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Primary sourceNewspaper article2 October 1927

Sports of the Times: A Query for Babe Ruth

John Kieran · 2 October 1927

A New York Times sports column and poem from October 1927 celebrating Ruth's record sixtieth home run of the season.

This column and poem celebrate Ruth's record sixtieth home run, showing his fame at the height of his career.

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Scanned front page of The New York Times, Sunday October 2, 1927, showing the column 'Sports of the Times' by John Kieran, with a poem about Babe Ruth titled 'A Query' and the headline 'Yale Eleven Opens Season'. Other sports headlines appear at the bottom.
John Kieran, "Sports of the Times," The New York Times, October 2, 1927.

About this source

What it is

This is a newspaper column titled 'Sports of the Times' by sportswriter John Kieran, published in The New York Times on October 2, 1927. It reprints Kieran's earlier poem about Ruth, 'A Query,' and adds a new verse responding to Ruth's record-breaking sixtieth home run of the 1927 season.

Why it matters

Written just two days after the feat, this column captures how the press and public reacted to Ruth in real time, treating him as a larger-than-life hero. It shows how sportswriters like Kieran helped build Ruth's legendary status through celebratory, almost worshipful language.

Look closer

  • What words does Kieran use to describe Ruth, and what feelings do they create?
  • Why might a journalist write a poem rather than a plain report about an athlete?
  • What does this column tell us about Ruth's fame at the time, beyond just his statistics?

This newspaper article is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Babe Ruth on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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