Ruth, Mantle, Judge: HR relative to league.

In 1927 there were only 8 teams in the American League (AL) and teams were scheduled to play 154 games.

Starting in 1961, the AL expanded from 8 to 10 teams, which played a 162 game schedule.

In 2017 there were 15 teams, which played 162 games.

In 2017 25 year old Yankee rookie Aaron Judge hit a rookie record 52 Home Runs (HR), which led the American League (AL). Judge also led the AL in Strike Outs (SO) and Bases on Balls (BB).  In a series of posts, Judge is being compared to legendary Yankee home run champions Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle, who also often led the league in SO and BB. Since Judge has played only one full season, this is being done for individual seasons for Ruth and Mantle.

See the two previous posts on SO and BB. As with those, the seasons for Ruth and Mantle will be for their highest in the stat being examined, here Home Runs (HR). So for Ruth 1927 when the Babe set the season HR record for the fourth and final time with 60. For Mantle it is 1961 when he hit more than 50 for the second time but finished second to teammate Roger Maris in the great HR race 61 to 54. Obviously, Maris broke Ruth's HR record in 1961, aided by 5% more games and diluted pitching due to expansion.

Judge may have been aided by a juiced baseball, which has been addressed here and elsewhere in 2017. Given how far Judge hit many of his HR, the league HR rate may have been boosted more.

This post will subtract the individual's stats from the league to get a more accurate look. That would have helped in the two previous posts but is essential for HR. Ruth out homered every other team in both 1920 and 1927, so Ruth should dominate both Mantle and Judge. But let's see by how much and how close Mantle and Judge are to each other.

In 1927 the AL hit 439 HR, so Ruth's 60 were 13.7%. The Cleveland Indians hit the fewest HR: 26. The Philadelphia Athletics were second to the Yankees 158 with 56.  

In 1961 only the Kansas City Athletics hit fewer than 100 HR: 90. Boston was next with 112. The Yankees hit a record 240.

In 2017 Boston had the fewest HR: 168. The Yankees led with 241.

Through 1927 the most HR in a season:

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Rk	Player	HR	SO	BB	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	IBB	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Babe Ruth	60	89	137	1927	32	NYY	AL	151	691	540	158	192	29	8	165		0	14			7	6	.356	.486	.772	1.258	*97
2	Babe Ruth	59	81	145	1921	26	NYY	AL	152	693	540	177	204	44	16	168		4	4			17	13	.378	.512	.846	1.359	*78/13
3	Babe Ruth	54	80	150	1920	25	NYY	AL	142	616	458	158	172	36	9	135		3	5			14	14	.376	.532	.847	1.379	*978/3H1
4	Lou Gehrig	47	84	109	1927	24	NYY	AL	155	717	584	149	218	52	18	173		3	21			10	8	.373	.474	.765	1.240	*3
5	Babe Ruth	47	76	144	1926	31	NYY	AL	152	652	495	139	184	30	5	153		3	10			11	9	.372	.516	.737	1.253	*79/H3
6	Babe Ruth	46	81	142	1924	29	NYY	AL	153	681	529	143	200	39	7	124		4	6			9	13	.378	.513	.739	1.252	*97/8H
7	Rogers Hornsby	42	50	65	1922	26	STL	NL	154	704	623	141	250	46	14	152		1	15			17	12	.401	.459	.722	1.181	*4
8	Cy Williams	41	57	59	1923	35	PHI	NL	136	604	535	98	157	22	3	114		7	3			11	10	.293	.371	.576	.947	*8/H
9	Babe Ruth	41	93	170	1923	28	NYY	AL	152	697	522	151	205	45	13	130		4	3			17	21	.393	.545	.764	1.309	97/83
10	Rogers Hornsby	39	39	83	1925	29	STL	NL	138	606	504	133	203	41	10	143		2	16			5	3	.403	.489	.756	1.245	*4/H
11	Ken Williams	39	31	74	1922	32	SLB	AL	153	678	585	128	194	34	11	155		7	12			37	20	.332	.413	.627	1.040	*78

Ruth and Gehrig were tied at 45 HR in 1927, same as Maris and Mantle in 1961.

Through 1961 all with at least 50 HR:

