris' last chance to beat Babe Ruth, in compliance with Commissioner Ford Frick's statement that, for the record to be broken, Maris must do it in the same number of games as Ruth. Maris' 59th home run of the year, off Milt Pappas, is short of the record, but helps New York beat Baltimore 4–2, clinching its 26th American League pennant. In 1998, Pappas will state that he told Maris the night before that, if the game's outcome is not on the line, he would throw him nothing but fastballs.

» September 22, 1961: Jim Gentile's 5th grand slam of 1961 ties the ML single-season record in Baltimore's 8–6 win over Chicago: Each of his slams comes with Chuck Estrada pitching for the Orioles. Gentile will hit 46 homers this season with a total of 46 runners on base, the most in a season since Babe Ruth hit homers with 48 runners on bases in 1921. Chicago's Floyd Robinson makes the game close with a 9th inning grand slam of his own, the 7th Sox slam of the year.

» October 1, 1961: Roger Maris' torturous, season-long race against Babe Ruth ends in a dramatic at bat against Boston's Tracy Stallard. Maris' classic lefthanded swing sends home run number 61 into the RF stands in "The House That Ruth Built." (Sal Durante, one of 23,154 fans in attendance, grabs the historic home run ball which he sells for $5,000). New York's 1–0 win gives the Yanks 109 wins, one short of the club's 1927 record. It is New York's major-league record 240th homer of the year.

» October 8, 1961: Five more scoreless innings by Whitey Ford and four by Jim Coates silence the Reds. Hector Lopez and Clete Boyer each drive in two runs for a 7–0 win. Ford breaks Babe Ruth's World Series record of 29 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings, running his streak to 32.

» April 27, 1963: At Washington, Dan Pfister pitches the Athletics to a 7–3 win over the Senators. The Nats treat Pfister's batterymate, Billy Bryan, like Babe Ruth, intentionally walking him three times, tying a ML record. Bryan hit .158 and .149 the past two seasons, and will improve to .169 this year.

» May 8, 1963: A Stan Musial home run against the Dodgers gives him 1,357 extra-base hits, surpassing Babe Ruth's ML record. He will get 20 more and permanent possession of 2nd place lifetime. The Cards lose 11–5.

» August 29, 1964: On Elston Howard Night, the Yankees take two from Boston 10–2 and 6–1. Joe Pepitone's three home runs, including a grand slam, and Roger Maris's six singles lead the offense. Mickey Mantle hits home run number 447 in the opener and ties Babe Ruth's career strikeout record (1,330) in the nightcap.

» August 20, 1965: Eddie Mathews hits his 28th home run as the Braves win 4–3 at Pittsburgh. The duo of Mathews and Hank Aaron, 1954-65, becomes the top home run tandem in ML history, passing the Babe Ruth-Lou Gehrig total of 772 home runs while playing together.

» June 29, 1966: At Fenway Park, Mantle opens the scoring in the first inning with a 3-run shot, then sandwiches a homer between round trippers by Bobby Richardson and Joe Pepitone in the 3rd inning in New York's 6–5 win. The consecutive trifecta was last done for the Yankees in 1947, when Keller, DiMaggio, and Lindell connected. Richardson is 5–for-5 in the game. Mantle's two homers today, his 37th and 38th at Fenway, will be his last in Boston, and ties him with Babe Ruth for most homers by a Sox opponent.

» July 23, 1966: At Yankee Stadium, the Yanks celebrate Old-timers' Day but lose to the Angels, 7–6, despite a grand slam from Mickey Mantle. The slam, off Marcelino Lopez, is Mickey's 9th. He ties Babe Ruth -- not in home runs, but in games played as a Yankee.

» December 8, 1966: Five years after breaking Babe Ruth's record, the Yankees trade OF Roger Maris to the Cardinals for journeyman 3B Charlie Smith. In two days, the Yanks send Pedro Ramos the Phils for P Joe Verbanic.

» April 26, 1969: The Baseball Records Committee says Babe Ruth should be credited with 715 home runs, because a hit on July 8, 1918 recognized as a triple should have been ruled a home run. The recommendation is ignored.

» May 5, 1969: The Baseball Records Committee reverses its earlier decision and decides to stay with the pre-1920 rules on sudden death home runs. This rule stated that a team batting last in the 9th or in extra innings could not win by more than one run. Before 1920 if a player hit an outside-the-park home run with a runner(s) on base, he was not credited with a home run. Babe Ruth (July 8, 1918) and 36 other players "lost" home runs because of the ruling reversal.

» July 21, 1969: A gala All-Star Game banquet in Washington is one of baseball's great events. An all-time team and all-time living team is announced. Babe Ruth is selected Greatest All-Time Player, and Joe DiMaggio, Greatest Living Player.

