All-Time Home Run Leader on This Day - How Many Did Babe Ruth Have?

On this day in 1921 Babe Ruth became the MLB all-time home run leader.  That was fairly early in his career.

How many career home runs did Ruth have when he became the all-time leader?
a. 39
b. 139
c. 339
d. 539
e. 714

Roger Connor was the former record holder.  He played from 1880 to 1897 in the days before the A.L. even existed.  Connor had a career high of 17 home runs.  He hit 138 home runs so the answer is 139 for Ruth.

Connor had a solid career.  He had 100 RBIs four times, he led the league in homers only once, he had 2,467 career hits to go with a .316 lifetime batting average.

Roger Connor held the home run record for a long time.  I'll need to do more research to figure out how long, but it will be at least 25 years.

Ruth held the record from 1921 until 1974 when Hank Aaron passed him.  I remember watching that game on a horrible television.  I also used a cassette recorder to tape the event.  The cassette didn't last long.