Live Ball Era (since 1920)

Definition

The game underwent a major paradigm shift in the third decade of the 20th century. It resulted from a combination of factors, including stricter rules regarding what types of pitches would not be permitted (spitballs, shine balls, emery balls, mud balls and other doctored baseballs) and the emergence of Babe Ruth as the sport’s greatest star.

Ruth’s Major League career began with the Red Sox in 1914. He was a star pitcher and also showed he could hit. But Boston utilized him primarily as a pitcher, including in the World Series in 1916 and ’18, both of which were won by the Red Sox.

In 1919, Ruth was converted to an outfielder and belted a record 29 home runs (the prior mark was 27). And after he was sold to the Yankees that offseason, he nearly doubled that home run output in his first season with New York, launching 54 homers in 1920 to usher in the Live Ball Era. The 1920 season is also when RBIs became an official statistic compiled by Major League Baseball.

Ruth would finish his legendary career with 714 home runs, a record that stood until it was broken by Hank Aaron in 1974 (Aaron’s record of 755 homers was eclipsed by Barry Bonds in 2007 -- Bonds owns the all-time home run record with 762).

Since Ruth’s emergence on the scene, baseball has seen the rise of many other great sluggers throughout the decades, including Jimmie Foxx, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Harmon Killebrew, Frank Robinson, Reggie Jackson, Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas, Albert Pujols and contemporary stars like Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani.

Outside of some brief periods in which offense declined, such as the late 1960s -- 1968 was dubbed “the Year of the Pitcher” and the mound was thereafter lowered to its current height of 10 inches above the level of home plate -- slugging has been a prominent part of the game since 1920.