Babe Ruth was the greatest player of all time. Period. He was so far ahead of his time. If he was playing today be would probably be a dual position closer/DH maybe closer/RF/1B. There was no DH until 1973 and teams didn't use their bullpens like they do today. It was basically wild rookies and washed up former starters. No he didn't miss time because of the Negro Leagues or because of war but he was only a hitter for 16 years compared to like 22 for Mays, Bonds, and Aaron. Ted Williams played 19. So even if they matched Ruth it took them longer to do it no matter when they arrived in MLB. Ruth also played when rules were different. Back in the 1920's if you hit the foul pole it was a foul ball. Now it's a home run. Ballparks were bigger. Pitchers could throw balls that were doctored up and dirty. Ruth outhomered entire TEAMS. If he played today with today's training and technology I kid you not- I think he would hit 1000 home runs. Bill Jenkinson wrote a book called The Year Babe Ruth hit 104 home runs and it details how many Ruth would have hit in the 1990's baseball conditions. Oh yeah- Ruth probably would have been a HOF pitcher had he stuck with that.

I disagree about Ichiro not being a pure hitter having watched him in person in Seattle. He would probably have the hits record had he not spent the first 8 years in his career in Japan. He was one of the best I have ever seen. Ichiro could have been a power hitter if he wanted to. He and Rod Carew or Cobb might be the best at bunting for a hit of all time. Gwynn for sure was a pure hitter. George Brett was kind of like Ichiro. He could have hit for more power if he wanted to. If Albert Pujols had decided to not go pull crazy the last 12 years of his career he would be in the discussion as well. Pete Rose was a pure hitter and wasn't the best of all time but played longer than everyone else. Really Rose was probably the best utility of all time to be technical.