Baseball History

July 12th, 1921: Babe Ruth becomes baseball's all time leading home run hitter. He clears the fence twice off Dixie Davis to pass previous record-holder Roger Connor's total of 136, in the Yankees 6-4 win over the Browns at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. By the time he retired in 1935, the Babe's total would become the iconic number of 714 -- a record that would stand for 39 years until broken by Henry Aaron.
As an aside, if you follow the Yankees to Baltimore for a couple or three games, be sure to visit the Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum, just a few blocks from Camden Yards.

The rest of this date belongs to pitchers:

July 12th, 1975: Steve Carlton's 2000th strikeout victim is Wilbur Howard as the Phillies clobber the Astros 14-2 in Houston. Lefty would eventually more than double that total: his 4136 k's are the most ever among southpaws.

Speaking of pitchers and milestones timestamped 7/12:

1901: Cy Young won his 300th game, as the Boston Americans beat the Philadelphia A's 5-3. Today, it's the point for almost certain Hall of Fame induction... For the pitcher for whom the game's annual award for excellence is named, it's just another day a the office, as Young is barely more than halfway towards his eventual career total of 511 wins!

1951: Allie Reynolds throws the first of his two no-hitters that season, as the Yankee righthander stops the Indians bats cold in a 1-0 victory at Municipal Stadium. Opposed by Bob Feller, who also brought his "A-game," the difference was Gene Woodling's solo homer in the top of the 7th. It's the first of his two no-hitters that season for Reynolds.  The other comes on September 28th against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.

 

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