12 things you probably don’t know about Babe Ruth

Although Ruth has company in the fraternity of players to hit three home runs in a single World Series game (Reggie Jackson, Albert Pujols, and Pablo Sandoval), Ruth was the first player to record the feat and the only player to do it twice, in 1926 and 1928. And he first established the record in unusually impressive fashion against the Cardinals in St. Louis. In Game 4, his first homer sailed over the right field roof of Sportsman’s Park. His second cleared the right center-field roof, and his third reached the centerfield bleachers. In what many considered a ill-considered gamble in the seventh and deciding game, though, Ruth was caught trying to steal second base in the ninth inning, with the Yankees trailing 3-2. That ended the Series. Although never fleet of foot, the roundish Ruth did steal 11 bases that season and 123 during his 22-year career.