You think you know Babe Ruth’s legend? Check this: October 6, 1926, the man made World Series history, dropping three homers in Game 4 of the Fall Classic, a record that still stands. And get this: even after that insane performance, people *still* didn’t fully get how good he was.
The Big Fella Showed Up, Even When His Team Didn’t
Babe Ruth was already a household name by October of 1926, no doubt, but that ’26 World Series was a massive, legacy-building event for the slugger. Even if his Yankees ended up losing the series to the Cardinals in seven games. Can you believe it? Seven games! Bronx faithful were groaning, and manager Miller Huggins was getting some serious heat, having won just one title in his first nine seasons. Brutal.
But Ruth? Man, he made his mark, even in defeat. Besides that monstrous three-homer game, he absolutely raked in the series, batting .300 with a ridiculous .900 slugging percentage and hitting four HRs across the seven games. He reminded everyone exactly who he was, even when his team came up short.
Thomas S. Rice Called It: The Babe Was Just Different
It’s wild to think about, but in the October 14 issue of The Sporting News, a writer named Thomas S. Rice straight up asserted that Ruth was *still* underappreciated as an all-around player. Think about that: a guy just mashed three homers in a World Series game days earlier, and Rice was saying folks weren’t giving him enough credit for everything else he did because his bat was so loud.
And you know what? Rice turned out to be absolutely right. His thoughts were prophetic. Ruth’s legend just exploded from there, growing well after both Rice and the Babe himself passed away. Ruth would go on to win four total titles as a Yankee. The dude set the baseball record for career home runs with 717, boasted a .474 career on-base percentage, and became one of the most important figures in the history of the sport, not just for the Yankees. He still holds records for career slugging percentage (.619), OPS (1.164), and even the single-season record for runs scored, with 177 in 1921. Seriously, Rice called it. Ruth’s legend is just immense today, decades after his death, far bigger than it was even days after that incredible series where he mashed those four dingers. What a player.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by The Sporting News.
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