October 6, 1926: The Babe sets another record

On October 6, 1926, Yankee slugger Babe Ruth hits a record three homers against the St. Louis Cardinals in the fourth game of the World Series. The Yanks won the game 10-5, but despite Ruth’s unprecedented performance, they lost the championship in the seventh game. In 1928, in the fourth game of another Yanks-Cards World Series, Ruth tied his own record, knocking three more pitches out of the same park.

The Yankees were heavily favored, and they won the first game easily. They lost the second, though, thanks to an outstanding full-game performance from St. Louis pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander. The next day, Jessie Haines pitched a complete game for the Cardinals and hit the only home run in his team’s 4-0 Game 3 victory.

The 1926 championship promised to be an exciting one. The AL champs had a powerful lineup, later called the "Murderer’s Row," that included the great Babe, the young "Columbia Lou" Gehrig, and the leadoff man Earle Combs. For their part, the Cardinals had the intimidating Rogers Hornsby along with ace pitchers Flint Rhem and Bill Sherdel.

By the fourth game in the series, the Cardinals were up two games to one. The Yankees needed to pull it together, and for one game, they did. Veteran Waite Hoyt pitched all nine innings while St. Louis shuffled through its entire bullpen. And the Babe, the Sultan of Swat, the Caliph of Clout, the Wali of Wallop, hit his three homers and led the Yanks to a 10-5 victory. Unfortunately for the Bombers, that game didn’t decide the series. Though they won the next game in 10 innings, they lost the next one by eight runs. And they were losing the seventh game by one run in the ninth inning when the Bambino stepped to the plate again. With a 3-2 count, Ruth drew his eleventh walk of the series and trotted off to first base. The Yanks’ hopes plummeted as quickly as they’d risen, though, when second baseman Hornsby nabbed him as he tried somewhat ploddingly to steal second. The game was over. Thanks to the magical Bambino, the Bombers had lost.

On October 18, 1977, Yankee Reggie Jackson became only the second player to hit three homers in a single Series game. This impacted the city of New York during that time in a big way. New York lives and dies Yankees baseball. Babe Ruth is one of the greatest players of all time and contributed to much if the Yankees' early success. Ruth set many records, including this one. Many of his records are hard to touch, as shown by the fact that Reggie Jackson (also one of the greatest players of all time) didn't break this record until half a century later. I am a "New York Yankee fan." I believe that the Yankees represent America's pastime and I am always fascinated by what Babe Ruth did during his career.