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Originally Posted by
Todd4State
I did a major research paper on Babe Ruth and I am convinced that he was the greatest player of all time. You have to consider the era and the context of what he did and when he did it. He really was only a hitter for about 16 seasons- compared to something like 24 for Aaron and 21 for Bonds. Ruth played in an era that was not conducive to hitting home runs and the parks were much larger in general than they are now. Also, the rules were different- in Ruth's day if you hit the foul pole it was a foul ball and not a home run. There is a book called The Year Babe Ruth hit 104 Home Runs which basically poses that had Ruth played in today's era he would have hit 104 home runs at his peak season of 1921. Obviously, that's all speculative but it does give an idea of the context of how dominant he was then and comparing it to today's standards. He could have probably played another year or two with the DH rule too.
But the other reason I think Ruth was the greatest is because I think he would have made the HOF as a pitcher if he stuck to that. He was a 20+ game winner for the Red Sox and I believe he was undefeated for the Yankees pitching in cameo appearances late in the season. In his prime he was a better defensive player than given credit for because most people remember the out of shape Babe Ruth. He also struck out a lot less than people realize- he was an outstanding hitter.
I think if he played today he would be a DH/closer maybe like what the Angels are possibly going to do with Shohei Ohtani. I'm curious to see what the Angels do with him and how they use him. Ruth was probably one of the very few people that could have been a legit dual position player at the MLB level.
Give him those 4 to 5 years as a pitcher back and you're looking at an additonal 120 - 170 hrs.
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