Was Babe Ruth the best?

[world famous 3rd base hecklers]

Yes he was...

Babe Ruth Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com

Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Babe Ruth. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com

www.baseball-reference.com

Shohei Ohtani already better than Babe Ruth, World Series champ says

Los Angeles Angels slugger Shohei Ohtani’s prowess from the plate and on the mound have led people to compare him to only one Hall of Famer – Babe Ruth.

www.foxnews.com

 

[Joelmoo2]

Kinda hard argue. While known for his hitting people like myself forget the guy was also a pitcher. He had a really good era. The MJ of baseball for his time.

 

[mauze1]

Yes he was...

Babe Ruth Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com

Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Babe Ruth. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com

www.baseball-reference.com

Shohei Ohtani already better than Babe Ruth, World Series champ says

Los Angeles Angels slugger Shohei Ohtani’s prowess from the plate and on the mound have led people to compare him to only one Hall of Famer – Babe Ruth.

www.foxnews.com

Ruth probably, but Hank Aaron has to be a close second.

 

[GarnetBeamer]

Ruth played for 21 seasons. Ohtani's played for less than 4 at this point. Besides that, Ruth hasn't played baseball for nearly 90 years, and he still comes up in ANY discussion about the best of all time. That pretty much answers the question.

 

[andersoncountycock]

 

[BattleshipTexas]

Ruth probably, but Hank Aaron has to be a close second.

Not really. Hank was great, but he had a very long career. Not near as good as Ted Williams or some others.

 

[ToddFlanders]

It's hard to argue Ruth wasn't the best. This really is impossible to compare though. Those aren't just two different eras of baseball - they're almost different games altogether.

If you're just talking about pure baseball ability and skill, Ohtani is better. He has to be in this era. It's such a specialized game now. If Ohtani were transported back to Ruth's time he would dominate - his skill set is too diverse on the mound and in the batters box (imagine him hitting one pitcher all game who only has two pitches).

The unanswerable question though is if Ruth was transported to today would he be able to adjust and hone his skills to today's game? Quite possibly. His era just didn't demand as much as today's era to be the best. But it also didn't have all the specialized coaching, eating, weight training, etc.

So I will push and say both are great.

 

[DarkHorse2001]

Imagine if Ruth had spent the off seasons working out instead of drinking, eating, and chasing women.

 

[wycombecock]

Not really. Hank was great, but he had a very long career. Not near as good as Ted Williams or some others.

One of the best discussions ever. As we all can bring numbers up to the table. Williams played 19 years and Aaron 23. Aaron still holds the following MLB records.
RB1s 2297,
Extra bases 1477
Total bases 6, 856
And over those 23 years had a .305 batting average.

Both Williams and Aaron where helleva players and both are always mentioned in discussions as to who are the best.

 

[ToddFlanders]

One of the best discussions ever. As we all can bring numbers up to the table. Williams played 19 years and Aaron 23. Aaron still holds the following MLB records.
RB1s 2297,
Extra bases 1477
Total bases 6, 856
And over those 23 years had a .305 batting average.

Both Williams and Aaron where helleva players and both are always mentioned in discussions as to who are the best.

Williams lost three seasons to WWII (when he was in his prime - 24, 25, 26 years old). Williams also never played when a season was 162 games. Overall, Aaron played 4 more years - but over 1,000 more games because of the that.

But Williams was just dominant. Career #1 in OBP (.482! - that's nuts), #2 in Slugging (.684), #1 in OPS, #2 in OPS+, only 11th in batting average (.344).

That's not to take anything away from Aaron - he was a workhorse, and longevity is as important excellence.

 

[Bubbaglide]

Ruth played in the dead ball era as well when he hit more home runs than other whole teams. This year the Braves will probably have 4-5 players hit 30 hr. That would be like Ruth hitting 120-150. Of course the pitchers were not as good as today.

another great player to consider is Ty Cobb. Mean SOB but he could play

 

[robertfootball]

The Yankees never paid Ruth $7 million to play against them. Same can’t be said for David Justice. That’s how bad he sucked.

 

[king ward]

The only thing I'll say about Ruth is that no athlete was ever so gifted as he in that he could negate such a low degree of physical fitness and rise to the very top of a legitimate sport. His talent quotient must have been otherworldly.

 

[pepsicock]

What a lot of people don't realize he was a great pitcher .

 

[GatorlandGamecock]

Yes there are differences in today's game but Ruth played during a time that was difficult for hitters. Pitchers had a lot more leeway back then, higher mound, could basically throw a spit ball and purposely threw at some batters. Every thing has a way of balancin
out.

 

[CockySC01]

The value his old baseball cards indicate that he is!

 

[GarnetBeamer]

Babe Ruth is still the comparison for greatness...nearly 86 years after he last picked up a bat. Any discussion of great players inevitably and necessarily goes back to a comparison to Ruth.

