Still Babe Freaking Ruth
posted: Wednesday, May 10, 2006

The great George H. Bambino Ruth may be about to lose his spot on the all-time homer list to Youknowwho. But we want you to remember this:
He's still Babe Freaking Ruth.

So trust us. You are not going to forget Babe Ruth. In fact, there's still a lot better chance you'll forget what your wife just asked you to pick up at the grocery store than there is that you'll forget that Ruth guy.

And that isn't changing, no matter how many more home runs Barry Bonds hits than him.

Meanwhile, this just in: We've been thumbing through our record book, and turns out the Babe is still in there. About 7,000 times.

Yes, the Sultan still holds a bunch of records nobody ever figures to break. And we'll now list some of them for your reading pleasure:

HIGHEST CAREER SLUGGING PERCENTAGE
How about this number -- .690? Not only is no player in history within 50 points of the Babe -- Ted Williams is No. 2 at .634 -- you'd be stunned to learn how many active players have never even had a .690 season. Like A-Rod, Albert Pujols, Vlad Guerrero and Junior Griffey, for instance. Actually, only Bonds, Todd Helton, Manny Ramirez and Frank Thomas have even had one season like that. So if anybody ever beats this record, it will officially be the greatest offensive feat of all time.

MOST SEASONS LEADING THE LEAGUE IN HOMERS
The Bambino led his league in home-run trots 12 times. That's two more than Bonds, A-Rod, Pujols, Guerrero, Ramirez, Jim Thome, Carlos Delgado, Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield, David Ortiz, Andruw Jones and Mike Piazza combined. In fact, A-Rod (a four-time champ) could lead the league every year from now through 2012 and still not catch Ruth on this list. So this record is safer than the Hope Diamond.

MOST RUNS IN A SEASON (SINCE 1900)
In 1921, it became clear that giving up pitching might work out OK for the Babe. Even though the home run (59) and RBI (171) records he set that year didn't hold up, he also scored 177 runs. And that's one mountain nobody is going to climb. Aside from Lou Gehrig and Ruth himself, only one man (Chuck Klein, with 158) has gotten within 20 of that number. Since the '40s, only one player (Jeff Bagwell, with 152) has been within 25 of it. And if you don't count Bagwell as "active," only one current player (Craig Biggio, with 146) has gotten within 35. If you figure Bonds could reach base 377 times one year (2004) and still be nearly 50 away (with 129), you can assume this is one record we can mark down in permanent ink.

MOST 3-HOMER WORLD SERIES GAMES
A lot of local TV blackouts were in effect when Ruth hit three homers in Game 4 of the 1926 World Series, and then repeated that trifecta in Game 4 of the '28 World Series. So those particular Ruth feats might not be stamped too indelibly in your brain. But maybe we can sum up the majesty of that achievement this way: There have been 551 World Series games in history that Babe Ruth didn't play in. All the men who played in those games have combined for one three-homer game (Reggie Jackson in '77). And Ruth had two all by his Ruthian self.

MOST SHUTOUTS IN A SEASON BY AN AL LEFT-HANDER (9)
OK, so this record isn't quite as unbreakable as those others. In fact, Ron Guidry tied it in 1978. And, in the National League, Sandy Koufax, Carl Hubbell and John Tudor all beat. But two bigger questions than that are: (1) What are the odds it will ever get broken in this age? Correct answer: Just about none and none. After all, Andy Pettitte, Johan Santana and C.C. Sabathia don't even have nine in their careers -- combined. And the only active left-handers who have ever reached five shutouts in a season are Randy Johnson (six), Tom Glavine (five), David Wells (five) and Dontrelle Willis (five). And (2) what are the odds it will ever get broken by Barry Bonds? Correct answer: Hahahahaha. Yes, it's those pitching records that separate the Babe from every other power hitter who ever lived. And always will.

WANT MORE? WE'LL GIVE YOU MORE
Sure, there are more -- because those, friends, are just the highlights. Some of Ruth's other fun records include:

• Home runs: Most in a decade (467 in the 1920s). Most career multihomer games (72). Most 40-homer seasons (11). Most consecutive 40-homer seasons (7). Most seasons homering in every park in the league (11). Most home runs in the American League (708). Most in one season by a visitor to Fenway (8). And (sorry, couldn't help it) most by a native of Maryland (714).

• More hitting records: Most times reaching base in one season (379). Highest career OPS (1.379). Most seasons leading his league in runs scored (8). Most total bases in a season (457). Most extra-base hits in a season (119).

