Babe Ruth hit his 60th home run on September 30, 1927, a two-run shot off Washington left-hander Tom Zachary in the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium. It broke the record of 59 he'd set in 1921, gave the New York Yankees a 4-2 win, and stood for 34 years.
Friday afternoon, next-to-last game of the season. Score tied 2-2, one out, a man on third. About 10,000 people had come out to a ballpark built for a whole lot more. The Yankees had clinched the pennant on September 13, and even a shot at history couldn't fill the place on a weekday.
The ones who stayed home missed it.
Fifty-Nine and Counting
For most of the summer, the home run chase wasn't a solo act. Lou Gehrig was right there with him -- ahead of him, in fact, 35 to 34, when July ended. The two were still tied at 44 in early September, and Gehrig's last lead, 45-44, came at Fenway Park on September 6. It lasted one inning. Ruth homered in the sixth and again in the seventh, and the race was his from there.
What followed was the best month of his career. Ruth hit 17 home runs in September, and he saved the loudest for the last week. On September 29, against these same Senators, he took Hod Lisenbee deep in the first inning for No. 58. Later in the same game he hit a grand slam off Paul Hopkins -- a Colgate kid making his big-league debut (welcome to the majors, son) -- for No. 59.
That tied the record. It left him two games to break it.
The Eighth Inning
Mark Koenig set it up with a one-out triple. Zachary, a veteran lefty with a World Series ring from Washington's 1924 title, had Ruth to deal with next, and first base was sitting open. He pitched to him anyway.
Ruth pulled the ball down the right-field line and into the bleachers, fair by a margin that depended on where you were sitting. Zachary was sure it had curled foul. He said so, loudly, to anyone who'd listen. Nobody in a position to change the call agreed with him. Years later he'd admit he wished he'd "stuck that pitch in his ear."
Ruth didn't hurry. He took his time around the bases while hats sailed out of the stands and fans tore paper into confetti. Koenig scored ahead of him. The Yankees led 4-2.
When Ruth trotted out to right field for the top of the ninth, the bleacher crowd stood and waved handkerchiefs at him. He answered with a string of military salutes. Small crowd. Enormous noise.
The Big Train's Last Swing
The ninth inning held one more piece of history, and it's the part most people forget.
With Zachary due up, Washington player-manager Bucky Harris sent Walter Johnson up to pinch-hit. Johnson was 39, finishing his 21st and final season with 417 wins behind him. He lifted a fly ball to right field. Ruth caught it.
That was the last time Johnson appeared in a big-league game. The two biggest stars of their generation shared one last moment on the field: a routine fly ball, caught by the guy who'd just hit No. 60. Nobody could've scripted it better (and nobody would've believed the script).
Sixty! Count 'em. Sixty! Let's see some other son of a bitch match that!
The Ball, the Pitcher, and the Record
A fan named Joe Forner came up with the ball and brought it to the clubhouse, where Ruth signed it. Hat merchant Truly Warner had offered $100 for it, and Forner took the money. Warner's son later gave the ball to the Hall of Fame, and it's still on display in Cooperstown.
He went hitless in the finale on October 1, so the number stayed at 60 -- more home runs than any other team in the American League hit that season. He finished 1927 batting .356 with 165 RBI and 158 runs scored, then helped sweep Pittsburgh in the World Series.
Zachary's story took a strange turn. The Yankees claimed him off waivers the following August, and by October 1928 he was winning a World Series game for the club whose slugger he'd tried so hard to talk out of a home run. Nearly two decades later, at Babe Ruth Day in 1947, a dying Ruth reportedly shook his old victim's hand and rasped, "Are you still claiming that ball was foul?"
The record outlived Ruth. It outlived Zachary's career, the Depression, and a world war. It lasted until October 1, 1961, when Roger Maris hit No. 61 in the same building, on the last day of a 162-game season, before another crowd that left plenty of empty seats.
Ruth broke his own mark from 1921 -- the year of his 59 -- and he never topped 60 again. He never needed to.
| Date / Site | Friday, September 30, 1927, Yankee Stadium |
| Final Score | Yankees 4, Senators 2 |
| The Homer | 2-run HR, 8th inning, off LHP Tom Zachary, score tied 2-2 |
| Runner Aboard | Mark Koenig (one-out triple) |
| Attendance | About 10,000 |
| Old Record | 59 (Ruth, 1921) |
| September 1927 HR | 17 (his best month) |
| 1927 Final Line | .356, 60 HR, 165 RBI, 158 runs |
| Record Stood | 34 years (Roger Maris, 61 in 1961) |
Gehrig's Last Lead
Gehrig homers at Fenway Park to go up 45-44. Ruth homers in the sixth and seventh innings, and Gehrig never leads the race again.
Nos. 58 and 59
Ruth homers off Washington's Hod Lisenbee in the first inning, then hits a grand slam off debuting rookie Paul Hopkins to tie his record of 59.
No. 60
With Koenig on third and the score tied 2-2 in the eighth, Ruth homers off Tom Zachary. Zachary insists it's foul. The Yankees win 4-2, and Walter Johnson flies out to Ruth in his final big-league appearance.
Season Finale
Ruth goes hitless in the last game of the regular season. The record stays at 60.
Maris Hits 61
Roger Maris breaks the record at Yankee Stadium on the final day of the season, 34 years after Ruth set it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who gave up Babe Ruth's 60th home run?
Tom Zachary, a left-hander for the Washington Senators. Ruth hit a two-run homer off him in the eighth inning on September 30, 1927. Zachary argued the ball was foul. The Yankees claimed him off waivers less than a year later, and he won a game for them in the 1928 World Series.
When did Babe Ruth hit his 60th home run?
On Friday, September 30, 1927, at Yankee Stadium, in the next-to-last game of the regular season. It broke a 2-2 tie in the eighth inning and gave the Yankees a 4-2 win over Washington. Ruth didn't homer in the finale on October 1, so he finished with 60.
How long did Babe Ruth's 60-home-run record last?
34 years. Roger Maris hit his 61st home run on October 1, 1961, also at Yankee Stadium, on the final day of the first 162-game season in American League history.
Where is Babe Ruth's 60th home run ball?
It's at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Fan Joe Forner got the ball, had Ruth sign it, and sold it to hat merchant Truly Warner for $100. Warner's son later donated it to the Hall.