hit 29 home runs with the Red Sox in 1919 and broke a record that had stood since 1884. Then the New York Yankees bought him for $100,000, and he hit 54. He didn't just break his own record -- he nearly doubled it, tripled the runner-up's total, and forced an entire sport to reconsider what was possible. The 1920 season wasn't just Ruth's first in pinstripes. It was the year baseball stopped being a contact sport and became a power game.
A Slow Start, Then the Flood
Ruth didn't hit a home run in April. His first Yankee blast came on May 1 against the Red Sox in Boston -- a detail that writes its own narrative -- and from there the pace turned absurd. He hit 12 home runs in May and 12 more in June. By early July he'd already passed his own 1919 mark of 29, and the season wasn't half over.
The crowds at the Polo Grounds swelled with every swing. People who'd never bought a baseball ticket showed up to watch Ruth hit. The Yankees were tenants in the Giants' building, but Ruth was filling it better than John McGraw's club ever had. Every at-bat was an event, and everybody in the ballpark knew it.
The Numbers
Ruth's final line looked like a misprint. The .376 batting average showed he wasn't just a power hitter -- he was an elite contact hitter who happened to hit the ball farther than anyone alive. The .532 on-base percentage and 150 walks reflected the terror he created in opposing pitching staffs. The .847 slugging percentage was otherworldly. And the 54 home runs stood alone, with George Sisler's 19 a distant second.
| Home Runs | 54 (single-season record) |
| Batting Average | .376 |
| On-Base Percentage | .532 |
| Slugging Percentage | .847 |
| Runs Scored | 158 (led AL) |
| RBI | 137 (led AL) |
| Walks | 150 (led AL) |
| Extra-Base Hits | 99 |
| WAR | 11.8 |
Killing the Dead Ball
The 54 home runs weren't just a statistical achievement. They were a philosophical earthquake. The Dead Ball Era had valued bunts, stolen bases, and the careful manufacturing of runs. Ruth made all of that look quaint. Why sacrifice a runner to second when one swing could put two runs on the board?
Pitchers tried everything. They worked him inside, they pitched around him, they walked him 150 times. Nothing worked. Ruth punished the ones who challenged him and waited out the ones who didn't. The 99 extra-base hits -- home runs, doubles, triples -- proved he wasn't selling out for power. He was simply better than everyone else at hitting a baseball, and the ball went where it went.
The spitball ban that took effect after the 1920 season (accelerated by in August) and the requirement for cleaner baseballs only amplified what Ruth had already started. The game's old guard could complain all they wanted. Ruth had made their style obsolete.
The Milestones
Ruth tracked his own progress that summer with a showman's instinct. He hit his 50th home run on September 24, reaching what he'd publicly called "a half-century" -- a target so outrageous that most sportswriters treated it as bluster when he first mentioned it. He hit his 54th and final blast on September 29 against Philadelphia, clearing the right-field wall and giving the Yankees a 7-3 lead.
The runner-up, Sisler, finished with 19. The margin of 35 home runs between first and second place remains one of the most staggering gaps in baseball history. Ruth didn't just lead the league. He existed in a different category entirely.
The Investment Pays Off
The -- plus the $300,000 loan from Jacob Ruppert to Red Sox owner Harry Frazee, with Fenway Park as collateral -- looked like a gamble in January. By October, it looked like robbery. The Yankees drew , the first team in baseball history to crack a million. The revenue justified the expenditure several times over and gave Ruppert the financial platform to keep building.
The Yankees finished 95-59 but fell three games short of Cleveland in the pennant race. The team wasn't complete yet. But Ruth's bat -- and the money his bat generated -- gave the franchise everything it needed to close the gap. The 1921 pennant was a year away. The first championship came in 1923. The dynasty that followed all traces back to a former Red Sox pitcher who couldn't stop hitting baseballs out of the park.
Fifty-four home runs. The second-place total was 19. The sport never looked the same.
Ruth Sold to the Yankees
The Red Sox sell Babe Ruth to the Yankees for $100,000, the largest sum ever paid for a baseball player. The deal includes a $300,000 loan secured against Fenway Park.
First Yankee Home Run
Ruth hits his first home run in pinstripes, against the Red Sox in Boston. He'd gone the entire month of April without one.
The Record Pace Begins
Ruth hits 12 home runs in May and 12 in June, passing his own 1919 record of 29 before the season reaches its midpoint.
Number 50
Ruth hits his 50th home run, reaching the "half-century" mark he'd publicly targeted earlier in the season.
Number 54: The Final Blast
Ruth hits his 54th home run against the Philadelphia Athletics, clearing the right-field wall. The single-season record will stand until Ruth himself breaks it with 59 in 1921.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many home runs did Babe Ruth hit in 1920?
Ruth hit 54 home runs in 1920, his first season with the Yankees after being purchased from the Red Sox for $100,000. The total nearly doubled his own previous record of 29 (set in 1919) and more than tripled the runner-up's 19 (George Sisler). Ruth also batted .376 with a .532 on-base percentage, .847 slugging, 158 runs, 137 RBI, and 150 walks.
Who had the second-most home runs in 1920?
George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns hit 19 home runs in 1920, finishing second in the American League -- 35 home runs behind Ruth's 54. The gap between first and second place that season remains one of the most lopsided margins in baseball history.
Did Babe Ruth's 1920 home run record stand for long?
Ruth broke his own record the very next season, hitting 59 home runs in 1921. He broke it again in 1927 with 60 -- a mark that stood until . Ruth held the single-season record for all but one year between 1919 and 1961, and he broke his own record three consecutive times (29 in 1919, 54 in 1920, 59 in 1921).
What impact did Ruth's 54 home runs have on the Yankees franchise?
Ruth's 1920 season transformed the Yankees from a second-tier franchise into baseball's biggest draw. The club attracted 1,289,422 fans -- the first team in MLB history to exceed one million -- validating the $100,000 investment. The revenue Ruth generated helped finance the roster improvements that produced the franchise's first pennant in 1921 and first World Series title in 1923, and his popularity at the Polo Grounds eventually led to the construction of Yankee Stadium.