Babe Ruth Hits His 600th Home Run

On August 21, 1931, Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees hit his 600th career home run, becoming the first player in major league history to reach that number. The blast came in the third inning off St. Louis Browns pitcher George Blaeholder at Sportsman's Park. With a runner on first, Ruth launched the pitch high and deep to right field. The ball sailed over the bleacher roof and crashed onto a car parked on Grand Boulevard, one of those tape-measure shots that made the Bambino a figure of American mythology.

The Yankees won the game 11-7. Ruth added to the day's drama by getting ejected in the seventh inning by third base umpire Roy Van Graflan after arguing about a Browns home run. Even on a historic afternoon, Ruth could not resist a fight with an umpire.

After the game, Ruth offered ten dollars and a fresh baseball to whoever returned the 600th home run ball. A kid named Tony Gallico turned it in, collected the reward, and walked away with a story his family probably never stopped telling.

Ruth was 36 years old and in his seventeenth major league season. He had already transformed baseball from a low-scoring game of singles and bunts into a sport defined by power. His 600th home run came during a season in which he hit .373 with 46 homers and 163 RBIs, numbers that would be career highs for most players but were routine production for Ruth.

No other player reached 600 home runs until Willie Mays did it in 1969, thirty-eight years later. The 600-homer club eventually grew to include Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Jim Thome, and Albert Pujols. Ruth got there first, on a summer afternoon in St. Louis, when he put a pitch over a roof and onto a parked car.