1911 World Series on the West Coast). With the sixth and final game being played on October 26, this was also the latest-ending World Series by calendar date until the 1981 Series. With a perfect top of the first, Christy Mathewson set the record with 28 straight shutout innings in World Series play, a record that would be broken by Boston Red Sox Babe Ruth with 29 2/3 innings in the 1918 World Series. Mathewson's postseason record for consecutive scoreless innings against one team would not be broken until 2013 when the Detroit Tigers' Justin Verlander shut out the Athletics (now playing in
Babe Ruth hyperbole of sports reporters. Reisler noted that recent sluggers who surpassed Ruth's 60-home run mark, such as Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds, generated much less excitement than when Ruth repeatedly broke the single-season home run record in the 1920s. Ruth dominated a relatively small sports world, while Americans of the present era have many sports available to watch. Creamer termed Ruth "a unique figure in the social history of the United States". Ruth has even entered the language: a dominant figure in a field, whether within or outside sports, is often referred to as "the Babe Ruth" of that field.