Did Babe Ruth hit highest percent of a team's home runs allowed in a season?

Lou Gehrig: most home runs against a team in a season - 14 Cleveland 1936. Monday, June 3, 2019

The previous post dealt with the 143 times batters have hit at least 10 home runs against a team in a season, including multiples by some batters...

Gehrig had his most at bats (AB) and plate appearances (PA) against Cleveland. Gehrig hit twice as many home runs against Cleveland than any other team...

Cleveland allowed the second fewest home runs in 1936: 73. Four teams allowed more than 100, topped by the Philadelphia Athletics with 131.
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Gleyber Torres could set a Home Run record for most against a team in a season. Monday, June 3, 2019

Gleyber Torres is already one of only three players to hit at least ten home runs against a team in a season in fewer than 50 AB...

Ten home runs against one team has been done 143 times, including Torres, who might be joined in 2019 by teammate Gary Sanchez who has hit 9 home runs in 44 AB, also against Baltimore.

Remember that the NL through 1961 and the AL through 1960 played a 154 game schedule: 22 games against 7 opponents. So players then would tend to have more plate appearances against individual teams than they would today.

Most times hitting at least 10 home runs against a team:
Ruth 14 11 home runs four times, the rest 10
Gehrig 9 14 home runs, 12 twice, 11 three times
Mays 7 All before 1962 NL expansion; Dodgers 1954, 1955 (12), 1956, 1958 (12) (LA). 12 against Milwaukee Braves in 1961, including 4 in one game
Foxx/Williams 6
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Lou Gehrig hit 19% of the home runs allowed by Cleveland in 1936: 14/73.

I don't have a comprehensive way to do a database search to determine if this is the highest percentage of a team's home runs allowed hit by a single batter. So I guessed.

Babe Ruth.

Always a good guess, especially for home run dominance. I knew that Ruth had hit more home runs in a season than any of the seven opposing American League teams twice: 1920 and 1927 when Ruth hit 54 and 60.

1920 AL home runs:

Tm	#Bat	BatAge	R/G	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR ▼	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	LOB
NYY	26	27.8	5.44	154	5922	5174	837	1447	268	71	115	751	64	81	532	621	.280	.349	.426	.775	101	2202		23	172			1027
SLB	37	28.5	5.18	154	6038	5359	797	1650	278	84	50	707	121	78	425	338	.308	.363	.419	.782	105	2246		38	207			1136
LgAvg	33	28.0	4.76	154	5976	5248	734	1487	251	78	46	640	94	88	476	452	.283	.347	.387	.734	94	2032		37	203			1110
PHA	38	24.7	3.58	156	5843	5263	558	1325	219	49	44	465	50	67	352	575	.252	.304	.337	.641	70	1774		45	169			1069
CHW	26	29.4	5.16	154	6034	5330	794	1574	263	98	37	694	109	94	474	350	.295	.357	.402	.759	101	2144		38	188			1129
WSH	40	27.2	4.73	153	5952	5252	724	1525	232	81	36	616	160	110	435	538	.290	.351	.386	.737	97	2027		54	199			1113
CLE	29	29.3	5.56	154	6084	5203	856	1575	301	95	35	757	73	93	574	376	.303	.376	.417	.793	107	2171		36	254			1163
DET	38	28.9	4.21	155	5943	5212	652	1406	228	72	30	561	76	68	485	389	.270	.334	.358	.693	86	1868		20	216			1105
BOS	32	28.1	4.22	154	5989	5189	650	1397	216	71	22	569	98	110	527	428	.269	.342	.351	.693	87	1821		45	219			1138
	261	28.0	4.76	1234	47805	41982	5868	11899	2005	621	369	5120	751	701	3804	3615	.283	.347	.387	.734	94	16253		299	1624			8880

St. Louis Brown were second to Ruth's Yankees 115, including 54 by Ruth, with 50. Ruth's original team, the Boston Red Sox, hit the fewest: 22.

