Which MLB player was the first to hit 60 home runs in a season?

The first MLB player to hit 60 home runs in a season was Babe Ruth.

Ruth reached 60 home runs for the New York Yankees in 1927, setting a single-season record that stood for 34 years. His total was extraordinary for its era: no other major-league player had previously reached 60, and Ruth finished far ahead of the rest of the league. His power helped make the Yankees a national attraction and turned the home run into baseball’s signature offensive spectacle.

The 1927 Yankees lineup became known as “Murderers’ Row,” with Ruth and Lou Gehrig at its center. New York won 110 games and swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series. Ruth’s record lasted until Roger Maris hit 61 home runs in 1961, although Maris played a 162-game schedule compared with the 154 games available to Ruth.

Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire reached 60 later, during their famous 1998 home-run race. They were not the first. Roger Maris was the first to surpass Ruth, while Ruth remains the original 60-home-run milestone holder.