August 11, 1929: Babe Ruth hits his 500th home run

Babe Ruth, at the time a member of the New York Yankees, became the first baseball player to hit 500 career home runs.  In a game against the Indians played in Cleveland, the Yankees were defeated, but Babe Ruth made history and the crowd exploded as he reached this momentous number. Babe wanted to keep his home run ball and dispatched someone to find the person who had captured it. It turned out to be a passerby by the name of Jake Geiser who had been waiting for a bus outside of the stadium. He was brought in to the stadium where Babe proceeded to trade him 20 dollars, two autographed balls and a few moments in the spotlight for it. 

 Also known as "The Bambino" and "The Sultan of Swat," he played for the Yankees from 1920 until 1934 after being traded from the Boston Red Sox. At the end of his career, in 1935, he had hit a record 714 home runs.