The Yankees' 110 victories broke the previous
American League mark of 105 (set by the
1912 Boston Red Sox) and would stand as the American League single-season record until it was broken by the
Cleveland Indians in 1954. But counting their World Series sweep, the 1927 Yankees had a total record of 114–44 --- which is still the all-time highest single-season winning percentage (.721) in American League history. The 1998 Yankees, who also won their World Series in a sweep, are second with a full-season mark of 125–50 (.714). This was the first year the Yankees acknowledged their team nickname on their uniforms, albeit their
road uniforms. Their home uniforms remained free of any kind of logo except for the "NY" on their caps. The roster included nine future
Hall of Famers: Pitchers
Herb Pennock and
Waite Hoyt, Infielders
Lou Gehrig and
Tony Lazzeri, outfielders
Babe Ruth and
Earle Combs, Manager
Miller Huggins, Team President
Ed Barrow and Owner
Colonel Jacob Ruppert.
Babe Ruth With the race long since decided, the nation's attention turned to
Babe Ruth's pursuit of his own home run mark of 59, set in 1921. Early in the season, Ruth expressed doubts about his chances: "I don't suppose I'll ever break that 1921 record. To do that, you've got to start early, and the pitchers have got to pitch to you. I don't start early, and the pitchers haven't really pitched to me in four seasons. I get more bad balls to hit than any other five men...and fewer good ones." Ruth was also being challenged for his slugger's crown by teammate
Lou Gehrig, who nudged ahead of Ruth's total in midseason, prompting the
New York World-Telegram to anoint Gehrig the favorite. But Ruth caught Gehrig (who would finish with 47), and then had a remarkable last leg of the season, hitting 17 home runs in September. His 60th came on September 30, in the Yankees' next-to-last game against the
Washington Senators at
Yankee Stadium. Tied 2–2, he hit a 2-run home run in the bottom of the 8th inning off of
Tom Zachary, where they won the game 4–2. Ruth was exultant, shouting after the game, "Sixty, count 'em, sixty! Let's see some other son of a bitch match that!" In later years, he would give Gehrig some credit: "Pitchers began pitching to me because if they passed me they still had Lou to contend with." In addition to his career-high 60 home runs, Ruth batted .356, drove in 165 runs and slugged .772.
Babe Ruth's 60 home runs Season standings Record vs. opponents Roster ==Player stats==