1915 Babe Ruth First Home Run

In May 1915, a 20-year-old Boston Red Sox pitcher named Babe Ruth stepped into the batter's box at the Polo Grounds and drove a pitch from Yankees hurler Jack Warhop over the outfield wall. It was his first major league home run -- the first of 714, a record that would stand for 39 years. Nobody in the sparse crowd that afternoon recognized the moment for what it was: the opening note in a career that would reshape baseball, redefine the New York Yankees, and establish home run power as the sport's central currency.

A Pitcher Who Could Hit

Ruth had joined the Red Sox in 1914 as a pitcher, and a good one. His left arm was the primary reason Boston kept him on the roster. The fact that he could also swing a bat with uncommon force was treated as a curiosity -- pleasant but secondary. In the dead-ball era, pitchers weren't expected to contribute offensively. Their job was to throw strikes, field their position, and try not to embarrass themselves at the plate.

Ruth didn't get that memo. His swing was unlike anything the era had produced. Where most hitters choked up and slapped at pitches, Ruth gripped the bat near the knob and swung from his heels. The approach generated strikeouts and eye rolls from traditionalists who believed contact and placement were the only acceptable offensive strategies.

The Warhop Pitch

Jack Warhop was a journeyman right-hander in his final major league seasons. He didn't have overpowering stuff, but he competed. On this May afternoon, he threw a pitch that Ruth turned on -- and the ball left the Polo Grounds' playing field. The home run didn't make headlines the way it would've in later years. In 1915, individual home runs were statistical footnotes, not front-page events. The dead-ball era valued bunts, stolen bases, and the hit-and-run. Ruth's blast was recorded in box scores and forgotten by the next morning's editions.

Warhop's place in history became fixed by that single pitch. He'd go on to finish his career without distinction, remembered primarily as the answer to a trivia question: who gave up Babe Ruth's first home run?

The Irony of the Venue

Ruth hit his first home run against the Yankees, at the Polo Grounds -- the very franchise and the very stadium where he'd eventually become the most famous player in baseball history. Five years later, in 1920, Ruth would join the Yankees in a trade that changed the sport's power structure forever. He'd hit 54 home runs in his first year in pinstripes, drawing record crowds to the Polo Grounds and eventually forcing the construction of Yankee Stadium.

The connection between the 1915 home run and Ruth's Yankees career is one of baseball's great narrative arcs. The team he beat as a 20-year-old opposing pitcher became the team he'd define as a 25-year-old slugger. The stadium where he connected off Warhop became the stadium where he'd draw millions of fans before moving across the river to the House That Ruth Built.

714 and Counting

Ruth's first home run was the beginning of a count that would reach 714 by the time he retired in 1935. That total stood as baseball's all-time record until Hank Aaron surpassed it on April 8, 1974. The magnitude of Ruth's career production makes the first homer a historical curiosity -- the acorn from which an oak grew. But every record has a starting point, and Ruth's started at the Polo Grounds off a Yankees pitcher.

The 714 home runs came in an era that wasn't built for power hitting. Ruth hit more home runs than entire teams. He changed the way the game was played, the way it was marketed, and the way its economics worked. And all of it traces back to a May afternoon in 1915 when a young pitcher from Boston decided to swing hard and see what happened.

What Nobody Knew

The 1915 Yankees were busy worrying about their own problems -- a 69-83 record, Ray Caldwell's run-support drought, the adjustment to new ownership. Nobody in the organization looked at Ruth's home run and thought about the future. They couldn't have. The idea that a pitcher would transform into the greatest hitter in baseball history, and that he'd do it wearing their uniform, was beyond the imagination of anyone in the sport.

But that's how history works. The biggest moments often arrive without announcement. Ruth's first home run was a line in a box score in May 1915. It became the first chapter in the greatest individual career in American sports history -- and the prelude to the greatest dynasty in team sports.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who did Babe Ruth hit his first home run off of?

Ruth hit his first major league home run off New York Yankees pitcher Jack Warhop at the Polo Grounds in May 1915. Ruth was a 20-year-old pitcher for the Boston Red Sox at the time.

How many home runs did Babe Ruth hit in his career?

Ruth hit 714 career home runs, a record that stood from his retirement in 1935 until Hank Aaron broke it on April 8, 1974. Ruth's first home run came in May 1915 against the Yankees -- the team he'd later join and transform into a dynasty.

When did Babe Ruth join the Yankees?

Ruth was purchased from the Boston Red Sox on December 26, 1919, for $125,000 in cash plus a $300,000 loan to Red Sox owner Harry Frazee. He joined the Yankees for the 1920 season, five years after hitting his first career home run against them.