» September 22, 1969: Willie Mays joins Babe Ruth in the 600-homer club with a blast off Mike Corkins, while batting for rookie George Foster. Bobby Bonds sets a major-league record with his 176th strikeout, as San Francisco beats San Diego 4–2.

» March 11, 1974: With Hank Aaron needing only one home run to tie Babe Ruth's career record (714), Atlanta plans to save the event for a home audience by benching him on the road. Commissioner Kuhn plans otherwise, ordering the Braves to start Aaron in at least two of the team's three season-opening games in Cincinnati.

» May 30, 1974: Sadaharu Oh becomes the first player in Japanese baseball to hit 600 home runs. Only Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Willie Mays are ahead of Oh—and he will surpass them all.

» October 12, 1974: Sadaharu Oh draws his 166th walk in a 130-game season, setting a Japanese record. At his retirement in 1980, Oh will hold the all-time world record for walks, 2,504, topping Babe Ruth's record of 2,056.

» April 27, 1975: In the first of two games, Hank Aaron hits a left field double off Dick Tidrow of the Yankees, tying Babe Ruth's career RBI record (later revised) of 2,209. The Brewers win 7-0. Aaron has no ribbies in game 2, as the Yankees win 10-1.

» May 1, 1975: Hank Aaron goes 4-for-4, driving in two runs in the Brewers 17–3 win over Detroit. This brings his career RBI total to 2,211, breaking Babe Ruth's published record of 2,209. His third inning single off Vern Ruhle drives in Sixto Lezcano with his 2,210th RBI. On February 3, 1976, the Records Committee will revise Ruth's total to 2,204; so, in actuality, Aaron set the record on April 18, 1975.

» October 11, 1976: In the last of the 8th, leading the Hanshin Tigers 4-1 with 2 out and a full count, Sadaharu Oh socks his 715th HR to pass Babe Ruth's mark. He finishes the season with 716 HRs and takes aim at Hank Aaron's record.

» July 19, 1977: While pursuing Hank Aaron's home run record, Sadaharu Oh breaks one held by Babe Ruth when he draws his 2,057th base on balls.

» August 14, 1977: Yaz leads the Red Sox to an 11–1 pasting of Seattle by collecting his 506th career double. This moves Yaz past Babe Ruth on the all time list. Boston has now defeated Seattle 10 straight times.

» September 24, 1978: Ron Guidry (23–3) gains his 3rd 2-hit shutout of the month, 4–0 over the Indians. The two Indian hits are by Duane Kuiper, the 2nd time this year that he has recorded the only hits in a game. The Yankees ace also two-hitted the Red Sox on September 9th (7–0) and 15th (4–0). It is Guidry's 9th shutout of the year, a Yankee record, and ties the American League record for southpaws set by Boston lefty Babe Ruth in 1916. The Red Sox stay one game in back of New York by topping Toronto 7–6.

» September 18, 1986: For the second time in his career, Reggie Jackson belts three homers in a game in a 18–3 laugher over Kansas City. At the age of 40 years, four months, Reggie joins Stan Musial and Babe Ruth as the only 40+ player to accomplish the feat. Reggie scores four times and has seven RBIs

» December 25, 1989: Billy Martin, former infielder and 5-time manager of the Yankees, dies in a car accident in Johnson City, New York at the age of 61. Martin will be buried in Gates of Heaven cemetery in Valhalla, New York in a plot near Babe Ruth's. George Steinbrenner, who fired Martin four times (he resigned the 5th time) purchases the plot.

» August 14, 1991: San Diego's Fred McGriff hits a grand slam for the 2nd game in a row, tying a major league mark. He is the 12th player—but just the 3rd National Leaguer—to perform the feat, with Babe Ruth the only one to do so twice. His blast brings home all San Diego's runs in a 4-1 win over the Astros.

» June 10, 1992: At Milwaukee, Mark McGwire hits his 22nd homer of the year and his career 200th. It comes in his 2,852nd at bat, and he is the 5th quickest to reach 200. The fastest was Ralph Kiner (2,537), then Babe Ruth (2,580), Harmon Killebrew (2,584) and Eddie Mathews (2,811). Winning for first-place Oakland is Ron Darling (6–3).

» June 17, 1994: Seattle defeats KC, 5-1, as Ken Griffey Jr. socks his 30th home run of the season. In doing so, he joins Babe Ruth as the only players to have hit 30 homers before June 30. Ruth did so in both 1928 and 1930.

» June 22, 1994: OF Ken Griffey Jr. leads the Mariners to a 12-3 win over the Angels by stroking his 31st home run of the season. In doing so, Griffey breaks Babe Ruth's record for most home runs before the end of June.

