August 16
TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
August 16 1948, “The Babe”, George Herman Ruth, was the first sports superstar. He had the potential to be baseball’s greatest left-handed pitcher. Instead, he moved to the outfield and became its greatest hitter. Until Ruth arrived in New York in 1918, the Yankees had never won a pennant. Babe Ruth dies of throat cancer at age 53 in New York on August 16th 1948. He lied in state at Yankee Stadium and St. Patrick’s Cathedral more than 100,000 mourners would show their respects.
Hoyt Wilhelm on Babe Ruth
Notable Achievements
2-time AL All-Star (1933 & 1934) Hit the first home run in All-Star Game history
AL MVP (1923) Won only a single MVP award in 1923 because until 1930 multiple winners were not allowed.
AL ERA Leader (1916)
AL Complete Games Leader (1917)
AL Shutouts Leader (1916)
AL Batting Average Leader (1924)
10-time AL On-Base Percentage Leader (1919-1921, 1923-1927 & 1930-1932)
13-time AL Slugging Percentage Leader (1918-1924 & 1926-1931)
13-time AL OPS Leader (1918-1924 & 1926-1931)
8-time AL Runs Scored Leader (1918-1924 & 1926-1928)
6-time AL Total Bases Leader (1919, 1921, 1923, 1924, 1926 & 1928)
12-time AL Home Runs Leader (1918-1921, 1923, 1924 & 1926-1931)
5-time AL RBI Leader (1919-1921, 1923 & 1926)
11-time AL Bases on Balls Leader (1920, 1921, 1923, 1924, 1926-1928 & 1930-1933)
15 Wins Seasons: 3 (1915-1917)
20 Wins Seasons: 2 (1916 & 1917)
200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 3 (1915-1917)
300 Innings Pitched Seasons: 2 (1916-1917)
20-Home Run Seasons: 16 (1919-1934)
30-Home Run Seasons: 13 (1920-1924 & 1926-1933)
40-Home Run Seasons: 11 (1920, 1921, 1923, 1924 & 1926-1932)
50-Home Run Seasons: 4 (1920, 1921, 1927 & 1928)
60-Home Run Seasons: 1 (1927)
100 RBI Seasons: 13 (1919-1921, 1923, 1924 & 1926-1933)
100 Runs Scored Seasons: 12 (1919-1921, 1923, 1924 & 1926-1932)
200 Hits Seasons: 3 (1921, 1923 & 1924)
Won seven World Series with the Boston Red Sox (1915, 1916 & 1918) and the New York Yankees (1923, 1927, 1928 & 1932)
Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 1936
Most home runs 1920s (any decade)- 467
First player in MLB history to hit 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 and 700 Home Runs
In 1919 hit 29 home runs becoming the all-time single-season HR leader. Broke that a year later with 54, then again a year later with 59. Then again one more time with 60 in 27.
Was once the only player in major league history to pitch in at least 10 seasons and have a winning record in all of them. (Andy Pettitte now holds the record at 13 years: 1995-2007). Interestingly enough, Ruth threw complete game victories in 1930 and 1933 over a decade after pitching full time.
Led the American League in Strikeouts 5 times: 1918, 1923, 1924, 1927 and 1928.
Career/Single Season/Single Game Records
At Bats/Runs Batted In Ratio, career, 26.35%
Extra base hits, season, 119, 1921
Extra base hits, left handed batter, season, 119, 1921
Extra base hits, game, as a pitcher, 4, May 9, 1918 (tied)
Hits, game, as a pitcher, 5, May 9, 1918 (tied)
Home runs against one team, career, 123 (v Detroit)
Home Runs by an American League player, career, 708
Home Run Percentage, left handed batter, career, 8.5%
Home Runs, months of September/October, season, 17, 1927 (tied)
Home Runs, game, post-season, 3, October 6, 1926 & October 9, 1928 (tied)
Innings pitched, game, post-season, 14, October 9, 1916
On base plus slugging (OPS), career, 1.164
On base plus slugging (OPS), left handed batter, career, 1.164
Runs, game, World Series, 4, October 6, 1926 (tied)
Runs batted in, left handed batter, career, 2210
Runs scored, season, 177
Slugging percentage, career, .690
Slugging percentage, left handed batter, career, .690
Times reached base, season, 379, 1923
Times reached base, left handed batter, season, 379, 1923
Total bases, season, 457, 1921
Total bases, left handed batter, season, 457, 1921
Most seasons leading league in OPS, 13
Most seasons leading league in Adjusted OPS, 13
Most seasons leading league in slugging percentage, 13
Most seasons leading league in home runs, 12
Most seasons leading league in runs scored, 8
Most seasons leading league in extra base hits, 7 (tied with Stan Musial)
Most seasons leading American League in walks, 11
Most seasons hitting 40 home runs, 11
Most seasons hitting 50 home runs, 4 (tied with Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Aaron Judge)
Most seasons scoring 150 runs, 6
Most consecutive seasons leading league in RBI's, 3 (tied with several)
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Todays Trivia . . .
Which Hall of Famer is the only man to pitch over one thousand career innings and have a lifetime batting average over .300?
Hint: #1 He was the first player to hit three home runs in a game for teams in the American League and the National League.
Hint: #2 He is the only player with 200 hits and 140 walks in the same season.
Answer in a bit!
