{"id":100849,"date":"2025-05-25T07:00:19","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T11:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=100849"},"modified":"2025-05-25T01:51:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-25T05:51:14","slug":"90-years-ago-babe-ruth-final-home-runs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/05\/25\/90-years-ago-babe-ruth-final-home-runs\/","title":{"rendered":"90 Years Ago Today: Babe Ruth Hit His Final Three Home Runs in Pittsburgh"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On a sunny Saturday afternoon on May 25, 1935, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/ruthba01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-24_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Babe Ruth<\/a> hit the final three home runs of his career at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. As would future stars <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mayswi01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-24_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Willie Mays<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=,aaronha01&amp;search=Henry+Aaron&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-24_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Henry Aaron<\/a>, Ruth finished his career in the city where it began, but with a different team. In Ruth\u2019s case, the 40-year-old was finishing up with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/03\/09\/worst-mlb-1935-boston-braves\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Boston Braves<\/a>. On that afternoon, he had no inkling as to how close he was to \u201cfinishing up.\u201d Ruth would play just five more games afterward, ending his career with 714 home runs.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">On this day in 1935, Babe Ruth hit home runs No. 712, 713 and 714 \u2013 the final three of his larger-than-life career. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TTpDN0DfuF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/TTpDN0DfuF<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 ESPN (@espn) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/espn\/status\/735600101524004865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 25, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Babe Ruth Hit His Final Three Home Runs 90 Years Ago Today<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>It seemed secondary that the Pirates won the game, 11-7. Pittsburgh\u2019s third baseman, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/t\/theveto01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-24_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tommy Thevenow<\/a>, delivered perhaps the most overlooked five-RBI performance in baseball history. That\u2019s what happens when Babe Ruth goes 4-for-4 with three home runs and six RBI. \u201cRuth Smashes Three Homers, But Bucs Win, 11-7,\u201d read the headline in the <em>Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph<\/em> sports section the next day, in big bold type usually reserved for declarations of war. In a more subtle typeface, <em>The Pittsburgh Press<\/em> headline read, \u201cRuth Hits Three Homers, But Bucs Win, 11-7.\u201d Sportswriters of the era were more fans than journalists. Volney Walsh of <em>The Press<\/em> repeatedly referred to Ruth as \u201cthe Great Man\u201d in his report. He\u2019s \u201cthe Great One\u201d in a caption to a photo that ran in the <em>Sun-Telegraph<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>\u201cBoy, That Last One Felt Good\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>It was his third home run of the day that had everybody talking. It came in the seventh inning against Pirates right-hander <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bushgu01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-24_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Guy Bush<\/a>. Bush, \u201cthrowing everything he had on every ball,\u201d according to Walsh, fell behind in the count, 3-0. Ruth swung and missed the next pitch. Then Bush came in with a slow curveball. Ruth unleashed a mighty swing and sent a \u201cprodigious wallop that carried clear over the right field stands\u201d and into Panther Hollow as the Pirates fielders \u201cstood in their tracks\u201d and watched. No ball had ever been hit over those stands. It was the longest homer ever hit at Forbes Field. The Pirates led, 7-6. However, by then, wrote Charles J. Doyle of the <em>Sun-Telegraph<\/em>, \u201cThe onlookers didn\u2019t seem to be worried about the progression of the game from that point.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pirates fans roared as Ruth trotted around the bases. Ruth touched home plate and tipped his cap. Then, recalled Pirates rookie pitcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brownma01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-24_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mace Brown<\/a> to author Jim O\u2019Brien in <em>Glory Years<\/em>, \u201cHe ran directly into our dugout and sat right beside me on the end of the bench! He sat there for four or five minutes, right next to me! The only thing I remember him saying was, \u2018Boy, that last one felt good.