 

[USCBIRDS]

Ruth is the G.O.A.T.! He would have been in Cooperstown, just as a Pitcher. Also…There was NO Foul Pole during his time. It was up to the Ump’s discretion, whether it was a HR or not. I’ve heard people claim that Ruth would have hit more than 800 Homeruns with a Foul Pole.

 

[CockSure]

Ruth is the greatest. No one else is close.

 

[wycombecock]

Williams lost three seasons to WWII (when he was in his prime - 24, 25, 26 years old). Williams also never played when a season was 162 games. Overall, Aaron played 4 more years - but over 1,000 more games because of the that.

But Williams was just dominant. Career #1 in OBP (.482! - that's nuts), #2 in Slugging (.684), #1 in OPS, #2 in OPS+, only 11th in batting average (.344).

That's not to take anything away from Aaron - he was a workhorse, and longevity is as important excellence.

And I agree with what you have stated. This is why this happened a an enjoyable topic to discuss.
Night games vs. all day games
Travel via plane (now) vs trains. Man I think I would have loved being part of the train days.

just so much differences you really can’t say who but it’s fun to hash about.

 

[world famous 3rd base hecklers]

What a lot of people don't realize he was a great pitcher .

I wonder if he hurt his arm with the Red Sox?

 

[BattleshipTexas]

One of the best discussions ever. As we all can bring numbers up to the table. Williams played 19 years and Aaron 23. Aaron still holds the following MLB records.
RB1s 2297,
Extra bases 1477
Total bases 6, 856
And over those 23 years had a .305 batting average.

Both Williams and Aaron where helleva players and both are always mentioned in discussions as to who are the best.

Most of those are career stats because he had a really long career. Take out ages 24, 25 and 26 like Ted Williams missed for the war. Williams hit over .400 three times and .388 another. Aaron had one season at .355 and the rest all under .330. Williams career batting avg was .344. I don't think as an overall hitter it is that close. You would do better focusing solely as a HR hitter.

 

[BattleshipTexas]

Ruth is the greatest. No one else is close.

One of the best ways to judge HR hitters is to take the average number of HRs by the average MLB team and compare the identified HR hitter to that team average. A 20% hitter is really good. Ruth is the only guy close to or over 100%. McGuire and Sosa were topping 30% as was Bonds. Again Ruth was at nearly 100% some early years.

 

[mauze1]

Not really. Hank was great, but he had a very long career. Not near as good as Ted Williams or some others.

Hank still holds the all time RBI and on base Record. I think those are the most important offensive statistics in baseball. He also was not accused of using enhancement drugs. Ted did not hit the long ball like Hank nor produce as many runs. Hank also won 3 Golden Glove Awards. After Hank I would put Willie Mays before Ted. I was a huge Ted Williams fan. Watched him play at Meadow Brook Park in Greenville. He was awesome. He and Mantle were my hero’s .

Played in a golf tournament in Atlanta and Mickey Mantle was in my foursome. He agreed with you about Ted. I talked to him about it around the 8th or 9th holes. He was so drunk on the back nine he was almost incoherent. The Mick could kill a golf ball, about 325 off the tee. Couldn’t putt though.

 

[pisgah]

My top few would be Ruth, Williams, Mays, and Mantle
Williams missed his best years serving his country, Mantle missed his best years because of bad knees
Dimaggio and Aaron are close behind the above

 

[RoosterBooster1]

Ruth played for 21 seasons. Ohtani's played for less than 4 at this point. Besides that, Ruth hasn't played baseball for nearly 90 years, and he still comes up in ANY discussion about the best of all time. That pretty much answers the question.

Ruth played in a segregated era, no African Americans and the Latin players had not materialized yet. Also, much smaller league then, hence a much shallower talent pool to compete against, there were only 8 teams in the AL back then. He was great, just know he competed in a much different situation than today's players do.

 

[USCBIRDS]

Ruth played in a segregated era, no African Americans and the Latin players had not materialized yet. Also, much smaller league then, hence a much shallower talent pool to compete against, there were only 8 teams in the AL back then. He was great, just know he competed in a much different situation than today's players do.

Fewer teams means MORE talent…not less. Ruth also competed in larger stadiums. Today’s ballparks are largely designed for more offense. That means more Homeruns! Not to mention the live baseballs too.

 

[RoosterBooster1]

Fewer teams means MORE talent…not less. Ruth also competed in larger stadiums. Today’s ballparks are largely designed for more offense. That means more Homeruns! Not to mention the live baseballs too.

Fewer teams means a shallower talent pool that you play against. This is not saying less talented players, its saying you face fewer players. For example, since you only play 7 other teams, you face the same pitchers on a regular basis. Yes it can be argued there exists a tipping point where if you have too many teams you dilute the talent pool.

