Babe Ruth’s run as baseball’s home run king ended April 8, 1974, when Hank Aaron hit number 715. The date is one of the easiest to recall in the historical archives of our National Pastime. But how many remember when The Babe’s 53-year reign began? Well, it was July 12, 1921. The St. Louis Browns hosted the Yankees at Sportsman's Park. And this is the very orb representing this monumental milestone, which should be considered just as significant, if not more.
The New York Times captures the moment Ruth tied Roger Connors with career HR #136. "Ruth's first homer came in the third inning, with one run over the plate and two men on the bases...Babe's burning liner into the right-field seats transformed the issue into a Yank advantage...The Browns never fully recovered after that." The Bambino would take Browns starter Dixie Davis deep again in the 7th inning—his 34th of the season and career #137—to separate from Connors and stand alone at the top, adding even greater luster to this important sphere.
The OAL (Ban Johnson), red and blue stitched ball shows obvious game use with a vintage notation in well-aged blue ink across the sweet spot: "Hit by Babe Ruth at St. Louis, His 33 Home Run Season 1921." The Sultan of Swat Ruth, in the middle of putting together arguably the greatest offensive season ever, would bat .378 and slug .846 with 59 HR, 168 RBI, 177 runs (post-1900 record) and 145 walks in his second year in pinstripes, leading New York to its first AL pennant in franchise history and single-handedly putting an end to the Dead Ball Era. Nobody has ever topped his 457 total bases and 119 extra base hits
Included are two letters documenting the ball’s provenance from the moment it was procured. The original owner attended the 7/12/1921 game in St. Louis and gave the museum-worthy ball to his 16-year-old nephew, who cherished it for over 75 years.