September 30, 1927: George Herman "Babe" Ruth hits a drive down the right field line at Yankee Stadium, off Tom Zachary of the Washington Senators. It is his 60th home run of the season, breaking the record of 59 that he set in 1921. The Yankees win the game 4-2. Herb Pennock is the winning pitcher, in relief of George Pipgras.
If you've ever seen film footage purporting to be from this game, it's not: There were no cameras, not even the newsreels. (Which does seem to be odd, given the potential, and realized, historic nature of the game.) If you've ever heard an alleged radio broadcast of it, that's also fake, a recreation: The Yankees didn't broadcast their games until 1939.
When the Sultan of Swat gets back to the dugout, he says, "Sixty! Count 'em, sixty! Let's see some other son of a bitch match that!"
Not until 1961 -- would another player match it. Roger Maris, also a lefthanded-hitting right fielder for the Yankees, did, and surpassed it, 34 years and 1 day later. Much is made of the small crowd when Maris hit Number 61, but when Ruth hit Number 60, only 8,000 showed up on a Saturday afternoon. It should be noted though that, in each case, the Yankees had already wrapped up the American League Pennant.
This game is notable for another reason: It was the last major league playing appearance for Walter Johnson, the Senators pitcher who would, like Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner and Christy Mathewson, be 1 of the 1st 5 players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Oddly, he did not appear as a pitcher, although he could have, had the Senators tied it and sent it to the bottom of the 9th: The Big Train pinch-hit for Zachary. He flied out, with some appropriateness, to Ruth, and it was the final out of the game.
Babe Ruth, baseball's greatest player;
and Walter Johnson, perhaps baseball's greatest pitcher.
No, I don't know why the Great Bambino and the Big Train are holding roosters in that photo. But they seemed to be friends. That was not the case between Ruth and Cobb, although they came around later. Cobb and Johnson were great admirers of one another.
I once saw a photo of Cobb, in street clothes, talking with Mathewson in the Giants' dugout in the 1911 World Series. Later, they served in the same Army unit in World War I. Despite a professional rivalry, Cobb and Wagner were friends. I know nothing of the relationships, if any, between Ruth and Mathewson, Ruth and Wagner, or Wagner and Mathewson.
I do know that, when the 1st Hall of Fame induction ceremony was held in 1939, Mathewson was already dead, and Cobb was delayed and didn't make it to the ceremony on time, but Ruth, Johnson and Wagner had no issue with posing together, or with anyone else, in the group photo.
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September 30, 1927 was a Friday. There were no football games played on the day, hockey was out of season, and the NBA wasn't founded yet. There were other Major League Baseball games played:
* The Brooklyn Dodgers (or the Robins, as they were known from 1914 to 1931, in honor of manager Wilbert Robinson) beat the New York Giants, 10-5 at Ebbets Field.
* The Boston Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 12-2 at Braves Field in Boston.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-1 at Redland Field in Cincinnati. (It was renamed Crosley Field in 1934.) The Pirates had already clinched the National League Pennant, and would face the Yankees in the World Series.
* The Chicago White Sox sweep a doubleheader from the Detroit Tigers at Comiskey Park. They win the opener, 5-4 in 13 innings. They win the nightcap, 4-1.
* A doubleheader is split at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The Cleveland Indians win the 1st game, 5-4. The St. Louis Browns win the 2nd game, 9-4.
* The Boston Red Sox and the Philadelphia Athletics were supposed to play at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. According to Baseball-Reference.com, it was "Postponed by agreement." No reason is given there. The next day, October 1, they played a doubleheader. The A's swept, 10-2 and 3-2.
* The Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals also didn't play on the day, possibly because, while the Cardinals were the more successful team -- in this season, they were the defending World Champions -- they were the tenants at Sportsman's Park, and the Browns were the landlords and had first choice of scheduling.
Since the Browns did play there that day, the Cards' absence from the day's results was not due to rain. Nor did they play on September 28 or 29, or on October 1. They closed out their schedule against the Cubs on October 2, at Sportsman's Park, and lost 6-4.