Note also that hitters were facing a starting pitcher who routinely stayed in the game much longer, complete games were the norm, there were not one inning/batter specialists and closers designed to close games out like there has been in the modern era. It was a different game.

 

[Holy City Cock]

Hard to compare era’s, but to me he was the best. My top five are Ruth, Williams, Gehrig, DiMaggio and Aaron, Mays and Mantle close by.

 

[Wedge Antilles]

Imagine if Ruth had spent the off seasons working out instead of drinking, eating, and chasing women.

Imagine if Ruth had to play against black players, latin players and asian players. There are give and takes in every era.

 

[Gamecockben1979]

Hank still holds the all time RBI and on base Record. I think those are the most important offensive statistics in baseball. He also was not accused of using enhancement drugs. Ted did not hit the long ball like Hank nor produce as many runs. Hank also won 3 Golden Glove Awards. After Hank I would put Willie Mays before Ted. I was a huge Ted Williams fan. Watched him play at Meadow Brook Park in Greenville. He was awesome. He and Mantle were my hero’s .

Played in a golf tournament in Atlanta and Mickey Mantle was in my foursome. He agreed with you about Ted. I talked to him about it around the 8th or 9th holes. He was so drunk on the back nine he was almost incoherent. The Mick could kill a golf ball, about 325 off the tee. Couldn’t putt though.

I agree with you. Give me Hammering Hank all day. If you took away every one of his 755 HRs, he still had over 3000 hits.

There were more teams, more pitchers that he saw less frequently and some of the best players on the planet weren’t relegated to another league based on the color of their skin.

 

[pisgah]

Ruth was hitting more home runs than everyone else in the American League combined.

 

[ToddFlanders]

Fewer teams means MORE talent…not less. Ruth also competed in larger stadiums. Today’s ballparks are largely designed for more offense. That means more Homeruns! Not to mention the live baseballs too.

That would be true today, but how deep was the talent pool in 1920’s America for baseball players? How many kids and adults were giving up working to try and go pro in baseball? How many were given training through their youth and played on real teams vs real competition before making the league.

baseball was popular in the 20’s for sure, but you still had half the teams there are today (16), with a third of the population in America than today (115 million), no foreign players, no non-white players, and a sport that was still a toddler (just past its infancy). Ruth played watered down competition and he was ahead of his time for sure.

 

[saltlifeGamecock]

Satchel Paige made Babe Ruth look like a Little Leaguer!

 

[Gamecockben1979]

Also worth noting that the Babe played with a mostly stacked lineup which made it difficult to pitch around him. For a lions share of Hanks years, there was maybe one other Hall of Fame hitter in the lineup with him.

 

[CockFamily6]

Yes to Ruth

 

[IH8FATBRAD]

Great discussion..Never solved

 

[BobbyBReloaded1975]

In my opinion the greatest natural baseball player I ever saw was Ken Griffey Jr . He just made everything look easy . I think he had the greatest natural swing of all time and he was one of the greatest defensive center fielders in the history of baseball . If not for all the multiple injuries he would go down as the greatest ever . As far as Ruth vs Othani is an impossible comparison. Two different eras and two different games . It’s like saying who was better Jimi Hendrix or Eddie Van Halen or Gale Sayers vs Barry Sanders . It’s impossible. I will say Ohtani is the best thing to happen to baseball in probably 20 years . He’s the face of the game now and he barely speaks a word of English , let that sink in for a minute . He’s a phenom that is like nothing we’ve seen in MLB in decades .

 

[bdblack]

Satchel Paige made Babe Ruth look like a Little Leaguer!

According to Baseball HOF historian/researcher Bill Jenkinson (as well as HOF Negro Leaguers Judy Johnson and Buck O'Neil), Ruth hit a towering, tremendous HR off Paige that left Satchel completely speechless in 1938, when Ruth was a retired 43 year old. The Babe batted 55 times against the top Negro League pitchers in off season barnstorming games. He connected for 25 hits and 12 home runs for a batting average of .454 and a slugging percentage of over 1.000, Judy Johnson admitted that "we could never seem to get him out." I would strongly suggest Jenkinson's outstanding book explaining Ruth's dominance, "The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs."

 

[GarnetBeamer]

According to Baseball HOF historian/researcher Bill Jenkinson (as well as HOF Negro Leaguers Judy Johnson and Buck O'Neil), Ruth hit a towering, tremendous HR off Paige that left Satchel completely speechless in 1938, when Ruth was a retired 43 year old. The Babe batted 55 times against the top Negro League pitchers in off season barnstorming games. He connected for 25 hits and 12 home runs for a batting average of .454 and a slugging percentage of over 1.000, Judy Johnson admitted that "we could never seem to get him out." I would strongly suggest Jenkinson's outstanding book explaining Ruth's dominance, "The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs."

yes, it’s a total myth that he would not have been able to hit off negro league guys