Rk	Player	HR	SO	BB	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	IBB	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Roger Maris	61	67	94	1961	26	NYY	AL	161	698	590	132	159	16	4	141	0	7	0	7	16	0	0	.269	.372	.620	.993	*98/H
2	Babe Ruth	60	89	137	1927	32	NYY	AL	151	691	540	158	192	29	8	165		0	14			7	6	.356	.486	.772	1.258	*97
3	Babe Ruth	59	81	145	1921	26	NYY	AL	152	693	540	177	204	44	16	168		4	4			17	13	.378	.512	.846	1.359	*78/13
4	Hank Greenberg	58	92	119	1938	27	DET	AL	155	681	556	143	175	23	4	147		3	3			7	5	.315	.438	.683	1.122	*3
5	Jimmie Foxx	58	96	116	1932	24	PHA	AL	154	702	585	151	213	33	9	169		0	0			3	7	.364	.469	.749	1.218	*35
6	Hack Wilson	56	84	105	1930	30	CHC	NL	155	709	585	146	208	35	6	191		1	18			3		.356	.454	.723	1.177	*8
7	Mickey Mantle	54	112	126	1961	29	NYY	AL	153	646	514	131	163	16	6	128	9	0	1	5	2	12	1	.317	.448	.687	1.135	*8/H
8	Ralph Kiner	54	61	117	1949	26	PIT	NL	152	667	549	116	170	19	5	127		1	0		10	6		.310	.432	.658	1.089	*7
9	Babe Ruth	54	87	137	1928	33	NYY	AL	154	684	536	163	173	29	8	146		3	8			4	5	.323	.463	.709	1.172	*97
10	Babe Ruth	54	80	150	1920	25	NYY	AL	142	616	458	158	172	36	9	135		3	5			14	14	.376	.532	.847	1.379	*978/3H1
11	Mickey Mantle	52	99	112	1956	24	NYY	AL	150	652	533	132	188	22	5	130	6	2	1	4	4	10	1	.353	.464	.705	1.169	*8/H
12	Willie Mays	51	60	79	1955	24	NYG	NL	152	670	580	123	185	18	13	127	13	4	0	7	12	24	4	.319	.400	.659	1.059	*8
13	Ralph Kiner	51	81	98	1947	24	PIT	NL	152	666	565	118	177	23	4	127		2	1		12	1		.313	.417	.639	1.055	*7/H
14	Johnny Mize	51	42	74	1947	34	NYG	NL	154	664	586	137	177	26	2	138		4	0		6	2		.302	.384	.614	.998	*3
15	Jimmie Foxx	50	76	119	1938	30	BOS	AL	149	685	565	139	197	33	9	175		0	1			5	4	.349	.462	.704	1.166	*3

Mantle was tied for 7th most and 11th. Ruth dominates.

Most HR through 2017:

Rk	Player	HR	SO	BB	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	IBB	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Barry Bonds	73	93	177	2001	36	SFG	NL	153	664	476	129	156	32	2	137	35	9	0	2	5	13	3	.328	.515	.863	1.379	*7/DH
2	Mark McGwire	70	155	162	1998	34	STL	NL	155	681	509	130	152	21	0	147	28	6	0	4	8	1	0	.299	.470	.752	1.222	*3/H
3	Sammy Sosa	66	171	73	1998	29	CHC	NL	159	722	643	134	198	20	0	158	14	1	0	5	20	18	9	.308	.377	.647	1.024	*9/8
4	Mark McGwire	65	141	133	1999	35	STL	NL	153	661	521	118	145	21	1	147	21	2	0	5	12	0	0	.278	.424	.697	1.120	*3/H
5	Sammy Sosa	64	153	116	2001	32	CHC	NL	160	711	577	146	189	34	5	160	37	6	0	12	6	0	2	.328	.437	.737	1.174	*9
6	Sammy Sosa	63	171	78	1999	30	CHC	NL	162	712	625	114	180	24	2	141	8	3	0	6	17	7	8	.288	.367	.635	1.002	*98
7	Roger Maris	61	67	94	1961	26	NYY	AL	161	698	590	132	159	16	4	141	0	7	0	7	16	0	0	.269	.372	.620	.993	*98/H
8	Babe Ruth	60	89	137	1927	32	NYY	AL	151	691	540	158	192	29	8	165		0	14			7	6	.356	.486	.772	1.258	*97
9	Giancarlo Stanton	59	163	85	2017	27	MIA	NL	159	692	597	123	168	32	0	132	13	7	0	3	13	2	2	.281	.376	.631	1.007	*9/HD
10	Babe Ruth	59	81	145	1921	26	NYY	AL	152	693	540	177	204	44	16	168		4	4			17	13	.378	.512	.846	1.359	*78/13

In 2017 Aaron Judge (52) was second in the Major League to Stanton (59).

50 HR have been hit 45 times, including multiples by some players. At 52 Judge is tied for 28th most HR in a season.

OK, let's look at the HR rates, percent of at bats (AB) with HR.

year	Yank	HR	AB	HR/AB
1927	Ruth	60	540	11.11%
1961	Mantle	54	514	10.51%
2017	Judge	52	542	9.59%

	L	L	L
year	HR	AB	HR/AB
1927	439	42,117	1.04%
1961	1,534	54,904	2.79%
2017	3,170	83,034	3.82%

	L-P	L-P	L-P
year	HR	AB	HR/AB
1927	379	41,577	0.91%
1961	1,480	54,390	2.72%
2017	3,118	82,492	3.78%

		P-(L-P)	P-(L-P)
Yank	year	Dif	Pct Dif
Ruth	1927	10.20%	1119%
Mantle	1961	7.78%	286%
Judge	2017	5.81%	154%

The HR rates of the three Yankees are somewhat close but for the American League (AL), especially with the player's stats subtracted, the HR rates are really different. In 1927 less than one percent of at bats (AB) resulted in HR. In 1961 2.7% and in 2017 3.8%.

So Ruth, as expected, is on another planet. But Mantle, even with the AL exploding in HR in 1961, is way ahead of Judge.