1920 Ruth home runs:

I	Split	G	GS	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR ▼	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	ROE	BAbip	tOPS+	sOPS+
	WP lt .500	102	101	446	337	115	126	23	7	38	100	14	11	102	63	.374	.522	.822	1.344	277		2	5				.373	95	264
	WP of .500+	40	40	170	120	43	46	13	2	16	35	0	3	48	17	.383	.562	.925	1.487	111		1	1				.345	114	337
	Boston Red Sox	21	21	89	68	21	25	5	2	10	25	2	1	20	8	.368	.511	.941	1.453	64		0	1				.300	107	295
	Chicago White Sox	20	20	87	65	23	28	6	2	10	24	0	2	21	9	.431	.570	1.046	1.616	68		0	1				.391	130	346
	Detroit Tigers	22	22	101	66	30	21	3	2	10	26	4	3	32	10	.318	.545	.879	1.424	58		1	2				.239	106	272
	Washington Senators	22	21	91	75	20	27	6	0	7	17	3	3	16	11	.360	.473	.720	1.193	54		0	0				.351	74	212
	St. Louis Browns	17	17	77	55	25	21	2	2	6	15	2	3	20	17	.382	.553	.818	1.371	45		1	1				.469	100	265
	Cleveland Indians	20	20	83	55	20	18	7	0	6	11	0	1	27	8	.327	.554	.782	1.336	43		1	0				.293	96	285
	Philadelphia Athletics	20	20	88	73	19	32	7	1	5	17	3	1	14	17	.438	.529	.767	1.296	56		0	1				.529	90	234

Ten against three teams: Red Sox, White Sox, Tigers. 1920 home runs allowed by AL teams:

Tm	#P	PAge	RA/G	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	tSho	cSho	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	ERA+	FIP	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9	SO/W	LOB
CLE	14	28.6	4.18	98	56	.636	3.41	154	154	60	94	11	11	9	1377.0	1448	644	522	31	401		466	29	1	22	5668	113	3.30	1.343	9.5	0.2	2.6	3.0	1.16	1064
BOS	11	25.7	4.57	72	81	.471	3.82	154	154	62	92	11	11	6	1395.1	1481	704	592	39	461		481	27	4	33	5801	96	3.47	1.392	9.6	0.3	3.0	3.1	1.04	1074
CHW	10	29.6	4.30	96	58	.623	3.59	154	154	45	109	9	9	9	1386.1	1467	662	553	45	405		438	25	2	19	5671	105	3.47	1.350	9.5	0.3	2.6	2.8	1.08	1083
LgAvg	14	27.2	4.76	77	77	.500	3.79	154	154	67	88			9	1380	1489	734	581	46	476		454	36	4	27	5777	101	3.64	1.424	9.7	0.3	3.1	3.0	0.95	1110
DET	21	27.2	5.35	61	93	.396	4.04	155	155	81	74	9	9	7	1385.0	1487	829	621	46	561		483	56	5	25	5857	93	3.82	1.479	9.7	0.3	3.6	3.1	0.86	1148
NYY	10	29.0	4.10	95	59	.617	3.32	154	154	66	88	15	15	13	1368.0	1414	632	504	48	420		480	32	2	24	5696	116	3.49	1.341	9.3	0.3	2.8	3.2	1.14	1090
WSH	16	25.7	5.21	68	84	.447	4.17	153	153	72	81	10	10	11	1367.0	1521	797	633	51	520		418	43	4	51	5840	89	3.86	1.493	10.0	0.3	3.4	2.8	0.80	1148
SLB	17	27.1	5.01	76	77	.497	4.03	154	154	70	84	9	9	14	1378.2	1481	771	618	53	578		444	38	4	17	5842	97	3.95	1.493	9.7	0.3	3.8	2.9	0.77	1192
PHA	15	25.1	5.33	48	106	.312	3.93	156	156	78	78	6	6	2	1380.1	1612	832	602	56	461		423	40	8	27	5840	103	3.75	1.502	10.5	0.4	3.0	2.8	0.92	1081
	113	27.2	4.76	614	614	.500	3.79	1234	1234	534	700			71	11037.2	11911	5871	4645	369	3807		3633	290	30	218	46215	101	3.64	1.424	9.7	0.3	3.1	3.0	0.95	8880