\u2019\u201d From there, legend has it, Ruth disappeared into the Braves&#8217; clubhouse for the remainder of the game. It makes for a nice story: Babe hits his final home run and disappears. But it wasn&#8217;t true, according to attendee James Calderone (Uncle Jimmy to me), although Ruth was replaced in right field by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mowryjo01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-24_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joe Mowry<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>The Babe Arrives in Pittsburgh<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>There was palpable excitement over Ruth playing in Pittsburgh for the first time since he played against the Pirates in the 1927 World Series, going 6-for-15 with two home runs in the New York Yankees\u2019 four-game sweep. On Thursday, May 23, the <em>Sun-Telegraph<\/em> ran a front-page photo of Ruth in downtown Pittsburgh, being mobbed by children. He was in high demand. The night before, he spoke at a testimonial dinner at the Schenley Hotel for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/maranra01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-24_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rabbit Maranville<\/a>, a former Pirate and his current teammate on the Braves. Ruth obliged a special request to autograph a baseball to be delivered to a boy in a hospital in nearby McKeesport. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2020\/12\/20\/babe-ruth-children-santa-claus\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">The Babe could never turn down kids<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Before the Sunday game, he met with a group of boys and girls who were guests of the <em>Sun-Telegraph<\/em>. One dozen of them received autographed baseballs from Ruth. For three days, the <em>Sun-Telegraph<\/em> wouldn\u2019t shut up about it. It ran a photo of Ruth and the children the next day. One child was Black. The paper noted that Ruth \u201crubbed the little colored fellow\u2019s head for luck.\u201d These weren\u2019t politically correct times. Doyle even devoted a paragraph to the meeting with the children in his game story, probably under orders.<\/p>\n<p>Ruth was 1-for-8 in the first two games of the three-game series at Forbes Field. Even so, the Pittsburgh media covered Ruth\u2019s every move during the games. Headlines in the local papers noted he was hitless in the Thursday game. The Saturday papers ran large photos of him. That the Pirates swept the three-game series was secondary.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>The Babe Arrives in the National League<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>That Ruth would end up with the Braves was a story in itself. His three-year contract with the Yankees expired after the 1934 season. The Yankees saw him as a player in decline. Ruth hit 22 home runs in 1934 to go with a .288\/.448\/.537 slash line. That kind of production would land him an eight-figure annual salary today.<\/p>\n<p>Ruth, now a high-profile free agent before anybody used that term, hoped to become a player\/manager on his next team. \u00a0A rumor had him going to the Philadelphia Athletics as a player\/assistant-manager-in-waiting. Athletics manager <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mackco01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-24_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Connie Mack<\/a>, who also owned the team, quashed that rumor. \u201cI\u2019m going to manage the team until I\u2019m 80,\u201d Mack told George Kirksey of United Press, \u201cso you see he\u2019ll be an old man waiting for the job.\u201d Meanwhile, Ruth denied rumors that he\u2019d be returning to the Yankees.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>\u201cI\u2019ll Give Everything I Have\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The rumor mill churned. The Yankees didn\u2019t send Ruth a new contract, believing he was retiring. The 101 Ranch Circus offered Ruth $75,000 to join the circus and tour the country. That would more than double Ruth\u2019s $35,000 salary with the Yankees in 1934. Ruth said he would spend 1935 writing a book rather than playing baseball. Yet he was seen training intensively for the next season. Meanwhile, National League president Ford Frick was making a \u201cdetermined effort\u201d to get Ruth to join an NL club. He would be a gate attraction there. He was no longer a novelty in the American League. Finally, on February 26, 1935, Ruth signed a one-year contract with <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2020\/11\/20\/braves-by-decade-1930s-boston-braves-bees\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">the Braves<\/a>. He would be a player, vice president, and assistant manager to Braves manager <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/managers\/mckecbi01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bill McKechnie<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Ruth sounded an optimistic tone, telling the Associated Press, \u201cIf the old legs stand up, I hope to play in at least 100 games for the Braves this year. I\u2019m in good shape now. I think I can still do my share of hitting and I\u2019ll give everything I have to help make things click for the Braves.