Babe 17ing Ruth---

[tcdog70]

Haha. Probably take about 100 or so off the Babe's record.

I'm going with Mays, then Andruw.

RF I'm going with Clemente.

Jimmy Piersall might have been the CF of all time. but he was bi-polar and struggled with it.

[tcdog70]

That?s irrelevant in this discussion.

I?m judging him as a player on the field.

Was he convicted of steroids?

Steroids-hell no his head just doubled in size from eating Wheaties***

[BrunswickDawg]

One of the things that has always been fascinating about baseball history is that in spite of being the most statistically analyzed sport in the world, you still can not truly compare players from one era to another. So much has changed over the past 175 years, creating so many variables, even advanced math doesn't really work. The ball has changed multiple times. Bats have changed significantly. Battling and pitching techniques have changed considerably. The fields have changed in size, fencing, lighting, and ground conditions considerably. Player conditioning and nutrition have become required (although, I'd argue pre-war players were probably just as well conditioned because a) many worked off-season in manual labor oriented jobs; and b) they ate more natural, less processed foods that the body metabolized better - think "country strong").

The result are long running generational arguments about who was best. Love it.

[Token Bammer]

I have really enjoyed this thread and I wanted to say thanks for the quality read.

The Babe is the greatest of all-time in any era. He could have played and dominated in any era of baseball regardless of pitching, athletes, field dimensions, etc. The Babe's abilities were off the charts, and that's leading a rough lifestyle.

[Coach34]

Read a tweet today that said Babe Ruth is still 12th all-time in ERA as a pitcher. Thats really amazing considering his hitting numbers.

Here is where you really see his greatness in my mind:

94-46 as a pitcher
2.28 ERA
Only pitched in 4 games in his last 16 seasons as a player. He had 90 wins by age 24
He easily ends up a 300 game winner if he pitches for the Yankees instead of moving to RF full-time- maybe a 400 game winner

He had only 514 of his 2873 hits in his 1st 6 seasons as a player because he pitched. He could have easily added another 500 hits to his lifetime total had he just played OF full-time. That would have put him around 3,300 hits and 800 Home Runs

[Commercecomet24]

There are so many great baseball posters on this board. Very intelligent people(well at least most, ha) that know the game and the history of the game. Some awesome discussions.

[Commercecomet24]

One of the things that has always been fascinating about baseball history is that in spite of being the most statistically analyzed sport in the world, you still can not truly compare players from one era to another. So much has changed over the past 175 years, creating so many variables, even advanced math doesn't really work. The ball has changed multiple times. Bats have changed significantly. Battling and pitching techniques have changed considerably. The fields have changed in size, fencing, lighting, and ground conditions considerably. Player conditioning and nutrition have become required (although, I'd argue pre-war players were probably just as well conditioned because a) many worked off-season in manual labor oriented jobs; and b) they ate more natural, less processed foods that the body metabolized better - think "country strong").

The result are long running generational arguments about who was best. Love it.

Great post!

[Coach34]

http://www.baberuth.com/stats/

It's amazing when you look as his stats 80 years later and where he still ranks

[drunkernhelldawg]

Barry Bonds is/was better.

Of course you're right, and it's not close when you look at Bonds' durability. But The Babe is probably the biggest sports' legend of all time. He is a mythical hero, and he can smite an untold number of challengers.And that's the end of it.

That's why 714 is better fixed in my mind than whatever the actual record is today, a number I've seen but don't know.