Boston Red Sox allowed the fewest among Ruth's 10 home run victims: 39. So Ruth hit 25.6% of the home runs allowed by the 1920 Red Sox. That's way higher than Gehrig's 19 percent against Cleveland in 1936.

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1927 AL home runs:

Tm	#Bat	BatAge	R/G	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR ▼	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	LOB
NYY	25	27.7	6.30	155	6221	5354	976	1644	291	103	158	907	90	64	642	610	.307	.384	.488	.872	127	2615		22	204			1182
PHA	34	30.3	5.43	155	6107	5287	841	1606	281	70	56	767	101	63	553	325	.304	.373	.415	.788	100	2195		30	219			1152
SLB	30	31.4	4.67	155	5904	5217	724	1442	263	59	55	657	90	66	449	417	.276	.339	.381	.720	84	1988		42	192			1073
LgAvg	32	28.8	4.92	155	6012	5265	762	1503	283	76	55	696	99	64	504	425	.286	.352	.399	.751	94	2103		33	207			1127
DET	30	27.5	5.42	156	6116	5300	845	1532	281	101	51	765	139	73	590	420	.289	.363	.409	.772	99	2168		25	198			1124
CHW	33	27.9	4.33	153	5908	5157	662	1433	285	61	36	610	89	75	493	407	.278	.344	.378	.722	89	1948		26	235			1126
WSH	41	29.9	4.98	157	6126	5394	782	1549	268	87	29	696	133	52	498	373	.287	.351	.385	.736	92	2078		32	200			1168
BOS	37	27.5	3.88	154	5867	5205	597	1347	271	78	28	550	81	46	430	476	.259	.320	.357	.677	78	1858		39	191			1097
CLE	37	28.3	4.37	153	5847	5203	668	1472	320	51	26	616	65	72	379	370	.283	.337	.379	.716	85	1972		48	213			1095
	259	28.8	4.92	1238	48096	42117	6095	12025	2260	610	439	5568	788	511	4034	3398	.286	.352	.399	.751	94	16822		264	1652			9017

Philadelphia Athletics were second to Ruth's Yankees 158, including 60 by Ruth, with 56. Cleveland hit the fewest: 26, two fewer Ruth original team, the Boston Red Sox.

1927 Babe Ruth home runs:

I	Split	G	GS	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR ▼	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	ROE	BAbip	tOPS+	sOPS+
	WP lt .500	88	88	396	303	91	110	19	4	35	89	4	2	85	49	.363	.503	.799	1.301	242		0	3		2	1	.342	107	240
	WP of .500+	63	63	295	237	67	82	10	4	25	76	3	3	52	41	.346	.464	.738	1.202	175		0	0		1	4	.333	91	231
	Boston Red Sox	22	22	105	87	31	34	6	0	11	30	2	0	16	13	.391	.485	.839	1.325	73		0	1		0	1	.365	109	229
	St. Louis Browns	22	22	98	73	25	27	2	1	9	27	0	0	21	10	.370	.511	.795	1.305	58		0	0		0	0	.333	108	223
	Cleveland Indians	22	22	94	70	18	26	7	0	9	19	0	0	23	13	.371	.527	.857	1.384	60		0	1		1	0	.354	119	263
	Philadelphia Athletics	19	19	88	72	22	23	2	0	9	21	0	0	14	13	.319	.430	.722	1.152	52		0	0		0	1	.280	82	209
	Detroit Tigers	22	22	105	83	19	27	6	1	8	29	2	1	19	12	.325	.451	.711	1.162	59		0	0		0	2	.302	85	198
	Washington Senators	22	22	102	82	26	32	2	3	8	26	1	2	19	16	.390	.505	.780	1.285	64		0	0		1	1	.414	105	249
	Chicago White Sox	22	22	99	73	17	23	4	3	6	13	2	2	25	13	.315	.490	.699	1.188	51		0	1		1	0	.315	91	220

