Babe Ruth out homered every other American League team in 1920 & 1927. 14% & 13% of AL Home Runs.

Babe Ruth

Positions: Outfielder and Pitcher

Bats: Left  •  Throws: Left

How much did Babe Ruth pitch and bat at the same time?
Monday, April 9, 2018

The DH rule started in the old American League back in 1973. The old National League never adopted it. So when Babe Ruth was a full time pitcher for the Boston Red Sox in 1915, 1916, 1917 Ruth would bat in all games in which he pitched. Ruth never played another position until 1918 when he led the AL in home runs for the first time with 11, tied with Tillie Walker, who had been Ruth's teammate the previous two years and was playing center field for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1918.

Prior to modern expansion in 1961 there were eight teams in each of the two major leagues. They played only in league and 22 games against each of seven opponents. That's a 154 game schedule, which was not always completed and which could contain ties. Also, in 1918 and 1919 the schedule was shortened because of U.S. involvement in the first World War.  The Red Sox played these number of games during Ruth's years with them:
1914 91-62 (2) = 153
1915 101-50 (1) = 151
1916 91-63 (1) = 154
1917 90-62 (2) = 152
1918 75-51 (1) = 126
1919 66-71 (6) = 137

There is some overlap in 1918 and 1919 when Ruth both pitched and played another position ...

Ruth clearly transitioned from a full time starting pitcher through 1917 to being mostly a non-pitcher. Ruth's percentage of team games played in 1918 went from under 30% to 60%, more than double. Then in 1919 Ruth played in 97% of Red Sox games. He also set a new season record for home runs: 29...

Note that Ruth's first World Series appearance was in 1915 ... pinch hitting. Ruth did not pitch in that WS.

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Ruth had 10 regular season At Bats (not Plate Appearances (PA)) in 1914. Ruth played for the Red Sox 1914-1919, then joined the Yankees. The Red Sox won the pennant in 1915, 1916 and 1918 and won the World Series (WS) in all three years. Ruth threw 29 consecutive scoreless innings in those WS but hit no Home Runs (HR). That pitching record stood until Whitey Ford broke it in the 1961 WS.

Ruth led the Red Sox in HR in 4 of 5 years and was second in the other. In the matrix below Ruth HR total is bold and in a box. It also has a gold background in the two seasons when he led the AL in HR. His teammates HR are also listed and there is a team total.

Red Sox	1915	1916	1917	1918	1919
	4	3	3	11	29
	2	3	2	1	3
	2	3	2	1	1
	2	2	2	1
	1	1	2	1
	1	1	1
	1	1	1
	1		1
	1915	1916	1917	1918	1919
total	14	14	14	15	33
	WS	WS	2	WS	6
	2	2		0
	1
Ruth AB	92	136	123	317	432
AB/HR	23	45.33	61.50	28.82	14.90
WS AB	1	5		5

Ruth set a new season HR record in 1919. He broke that record three more times with the Yankees:

1920: 54
1921: 59
1927: 60.

Which brings us to the subject of this post. In 1920 and 1927 Ruth hit more HR than every other AL team. Really.

1920 Tm	HR	AB	AB/HR	Fin	Wins
New York Yankees	115	5,174	44.99	3	95
Babe Ruth	54	458	8.48
St. Louis Browns	50	5,359	107.18	4	76
Philadelphia Athletics	44	5,263	119.61	8	48
Chicago White Sox	37	5,330	144.05	2	96
Washington Nationals	36	5,252	145.89	6	68
Cleveland Indians	35	5,203	148.66	1	98
Detroit Tigers	30	5,212	173.73	7	61
Boston Red Sox	22	5,189	235.86	5	72
1920 AL	369	41,982	113.77
1920 Ruth %AL	14.6%
1927 Tm	HR	AB	AB/HR	Fin	Wins
New York Yankees	158	5,354	33.89	1	110
Babe Ruth	60	540	9.00
Philadelphia Athletics	56	5,287	94.41	2	91
St. Louis Browns	55	5,217	94.85	7	59
Detroit Tigers	51	5,300	103.92	4	82
Chicago White Sox	36	5,157	143.25	5	70
Washington Nationals	29	5,394	186.00	3	85
Boston Red Sox	28	5,205	185.89	8	51
Cleveland Indians	26	5,203	200.12	6	66
1927 AL	439	42,117	95.94
1927 Ruth %AL	13.7%

This is not new information but seeing both seasons together with a little more information makes it even more remarkable. And this after 1916 and 1917 winning 23 and 24 games and pitching 323 and 326 innings. Ruth led AL:

1916: ERA, GS, SHO, ERA+, H9, HR9 (no HR allowed)

1917: CG

There was only one Babe Ruth.