Roger Maris versus Babe Ruth

Originally posted on September 1, 2014

I decided to plot Babe Ruth’s 1927 season (60 home runs) versus Roger Maris’ 1961 season (61 home runs) day-by-day, out of curiosity. There were a couple surprising things I found. First, here is the cumulative home run chart:

You’ll recall the debate about whether Maris was truly the single-season “Home Run King,” or not.  After all, the season was 162 games long in 1961 (Maris), versus 154 in 1927 (Ruth). For some people, Ruth was still clearly the Home Run King, all the way up until 1998 (when everything got extremely complicated). But I wonder if the Ruth-supporters know the following?

·    Even though there were eight more games played in 1961, the number of Plate Appearances (PAs) between Ruth and Maris were basically identical.  Ruth had 691 PAs, and Maris had 698.(Granted, Ruth took a base on balls a lot more frequently, and as a result the number of at-bats isn’t close – 590 for Maris and only 540 for Ruth.)

·    Even though there were eight more games played in 1961, the length of the season, in terms of the actual number of days, was basically identical? Ruth’s season began on April 12th, and Maris’ began on April 11th.  Both players’ (regular) seasons ended on October 1st. In other words, Maris had more baseball compacted into basically the same number of days.

·     Maris’ home run pace was well-ahead of Ruth’s, from mid-June all the way until the very end of September? For example, on September 1st, Maris had 51 HR, but Ruth only had 43.

·    It’s not fair to say Maris “fell off” in September.  He hit 10 HR after September 1st. 10 HR per month is basically the same pace he had all season.

·    Ruth, however, went on an absolute tear starting in early September.  Over the course of just 12 PAs between September 6th and 7th, 1927, Ruth hit 5 HR.  Maris’ lead collapsed. Is it more appropriate to say “Ruth caught Maris,” than to say “Maris caught Ruth?”

That’s it.  Now you know.