On This Day: Babe Ruth Becomes First Player to Ever Hit 700 Home Runs

It was on this day (July 13) in 1934, that New York Yankees star Babe Ruth founded a historic club.

Per Ryan Spaeder on social media:

#Yankees Babe Ruth founded the 700 Home Run Club 91 years ago today, on July 13, 1934—no other player had even half as many home runs at the time.

#Yankees Babe Ruth founded the 700 Home Run Club 91 years ago today, on July 13, 1934—no other player had even half as many home runs at the time. pic.twitter.com/1z87WZTYnb
— Ryan M. Spaeder (@theaceofspaeder) July 14, 2025

The most famous baseball player that ever lived, Ruth spent 22 seasons in the big leagues with the Boston Red Sox, Yankees and Boston Braves. His career is a laundry list of accomplishments including an MVP and two All-Star Game appearances. He was a seven-time World Series champion and a batting champion. He hit .342 in his career, also driving in 2,214 runs. His 714 home runs make him just one of four players in the 700-homer club (Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Ruth, Albert Pujols). He led the major leagues in home runs 11 times and posted five seasons of greater than .500 on-base percentages.

Also a pitcher earlier in his career, he led the American League in ERA with a 1.75 in 1916. He had 94 wins on the mound and a career 2.28 ERA.

The Red Sox sold him to the Yankees in 1918, setting off the "Curse of the Bambino," which lasted 86 years until the Sox finally won the World Series in 2004.

Ruth has become somewhat of a legend of folklore, spawning movies, and even his own division of youth baseball.

He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.

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