1927 Home Run race: Babe Ruth v. Lou Gehrig, Yankee teammates.

First of three posts:

1927 Home Run race: Babe Ruth v. Lou Gehrig, Yankee teammates.

1961 Home Run race: Roger Maris v. Mickey Mantle, Yankee teammates.  Friday, December 2, 2016

1998 Home Run race: Mark McGwire v. Sammy Sosa, Cardinal v. Cub.  Saturday, December 3, 2016

Most baseball fans are not aware that Yankee teammates Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig battled through most of the 1927 season for the Home Run (HR) lead and possibly a new record. Ruth already held the record, having set it three times:
1919 29 in 432 AB, Boston Red Sox, home park: Fenway Park
1920 54 in 458 AB, New York Yankees, home park: Polo Grounds
1921 59 in 540 AB, New York Yankees, home park: Polo Grounds

Most HR following the 1927 season:

Rk	Player	HR	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Babe Ruth	60	1927	32	NYY	AL	151	691	540	158	192	29	8	165	137		89	0	14			7	6	.356	.486	.772	1.258	*97
2	Babe Ruth	59	1921	26	NYY	AL	152	693	540	177	204	44	16	168	145		81	4	4			17	13	.378	.512	.846	1.359	*78/13
3	Babe Ruth	54	1920	25	NYY	AL	142	616	458	158	172	36	9	135	150		80	3	5			14	14	.376	.532	.847	1.379	*978/3H1
4	Lou Gehrig	47	1927	24	NYY	AL	155	717	584	149	218	52	18	173	109		84	3	21			10	8	.373	.474	.765	1.240	*3
5	Babe Ruth	47	1926	31	NYY	AL	152	652	495	139	184	30	5	153	144		76	3	10			11	9	.372	.516	.737	1.253	*79/H3
6	Babe Ruth	46	1924	29	NYY	AL	153	681	529	143	200	39	7	124	142		81	4	6			9	13	.378	.513	.739	1.252	*97/8H
7	Rogers Hornsby	42	1922	26	STL	NL	154	704	623	141	250	46	14	152	65		50	1	15			17	12	.401	.459	.722	1.181	*4
8	Babe Ruth	41	1923	28	NYY	AL	152	697	522	151	205	45	13	130	170		93	4	3			17	21	.393	.545	.764	1.309	97/83
9	Cy Williams	41	1923	35	PHI	NL	136	604	535	98	157	22	3	114	59		57	7	3			11	10	.293	.371	.576	.947	*8/H
10	Rogers Hornsby	39	1925	29	STL	NL	138	606	504	133	203	41	10	143	83		39	2	16			5	3	.403	.489	.756	1.245	*4/H
11	Ken Williams	39	1922	32	SLB	AL	153	678	585	128	194	34	11	155	74		31	7	12			37	20	.332	.413	.627	1.040	*78

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/1/2016.

For perspective, most HR 1903-1919:

Rk	Player	HR	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Babe Ruth	29	1919	24	BOS	AL	130	543	432	103	139	34	12	113	101		58	6	3			7		.322	.456	.657	1.114	*71/3H8
2	Gavvy Cravath	24	1915	34	PHI	NL	150	621	522	89	149	31	7	115	86		77	6	7			11	9	.285	.393	.510	.902	*9/H
3	Frank Schulte	21	1911	28	CHC	NL	154	687	577	105	173	30	21	107	76		71	3	31			23		.300	.384	.534	.918	*9
4	Gavvy Cravath	19	1914	33	PHI	NL	149	605	499	76	149	27	8	100	83		72	3	19			14		.299	.402	.499	.901	*9/H7
5	Gavvy Cravath	19	1913	32	PHI	NL	147	594	525	78	179	34	14	128	55		63	3	11			10	11	.341	.407	.568	.974	*9/87
6	Vic Saier	18	1914	23	CHC	NL	153	658	537	87	129	24	8	72	94		61	4	23			19		.240	.357	.415	.773	*3
7	Fred Luderus	18	1913	27	PHI	NL	155	635	588	67	154	32	7	86	34		51	2	9			5	8	.262	.304	.432	.736	*3
8	Hal Chase	17	1915	32	BUF	FL	145	597	567	85	165	31	10	89	20		50	1	8			23		.291	.316	.471	.787	*3/H9
9	Dutch Zwilling	16	1914	25	CHI	FL	154	649	592	91	185	38	8	95	46		68	1	10			21		.313	.363	.485	.848	*8
10	Fred Luderus	16	1911	25	PHI	NL	146	609	551	69	166	24	11	99	40		76	4	14			6		.301	.353	.472	.825	*3

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/1/2016.

