100th anniversary of Babe Ruth's First Home Run...or maybe not

[Freddy_the_Pig]

@bup

I looked up League Park, too, which was basically a big rectangle, so dead center was 460 feet away from home plate.

Never mind. By the time Ruth would have ever played there, center field was at most 420 feet (still a huge center field, but not on the order of the Polo Grounds).

That was actually a common pattern with the “Early Modern” ballparks. A lot of them were built as big rectangles. Then over the following decades management decided that fans dig the long ball, and either added seats or just fenced off the big centerfield.

In Comiskey Park, the White Sox went back and forth putting in and ripping out an inner centerfield fence.

@bup

I was under the impression that all he did for the Bosox was pitch - so the answer to the question about any early homer about if he pitched that day would be “yes.” If he was in the lineup, he was pitching.

He did also pinch-hit. He appeared 51 times as a pinch-hitter for the Red Sox, mostly while he was a full-time pitcher (in other words, before 1918), but only hit one home run. It was on June 12, 1916 against the Browns, if you’re wondering.

[D18]

@Coriolanus

The Polo Grounds had a *very *short rightfield “porch” - not unlike current/Mattingly 80s/old Yankee Stadium. And a cavernous 475 foot centerfield. Willie Mays made “The Catch” way say hey out there.

Yes, and apparently what was equally amazing, but usually overlooked, is the throw that followed it.

[Coriolanus]

@D18

Yes, and apparently what was equally amazing, but usually overlooked, is the throw that followed it.

Correct. Without a good throw back to 2nd base, the runner on 2nd could have tagged up* and easily scored, and the runner on 1st made it to 2nd. So the throw kept the score at 2-2.

*ETA - which the runner on 2nd did do, but he had to hold up at 3rd base. So it was 1st and 3rd, one out.