I'm afraid I've found an error in this much-loved story. Jack Stivetts of the St Louis Browns hit seven home runs as a pitcher in 1890, well before the story's POD--before Ruth was born, even. That record stood till Wes Ferrell of the Cleveland Indians hit nine in 1931, and that record stands to this day.
Unless maybe I'm misremebering the story and six home runs was a NL record? Turtle Fan (talk) 20:32, February 12, 2014 (UTC)
- From the story: "Fuck, I hit six homers there myself. For a while, that was a record for a pitcher. But they said anybody could do it there."
- You appear to be right. There is certainly no qualifier as to league, etc. One possible qualifier might be that 6 runs was a Baker Bowl record--some of the context sort of suggests that. TR (talk) 20:52, February 12, 2014 (UTC)
- I don't think he'd brag about a park record if it really is so unimpressive. Well he's not exactly bragging, but at the same time, if it's such an easy thing to pull off, the record wouldn't have stood "for a while." Too bad. Turtle Fan (talk) 21:08, February 13, 2014 (UTC)