11 against Boston. 1927 home runs allowed by AL teams:

Tm	#P	PAge	RA/G	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	tSho	cSho	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	ERA+	FIP	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9	SO/W	LOB
CLE	15	27.0	4.98	66	87	.431	4.27	153	153	81	72	5	5	9	1353.1	1542	762	642	37	508		366	37	3	30	5990	98	4.05	1.515	10.3	0.2	3.4	2.4	0.72	1169
NYY	10	31.0	3.90	110	44	.714	3.20	155	155	73	82	11	11	22	1389.2	1403	605	494	42	409		431	18	2	16	5849	122	3.72	1.304	9.1	0.3	2.6	2.8	1.05	1109
DET	14	27.3	5.16	82	71	.536	4.14	156	156	81	75	5	5	17	1387.2	1542	805	638	52	577		421	47	6	25	6165	101	4.26	1.527	10.0	0.3	3.7	2.7	0.73	1199
WSH	17	27.6	4.64	85	69	.552	3.97	157	157	95	62	10	10	19	1402.0	1434	729	618	53	491		497	41	6	15	6051	103	3.95	1.373	9.2	0.3	3.2	3.2	1.01	1118
LgAvg	13	28.4	4.92	77	77	.500	4.14	155	155	82	73			15	1375	1506	762	632	55	504		425	34	4	22	6005	100	4.10	1.461	9.9	0.4	3.3	2.8	0.84	1127
CHW	10	28.3	4.63	70	83	.458	3.91	153	153	68	85	10	10	8	1367.0	1467	708	594	55	440		365	29	3	12	5858	104	4.04	1.395	9.7	0.4	2.9	2.4	0.83	1063
BOS	14	25.0	5.56	51	103	.331	4.72	154	154	91	63	6	6	8	1366.1	1603	856	716	56	558		381	41	6	23	6106	90	4.32	1.582	10.6	0.4	3.7	2.5	0.68	1151
PHA	15	31.3	4.68	91	63	.591	3.97	155	155	90	65	8	8	25	1384.0	1467	725	610	65	442		553	36	2	18	5943	107	3.87	1.379	9.5	0.4	2.9	3.6	1.25	1089
SLB	14	29.3	5.83	59	94	.386	4.95	155	155	75	80	4	4	8	1353.1	1592	904	744	79	604		385	21	4	34	6078	88	4.60	1.623	10.6	0.5	4.0	2.6	0.64	1119
	106	28.4	4.92	614	614	.500	4.14	1238	1238	654	584			116	11003.1	12050	6094	5056	439	4029		3399	270	32	173	48040	100	4.10	1.461	9.9	0.4	3.3	2.8	0.84	9017

Disconnect. Boston allowed the third most: 56. But the Babe hit 9 against Cleveland, which allowed the fewest: 37.

9/37 = 24.3% Nope. Lower than the 25.6% of 1920 Red Sox home runs allowed that Babe Ruth hit.

So, is 25.6% the record for highest percent of a team's home runs allowed in a season? Since 1920, probably. Oh, I checked 1921, too, when Ruth hit 59 home runs, 10 against the Red Sox and 10 against the Tigers. In 1921 Cleveland allowed the fewest home runs: 43; Boston 53, Detroit 71, second most to Philadelphia's 85.

Babe Ruth led the explosion in home runs but they used livelier baseballs. And changed balls more often after Ray Chapman was killed in 1920.

The previous season home run record since 1903 of 24 was broken something like 43 times through the 1920s. They didn't all suddenly switch to a Stan Musial thin handled bat of the future and change their launch angle.