» July 31, 1994: The Giants beat the Rockies, 9-4, as 3B Matt Williams hits his 39th and 40th home runs of the year. This gives him a new National League mark for homers through July. The previous standard was 36. The all-time record of 41 was set by Babe Ruth in 1928, and tied by Jimmie Foxx four years later.

» September 30, 1995: Cleveland OF Albert Belle socks his 50th home run of the season in the Indians' 3-2 win over the Royals. The home run is Belle's 17th of September, tying Babe Ruth's record for the month. Beginning September 13, Belle has hit 13 homers in 16 games (he did not play 9/24), tying Frank Howard's mark set in May, 1968. With today's homer, Belle becomes the first player ever to have 50 homer and 50 doubles in a season.

» August 6, 1996: Darryl Strawberry strokes three home runs off Kevin Tapani in the Yankees 9-2 victory over the White Sox. In doing so, he becomes just the 8th player to hit three in a game in both leagues. The others to do it were Babe Ruth, Johnny Mize, Dave Kingman, Cory Snyder, Darnell Coles, Claudell Washington, and Larry Parrish.

» August 25, 1996: The Yankees dedicate their 1st new monument in 47 years, to Mickey Mantle, in Monument Park in center field at Yankee Stadium. Miller Huggins, Babe Ruth, and Lou Gehrig are also honored with monuments, while 15 men are honored on plaques.

» June 28, 1997: Yankees' P David Wells starts the game against Cleveland wearing Babe Ruth's autographed cap from the 1934 season. Manager Joe Torre makes him take it off after the 1st inning since it doesn't conform to the team's current uniform. Without the cap, Wells blows a 3-0 lead as the Indians go on to a 12-8 victory. The Indians mount a 19-hit attack, as CF Marquis Grissom accounts for five of the hits, while 3B Matt Williams gets four hits, including a pair of homers, and drives home six runs.

» September 14, 1997: Mark McGwire notches his 51st homer, and St. Louis Cardinals score seven runs in the eighth to win, 10–4. McGwire, the first player with consecutive 50-homer seasons since Babe Ruth in 1927-28, connects off Joey Hamilton (11-6) in the sixth. He has 17 homers in 37 games since St. Louis acquired him from Oakland on July 31 and has 14 games remaining to chase Roger Maris' season record of 61.

» September 22, 1997: Ken Griffey Jr. hits his 54th and 55th homers, overtaking Mark McGwire for the major league lead, as Seattle clinches a tie for the American League West title, defeating Oakland 4-2. Griffey now has the seventh-highest homer total in ML history, trailing only Roger Maris (61 in 1961), Ruth (60 in 1927), Babe Ruth (59 in 1921), Foxx (58 in 1932), Hank Greenberg (58 in 1938) and Hack Wilson (56 in 1930). Griffey's 55 homers are the most in the majors since Maris set the record in 1961. He has five games left, all at the Kingdome, to match Maris' mark. With three home runs, Seattle has 257 this season, tying the major league mark set by Baltimore last year.

» August 10, 1998: White Sox OF Albert Belle drives in his 100th run of the season in a 5–3 win over Oakland. He joins Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, and Babe Ruth as the only players to record at least 30 homers and 100 RBIs in seven consecutive seasons.

» August 31, 1998: Oakland OF Rickey Henderson scores the 2,000th run of his career in the Athletics' 15–6 loss to Cleveland. He joins Ty Cobb, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Pete Rose, and Willie Mays as the only players to reach the milestone.

» September 1, 1998: Mark McGwire hits his 56th and 57th home runs of the season, in a 7–1 Cardinals' win over Florida, to break Hack Wilson's National League standard for home runs in a season. McGwire also eclipses Babe Ruth's record of 114 home runs in consecutive seasons set in 1927–28.

» November 13, 1998: Babe Ruth hits new heights today: $126,500. That is the price paid for the ball he hit in 1923 for the first home run in Yankee Stadium. Mark Scala found the Ruth ball two years ago in the attic of his grandmother's house. The bid was $110,000 and the total price includes the auction house's 15 percent commission. Two year ago, the ball Eddie Murray hit for his 500th home run was sold for what one day could be $500,000. Michael Lasky, the founder of the Psychic Friends Network, paid $280,000 that was put in an annuity to be paid over 20 years. With interest, the annuity will be worth about $500,000, according to a spokesman for Lasky, who also operates as syndicated handicapper Mike Warren. The previous record for an auctioned baseball was $93,500 for the ball that went through Bill Buckner's legs in the 1986 World Series. That ball was bought by actor Charlie Sheen in 1992. Other auctioned items include: the bat Pete Rose used for his 4,191st hit, which tied Ty Cobb's career record, was sold by an unidentified Rose associate for $21,096; an autographed ball from President Franklin Roosevelt that he used to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the 1941 season opener at Griffith Stadium sold for $17,255, and a personal check signed Henry Louis Lou Gehrig sold for $15,306.

