Babe Ruth three-run home run off Charlie Root in the first inning, but soon revived, and the Cubs tied the score at 4–4 in the fourth inning. When Ruth came to the plate in the top of the fifth, the Chicago crowd and players, led by pitcher Guy Bush, were screaming insults at Ruth. With the count at two balls and one strike, Ruth gestured, possibly in the direction of center field, and after the next pitch (a strike), may have pointed there with one hand. Ruth hit the fifth pitch over the center field fence; estimates were that it traveled nearly
Jack Billingham pitcher in 1971. 1973 was Billingham's best season, going 19-10 with a career-best 3.04 ERA. He led the National League with 40 starts and seven shutouts and earned a berth on the National League All-Star team. He followed that with a 19-11 season in 1974. On April 4, 1974, Billingham gave up Hank Aaron's 714th career home run, which tied Aaron with Babe Ruth for No. 1 on the all-time home run list at the time. For his career, Billingham went 145–113 with a 3.83 ERA and 1,141 strikeouts in 2,230 innings. , or Retrosheet, or SABR Biography Project, or