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Numbers 712 and 713<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Ruth entered the May 25 game with only nine hits in 59 at-bats, although three hits were home runs. Wearing his familiar number 3, batting third and playing right field for the Braves, Ruth stepped up in the first inning before many of the reported 10,000 ticket holders were in their seats. Facing right-hander <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lucasre01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-24_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Red Lucas<\/a> with a man on, \u201cthe Bambino\u201d hit a towering fly ball to right field that \u201cbarely cleared the screen and dropped into the lower deck,\u201d according to Walsh.<\/p>\n<p>When Ruth stepped up to the plate in the top of the third, again, a man was on base. Replacing Lucas on the mound was Bush, who ran the count to 3-2. Ruth crushed his second home run of the day, a shot that landed in the second deck in right field. \u201cThat one was a tremendous drive in itself,\u201d wrote Walsh, \u201cequaling some of the other record homers Forbes Field has seen.\u201d The three home runs accounted for numbers 712, 713, and 714 in the storied career of Ruth.<\/p>\n<p>Ruth also had an RBI single in the fifth inning, after which he scampered to third on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bergewa01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-24_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Wally Berger<\/a>\u2019s single. Additionally, he recorded three putouts in right field. One of those plays was a nice running grab of a sinking line drive off the bat of Bush, as if Ruth hadn\u2019t caused him enough trouble on the day. Apparently, the aging <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2021\/09\/17\/how-babe-ruth-killed-the-bunt\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">slugger<\/a> still had some wheels.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>The End<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Alas, nine days later, Ruth\u2019s playing career would come to an abrupt end. It was more like a messy divorce between Ruth and Braves president Judge Emil Fuchs. Their dialogue was straight out of a 1930s B movie. \u201cDirty double-crosser\u201d and \u201cliar\u201d were the words Ruth used to describe Fuchs. Fuchs called Ruth \u201ca prima donna\u201d who wanted special treatment.<\/p>\n<p>The Braves were scheduled to play an exhibition game in Bridgeport, Connecticut on that June day. The French ocean liner, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greatoceanliners.com\/ss-normandie\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>SS Normandie<\/em><\/a>, was scheduled to arrive in New York on the same day. Ruth had been out with a knee injury since leaving a game on May 30. He asked for permission to skip the exhibition game and attend the celebration in New York. Ever the goodwill ambassador, Ruth thought his presence there would be good publicity for baseball. The Judge insisted Ruth be in uniform for the exhibition game. A fierce dispute ensued. Ruth went on the voluntary retired list. Or Fuchs asked for his resignation. Each had his own story.<\/p>\n<p>Frank Murphy of United Press asked Ruth whether he \u201chad words\u201d with Fuchs. \u201cI\u2019ll tell you,\u201d said Ruth, \u201cbut you can\u2019t put it in the papers.\u201d Wrote Murphy, \u201cHe told me and he was right. I can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ruth intended to keep playing, but nobody came calling. Just like that, it was over. But for one glorious, sun-splashed spring day in Pittsburgh, he was \u201cthe Sultan of Swat\u201d one last time.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a9 Michael Clevenger\/Courier Journal \/ USA TODAY NETWORK<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On a sunny Saturday afternoon on May 25, 1935, Babe Ruth hit the final three home runs of his career at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. As would future stars Willie Mays and Henry Aaron, Ruth finished his career in the city where it began, but with a different team. In Ruth\u2019s case, the 40-year-old was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5010,"featured_media":100873,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4454,21,1071,35],"tags":[1231,5839,4330,2252,231,4413,6091,1722],"class_list":["post-100849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-baseball-history","category-braves","category-mlb","category-news","tag-babe-ruth","tag-bill-mckechnie","tag-boston-braves","tag-hank-aaron","tag-pittsburgh-pirates","tag-rabbit-maranville","tag-red-lucas","tag-willie-mays"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5010"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100849"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100874,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100849\/revisions\/100874"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}