The major leagues see eight of ten scheduled games played on July 19, 1920, as two doubleheaders make up for two games postponed by rain. Two games come in with the low run total of the day as the Cubs beat the Braves 5-0 in Chicago, while the Cardinals take twelve innings to beat the Phillies 3-2 in St. Louis. At the high end, the Indians take game one of their doubleheader in Boston 10-6. They drop the night cap to the Red Sox 5-4 in ten innings.

The momentous story of the day takes place at the Polo grounds in a double header split between the Yankees and the White Sox. New York wins game one 8-2, while the White Sox take game two by a score of 8-5. Few New York fans wound up caring about the loss, however.

Babe Ruth takes home best offensive game of the day in the night cap. He hits two home runs off Dickey Kerr, becoming the first major league player to hit 30 home runs in a season. His clout in the fourth inning breaks the record of 29 homers Ruth set the previous season, and the second one put the icing on the cake.

This was front page news.* There were 26,000 people at the game. There was no television or radio, so the story needs to paint a picture of the event. Kerr walked Ruth in the first time they faced each other. Ruth came to bat again in the fourth inning.

Ruth came to bat in the fourth following Pipp, the Yankee first baseman. He slouched up, swinging an extra bat or two. Pipp had sent a hit into left field and the Yankees were behind by one run. This time Kerr shot a ball within reach of Ruth and the Colossus of Swat swung.

At the crack of the bat against the ball the watchers sprang to their feet. There usually is no doubt when Ruth hits a home run, and there was no doubt about it this time. The ball traveled high toward the right field bleachers and struck a few tiers back from the edge.

Ruth paused just an instant to trace the flight of the ball, then he started to trot in a leisurely manner around the bases. His boyish face was illuminated by a broad grin, which he still wore when he crossed the home plate behind Wally Pipp.

The stands were packed with hysterical beings screaming and waving hats.

New York Tribune

This is an important turning point for the major league game. After years of no 30 home run seasons, the next ninety nine trips around the sun would produce a thirty home run season in all but one year, 1945. It would take World War II to drain the majors of enough talent to prevent that level from being reach by a hitter.

The number of 30 home run hitters in a season grew with the number of teams. During the sixteen team era, 1929 and 1930 produced a record ten players with 30 home runs. During the twenty team era (1961**-1968) two seasons produced fifteen players reaching that level, 1964 and 1965. In the 24 team era (1969-1976), the 1970 season produced 19 such seasons. The 26 team era (1977-1992) saw 28 players reach that level in 1987. The 28 team era (1993-1997) produced 40 players for the first time, with 43 hitters at 30 home runs in 1996. With 30 teams, that mark was topped in 1999 (45), 2000 (47) and finally in 2019 with 58 players reaching that level. With only 60 games to play in 2020, we likely will see just the second season since Ruth broke the barrier without a 30 home run hitter.

Note the article on Ruth also contains a bit of a foreshadowing of the upcoming White Sox scandal. The article mentions that Kerr saved the White Sox from “an utter rout” in the previous World Series. See the July 12 review for a discussion of the short but eventful career of Kerr.

In addition, the record home run made Ruth extremely wealthy. A $100,000 movie contract was tied to his breaking the record, and Ruth collected. That would be worth about $1.3 million today.

The best pitched game of the day goes to Bill Sherdel of the Cardinals. He goes the distance in the twelve inning win, allowing nine hits and two earned runs. He shows great control as he does not walk a batter while recording five strikeouts. His game score of 81 beats out Hippo Vaughn‘s six-hit, two-walk shutout for the Cubs.

Sherdel mostly relieved in the early part of his career. He appeared in 199 games in the first five seasons of his career, making 73 starts in that time. Overall, he posted a very solid 27.7 rWAR in his time in the majors, his best year coming in 1925 when he led the NL in winning percentage at .714, going 15-6 with a 3.11 ERA, good for 5.4 rWAR. His control continued to be his strength, walking 2.2 batters per nine inning for his career. From the description in his biography, he was a Tommy John lefty; he didn’t throw hard and he allowed his defense to do most of the work.

Note that Jim Bagby of the Indians wins his eighteenth game of the season in the victory over the Red Sox. Bagby leads the AL and the majors in wins. Bagby also shows up on the leader boards, in games pitched, games started, complete games, and innings pitched.

Tris Speaker of the Indians goes four for eight in the Indians doubleheader to raise his batting average to .417. George Sisler of the Browns goes 1 for 4 to drop to .402 as Speaker takes control of the AL batting race. Sisler is now begin challenged by Joe Jackson, who also goes four for eight and is hitting .401.

With the Indians, Yankees, and White Sox all splitting doubleheaders, the AL standings do not change. Cleveland remains in first place, 1 1/2 games ahead of the Yankees (and three up in the loss column). The White Sox trail first place by 5 1/2 games.

The Reds beat the Dodgers 5-4 as their NL showdown series continues, and Brooklyn’s lead in the NL is cut to two games. The Reds walk off in the bottom of the ninth on an error. Jake Daubert doubled to start the inning. Ed Roush then bunted, and is credited with a hit. Dodgers pitcher Al Mamaux, pitching in relief, throw the bunted ball away for an error, and Daubert scores from third. The Pirates sit seven games back in third place.

*Note that the America’s Cup races led the front page news for the last week, getting the right-hand column placement. Ruth’s record comes at the bottom of the page.

**18 teams in 1961