Gehrig: born June 19, 1903, previous high: 20 in 1925.
Ruth: born February 6, 1895, previous high: 59 in 1921.

After 1927 Gehrig had the most other than Ruth. Next after Gehrig were Hornsby, known more for having a cumulative batting average of .400 1921-1925, then Cy and Ken Williams, no relation to each other or to Ted.

Here's how Ruth and Gehrig matched up through the 1927 season in two graphs, first on total homers, then the difference (Ruth-Gehrig):



Many fans know that Ruth hit 17 of his 60 1927 HR in September, which Ruth needed not just to reach 60 but to blow past the much younger Gehrig, who led 39-38 after Yankee game 117. Remember, teams played 154 games through the 1960 season. The Yankees played one tie game, so the 1927 Yankees played 155 games and Gehrig played in all 155. Ruth had his biggest deficits for these Yankee games:
Ruth Gehrig

34	37	104	-3
34	37	105	-3
35	37	106	-2
35	37	107	-2
35	37	108	-2
35	38	109	-3

Game 128:
Friday, September 2, 1927, , Shibe Park
Attendance: 20,000, Time of Game: 1:50
Yankees 12, Athletics 2
HR: B Ruth (44); L Gehrig 2 (43).

Ruth and Gehrig homered back to back in the first off Rube Walberg. Then Gehrig homered again in the second inning off Walberg. Number 43 put Gehrig ahead of Hornsby for the most HR in a season by anyone other than Ruth.

Following Yankee game 131 they were tied at 44. Then in game 132:

Tuesday, September 6, 1927, , Fenway Park
Attendance: 15,000, Time of Game: 1:58
First game of doubleheader
Yankees 14, Red Sox 2
HR: B Ruth 2 (46); L Gehrig (45).

Gehrig homered in the 5th off starter Tony Welzer. Ruth homered in both the 6th and 7th off Welzer. Gehrig had his final lead over Ruth 45-44 but it only lasted one inning.

Inexplicably, Gehrig failed to homer from the second game (133) Sept. 6 through Yankee game 151 Sept. 25. That's 19 games without a homer. Gehrig had at least 4 plate appearances in each game.

Gehrig finally homered again in Yankee game 152 on Sept. 27 in the 4th inning off Jack Quinn of the Philadelphia As. Ruth later homered in the 6th off Lefty Grove. Ruth led 57-46.

Ruth hit two more in game 153, then number 60 Sept. 30 in game 154 off Tom Zachary of the Washington Senators, who moved to Minnesota in 1961 and changed their name to Twins.

In game 155 on Oct. 1, the Yankees had that tie game, remember, Ruth was 0 for 3 with a BB and was replaced by Ben Paschal, who did not bat. Gehrig was 1 for 4, HR 47 in the 1st off Bobby Burke. The Yankees won, finishing 110-44.

The Yankees swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1927 World Series.

Playoff Series Stats																	Regular Season Stats
Name	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS ▾	SB	CS	E	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB	BA	OPS
Pat Collins	2	5	0	3	1	0	0	0	3	0	.600	.750	.800	1.550	0	0	0	92	251	38	69	7	36	0	.275	.825
Babe Ruth	4	15	4	6	0	0	2	7	2	2	.400	.471	.800	1.271	1	0	0	151	540	158	192	60	165	7	.356	1.258
Lou Gehrig	4	13	2	4	2	2	0	4	3	3	.308	.438	.769	1.207	0	0	0	155	584	149	218	47	173	10	.373	1.240

Ruth hit two more homers in the World Series. Gehrig hit two doubles and two triples.

Coming up: Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle.