Top 5 batting performances by the great Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth was known as "The Bambino," "The Sultan of Swat," "The King of Crash," and many other nicknames. He called some of his own home runs before even hitting them. He once recorded a 1.75 ERA over the course of a season where he pitched more than 320 innings.
Simply put, he's a legend who remains one of the most electrifying players the MLB has ever seen.
Shohei Ohtani, who pitches and hits with MVP quality, is, arguably, the closest replica we've seen of Babe Ruth in 80 years. But even Ohtani can't match some of the incredible hitting performances the Bambino posted. In 1921, he hit .378 with a .512 on-base percentage and went deep 59 times. Now that's impressive!
But instead of focusing on his season totals, let's look at the legend's five greatest hitting performances.
#5 May 11, 1920
1920 was Babe Ruth's first year playing for the New York Yankees after spending six seasons with the Boston Red Sox. It took a month for the slugger to adjust to the new environment.
He didn't hit a single home run in April, but by the time May rolled around, he looked right at home in the Big Apple. He hit two home runs on May 1 and 2, and then waited around until May 11 to really get things going.
In a 6-5 win over the Chicago White Sox in Yankee Stadium, Ruth went three-for-three with a walk, a triple, two home runs, and four RBIs. It was the first time he showed Yankees fans his unique ability to take a game into his own hands and almost singlehandedly lead the team to victory.
#4 September 10, 1921
You wouldn't expect this one to come in at number four. But Ruth's performance in the Yankees' victory over the Philadelphia Athletics on September 10, 1921, showed his versatility as a hitter.
He didn't hit any home runs and he recorded "only" three RBIs (a relatively small number on a good day for the slugger). But Ruth was only one home run away from hitting the cycle.
He hit a single, a double, and a triple. Ruth was never a speedy player, but the fact he could hit doubles and triples so frequently goes to show how good he was at finding gaps in the defence.
Babe Ruth and Shoeless Joe https://t.co/wFAdBOkQoy
#3 April 20, 1926
By 1926, Babe Ruth was an established Yankee. That season, he led the league with 47 home runs and 153 RBIs, and he put up one of his best performances early in the year.
On April 20, just his sixth game of the season, Ruth went five-for-six with a home run, two singles, two doubles, and a whopping six RBIs. It's really a shame the technology wasn't around to measure his power and exit velocity. Ruth would've been off the charts.
#2 July 9, 1927
The Yankees crushed the Detroit Tigers on July 9, 1927, by a score of 19-7. Ruth scored three of those runs himself and batted in a total of seven.
The Bambino was swinging with sheer power on that day as he smacked two home runs, two doubles, and then topped them up with a single. He didn't bother walking once that day. Ruth was swinging for the fences.
"Babe Ruth will never be gone, he's still here...he's always here."
#MLB #Baseball #Legend https://t.co/YawG1nQDwd
#1 May 25, 1935
It might not have been his most productive outing in terms of RBIs and hits, but Ruth's most signature performance ever came late in his career on May 25, 1935, in a 11-7 loss against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
By this point, Ruth was playing for the Boston Braves, not the Yankees. His career was winding down and he wouldn't even play into June of that season.
So, in going-away fashion, Ruth made this game on the road count. He went four-for-four with one single, six RBIs, and - yes, you guessed it - three home runs. It was the most home runs the legend ever hit in a single game.