Quote of the day:
"Say, if I hadn't been sick last summer, I'd have broken hell out of that home run record! Besides, the President gets a four-year contract. I'm only asking for three." - Babe Ruth, on being asked why he was demanding a salary higher than that of President Herbert Hoover
Game of The Day:
Game of the Day — August 16, 1977 Chicago White Sox vs New York Yankees
Played at: Yankee Stadium
Todays starting pitchers:
Ron Guidry vs Francisco Barrios
Todays broadcasters: Phil Rizzuto
👇 Join and Listen to the full game right here
Todays Podcast
August 16 highlights and Historic Days!
August 16, 1920 — At the Polo Grounds Cleveland Indians Shortstop Ray Chapman, 29, is beaned by a Carl Mays pitch. A right-handed batter who crowds the plate, Chapman freezes and fails to get out of the way of the submarine delivery. He is carried from the field and dies the next day from a fractured skull. Mays, a surly, unpopular pitcher, is the target of fans’ and players’ outrage. Chapman, a Cleveland favorite since breaking in in 1912, had been married the previous year. In October his wife will receive a full World Series share, $3,986.34. The incident has no effect on Mays’s pitching. One week later he will blank Detroit, 10 – 0, and go on to win 26 and lose 11. Joe Sewell will be called up to take Chapman’s place, and for 14 years he will be the hardest man to strike out in the Major Leagues.
August 16, 1927 — Babe Ruth, teeing off on a Tommy Thomas pitch, becomes the first player to homer over the roof of Comiskey Park. According to the Tribune, if that had been hit at Wrigley Field it would have threatened the life of Golfers at the Lincoln Park Course. It was his 37th homerun of the season and helped the yankees improve to an incredible 80 – 33 on the season.
August 16th 1940- Jimmie Foxx smashes two homers to help the Red Sox beat the Senators. The two round trippers move him ahead of Lou Gehrig on the all-time list with a total of 495.
August 16, 1954 — The first issue of Sports Illustrated is available at the newsstands. The inaugural cover of the innovative new magazine features a Mark Kauffman photo of Braves slugger Eddie Mathews at bat, Giants catcher Wes Westrum behind the plate, and umpire Augie Donatelli calling balls and strikes in Milwaukee County Stadium.
August 16th, 1966 – Willie Mays hits his 534th home run, matching Jimmie Foxx’s record for right-handed batters, as Gaylord Perry beats the Cardinals, 3 – 1.
August 16, 1987 In the bottom of the 3rd inning in a game against the Chicago White Sox at Exhibition Stadium, Lloyd Moseby successfully stole second base, and the throw from the catcher Carlton Fisk went into center field. However, shortstop Ozzie Guillen faked him out by acting as if the ball had been popped up. Thinking that he was about to be doubled off first, he ran back there instead of taking the extra base. Center fielder Kenny Williams threw in to first, but the ball went into the dugout. Moseby made it back safely to second, having run 270 feet to go 90 feet. Rather than being credited with a stolen base, it was ruled that he advanced to second base via Williams’ throwing error.
August 16th 2002 The Twins down the Red Sox, 5 – 0, in the process ending Pedro Martinez’s scoreless inning streak at 35. It is the longest such streak in the majors since 2000. Pedro’s 2000 season is considered by many to be the best season ever pitched in the history of the game.
August 16, 2007 — Jose Reyes becomes the first infielder, and tenth player overall, in the modern era (post-1898) to steal sixty bases in three consecutive seasons. The Mets shortstop, who will swipe 78 sacks this season, steals second base in the second inning for the second time in a 10-7 loss to the Pirates at PNC Park.
August 16th, 2010 New York Giant Great, Bobby Thomson passes away. On October 3rd 1951, dubbed the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World,” Thomson hit a game-deciding, three-run home run the final game of a three-game playoff between the Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers. It is considered by many to be one of the most memorable and dramatic homers in baseball history.
News Reels August 16
August 16, 1977 Mel Allen on This week in basbeall.
Featuring Fred Lynn, Reggie Jackson, Fans stealing an out in Chicago, crowded AL West race
August 16, 1984: Pete Rose returns to manage Cincinnati Reds Press Conference
1968 Tony Conigliaro Boston Red Sox Comeback segment Howard Cosell
Milestones August 16
🎙️ Did you know? One of the most proment figures men in Yankees history, little Phil Rizzuto, played his last game on this date, he played a steady shortstop for the Bombers for 11 full seasons in a career interrupted by service in World War II. Later he became a broadcaster for the team, holding that position for four decades. In 1950 he was named Most Valuable Player in the American League. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1994. He has over 400 games in his audio library.
Birthdays:
Notable: Buck Rogers
Debuts:
Notable: John Tudor
Final Games:
Highlights: Phil Rizzuto
Passings:
Notable: Babe Ruth
New From Around the League!
ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA
TRIVIA ANSWER: BABE RUTH
- Ans. Ruth pitched 1,221⅓ innings and finished his career with a batting average of .342.
- #1 Amazingly, Ruth only hit 3 HR in each league one time: With NYY on 21-May-1930(1) off Lefty Grove & George Earnshaw; with BSN on 25-May-1935 off Guy Bush & Red Lucas, 5 days before he left professional baseball for good. He did, however, twice hit 3 HR in a World Series game, both times against the Cardinals: 06-Oct-1926 off Herman Bell & Flint Rhem; 09-Oct-1928 off Bill Sherdel & Grover Alexander.
- #2 Ruth did three (3!) times: In 1921 – 204/145; in 1923 – 205/170; in 1924 – 200/142. BTW, he hit 59, 41 & 46 in those same seasons.
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