» February 18, 1999: The U.S. Postal Service issues a Jackie Robinson stamp as part of their "Celebrate the Century" program. Robinson was selected to represent the 40's, the 2nd ball player chosen. Babe Ruth, last May, represented the 1920s.

» June 28, 1999: Hack Wilson ups his RBI total for the 1930 season to 191. 69 years after the season, an RBI is added by the commissioner's office, which also gives Babe Ruth six additional walks, raising his career-record total to 2,062. "There is no doubt that Hack Wilson's RBI total should be 191," commissioner Bud Selig said. "I am sensitive to the historical significance that accompanies the correction of such a prestigious record, especially after so many years have passed, but it is important to get it right." The missing RBI came from the 2nd game of a doubleheader between Wilson's Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds on July 28, 1930 where Charlie Grimm was credited with two RBIs in the game and Wilson with none. Ruth's walks total is now 2,062. Ted Williams is second, trailing by 43, and Rickey Henderson of the New York Mets is third, 134 behind Ruth.

» December 10, 1999: Babe Ruth is voted Player of the Century by an Associated Press panel. Willie Mays comes in second.

» May 23, 2000: The Orioles defeat the Mariners, 4-2. Seattle's Rickey Henderson drew his 2,000th career walk in the 9th inning, making him the 3rd player to reach that level, behind Babe Ruth and Ted Williams.

» July 15, 2000: A 1909 Honus Wagner baseball club is auctioned for a record $1.1 million on eBay. Other high priced items in the auction include a baseball autographed by the entire 1919 Chicago "Black Sox" team, including Shoeless Joe Jackson, as well as the umpires who worked the final game of the 1919 World Series sells for $93,666, including a 15 percent buyer's premium. A ball signed by the 1919 Reds goes for $11,208, while a baseball autographed by Babe Ruth sells for $76,020. A contract from Shoeless Joe Jackson's sale of his Chicago pool hall to teammate Lefty Williams, sells for $36,098. The contract, dated Oct. 6, 1921, is for just $1.

» April 25, 2001: Rickey Henderson's 9th-inning walk from Philadelphia's Jose Mesa is the 2,063rd of his career and breaks Babe Ruth's all-time record. The Phillies defeat the Padres, 5-3.

» August 26, 2001: The Cubs defeat the Cardinals, 6–1, as Sammy Sosa hits two more home runs, his 50th and 51st of the season. In doing so, he joins Mark McGwire and Babe Ruth as the only players with four 50–homer seasons.

» August 28, 2001: The Marlins defeat the Cubs, 4–3, despite Sammy Sosa's 52nd home run. The blast gives Sosa a share of the NL record for home runs in August, tying the mark set by Willie Mays in 1965. He also ties Babe Ruth for the most homers in seven consecutive seasons: the Babe hit 343 between 1926-32. Mark McGwire has hit 338 homers from 1995 through this year.

» September 23, 2001: The Giants rout the Padres, 11–2, as Barry Bonds hits his 65th and 66th home runs of the season. The homers give Bonds a major-league record 34 road round–trippers. He also breaks Babe Ruth's ML mark for most home runs over two seasons by a lefthanded batter (115).

» October 3, 2001: San Francisco again pounds the Astros, 11–8. Barry Bonds has no homers, but walks three times and scores 3. His 171 walks is a new ML record, topping Babe Ruth's 1923 base on balls mark. He'll finish with 177. The Astros lose for the 7th time in eight games.

» October 7, 2001: The Giants beat the Dodgers, 2-1, as Barry Bonds extends his major-league record with his 73rd home run of the season. He will finish the year with a slugging percentage of .863 to break Babe Ruth's all-time single-season record. Bonds will have 411 total bases, 3rd in the NL behind Luis Gonzalez and Sammy Sosa. He also is the only player besides Kevin Maas to have more than 20 homers and not double his home run total in RBI. (Maas had 21 home run, 41 RBI, in 1991)

» May 17, 2002: After the Twins score three times in the top of the 14th, the Yankees come back to win, 13–12, on Jason Giambi's one-out grand slam, hitting the first pitch from reliever Mike Trombley over the RF fence. It is the 21st time in history that a player has hit a game–winning grand slam -- the ultimate grand slam -- with his team down by three runs. Babe Ruth, in 1925, was the only previous Yankee to have performed the feat. Giambi's home run is one of six by New York as each team has 20 hits. The last time that two teams reached 20 hits was also on May 17—1996. Baltimore beat Seattle, 13–12 on 41 hits total.

» August 9, 2002: Barry Bonds hits the 600th home run of his career, but the Giants still fall to the Pirates by a score of 4–3. Bonds joins Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, and Willie Mays (his godfather) in the exclusive club.