tonti@ptsfc.UUCP (Guy Tonti) (11/14/85)
More info on the Babe, and his 714 home runs: The date escapes me (I believe 1915), but for one year baseball did not credit a home run if it finished a game, but the run the batter represented was meaningless. Ergo, game tied, bottom of the ninth and a runner on first, a batter hitting a home run would only be credited with a triple. The Babe had one of these that year, which really gave him 715. This was pointed out by those who felt Mr. Aaron was not worthy of challenging the Babe. On the other hand, the year Jimmy Foxx hit 58 home runs, Sportsmans Park in St. Louis changed its stadium ground rules whereby a ball into its left field fence was played live. Mr. Foxx hit 3 into the fence that year, giving him unofficially 61. Funny but the Babe lovers rarely talk about this. Oh well, you can make statistics say anything. Remember, Hank Aaron was one ruthless dude!