• Postseason records: Most runs scored in a four-game World Series (9, in 1928 -- which is still one more than the record for a seven-game Series). Most hits in a four-game World Series (10). Highest batting average by an AL hitter in a single World Series (.625). Most consecutive World Series games scoring a run (9). Lowest career World Series ERA by an AL pitcher (0.87). Most innings pitched in a complete-game World Series win (14).

Just so we wouldn't be accused of overkill, we didn't even get into all the records Ruth is tied for, or most of the AL records he holds, or all the Yankees records he holds, or all the left-handed records he holds. Don't need to. You get the idea.

Seventy years later, this guy is still larger than life. Life then and life now. Because he's the one, the only...

Babe Freaking Ruth.

Samll wonder he's the best player in Baseball history, bar none.

And Ted Williams is a top 10, at least.

Samll wonder he's the best player in Baseball history, bar none.

And Ted Williams is a top 10, at least.
Position players:

1-Ruth
2-Cobb
3-Williams
4-Dimaggio
5-Gibson (Josh)
6-Gehrig
7-Mays
8-Wagner
9-Mantle
10a-Bonds*
10b-Aaron (the clean option)

Position players:

1-Ruth
2-Cobb
3-Williams
4-Dimaggio
5-Gibson (Josh)
6-Gehrig
7-Mays
8-Wagner
9-Mantle
10a-Bonds*
10b-Aaron (the clean option)

I can put 500 different lists out there right now, and make a solid argument for each of them. But the common players on any list would be Ruth, Mays, Cobb, Williams, Mantle, Aaron. After that, good luck.:rolleyes:

Unless one has seen a player play, he/she cannot make a judgement on who the best player of all time is. One can ONLY make the assessment based on the era witnessed.


Therefore, I can say with full confidence that I have no idea who I would say the best player in baseball history is.

Nor should anyone be making claims about Ruth unless he/she was born sometime before World War I.

Unless one has seen a player play, he/she cannot make a judgement on who the best player of all time is. One can ONLY make the assessment based on the era witnessed.


Therefore, I can say with full confidence that I have no idea who I would say the best player in baseball history is.

Nor should anyone be making claims about Ruth unless he/she was born sometime before World War I.

if you want to live in a close-minded world like that, good luck to you

if you want to live in a close-minded world like that, good luck to you



That's not closed minded. Its being real. When you never saw a player play, you cannot make an accurate judgement. Stats and stories only tell so much, which is what you base your claims on. People bend the truth, and so do statistics.

so I can't sit here and say Babe Ruth was a better baseball player than a 5 year old down the street from me because I never saw Ruth play?

so I can't sit here and say Babe Ruth was a better baseball player than a 5 year old down the street from me because I never saw Ruth play?


Exactly. If you never saw him play, in his era, against his competition level, you can't make a legit comparison to today's players. If you listen to stories from older, senile players and fans, they'll tell you Lefty Grove and Walter Johnson threw over 100 MPH. You can't just trust what people TELL you about events if you want to be taken seriously.

And we all know the saying: "60 % of all statistics are flawed". There's some truth there. Ruth may have appeared to have the best offensive numbers, certainly the most dominant in his era among other hitters of the time. But based on stats from over 70 years ago, you can't just make the claim that Ruth was way better than Albert Pujols. It just doesn't work like that.

Exactly. If you never saw him play, in his era, against his competition level, you can't make a legit comparison to today's players. If you listen to stories from older, senile players and fans, they'll tell you Lefty Grove and Walter Johnson threw over 100 MPH. You can't just trust what people TELL you about events if you want to be taken seriously.

And we all know the saying: "60 % of all statistics are flawed". There's some truth there. Ruth may have appeared to have the best offensive numbers, certainly the most dominant in his era among other hitters of the time. But based on stats from over 70 years ago, you can't just make the claim that Ruth was way better than Albert Pujols. It just doesn't work like that.

Babe Ruth has stats that are out of sight compared to anyone who played in his era. It's not even close. No one dominated their era like he did, and by so much. And so often.

Yes, he was the best ever. No modern day player has ever performed at such a dominating level across the board, for so long, compared to EVERYONE ELSE in his era.

Babe Ruth has stats that are out of sight compared to anyone who played in his era. It's not even close. No one dominated their era like he did, and by so much. And so often.

Yes, he was the best ever. No modern day player has ever performed at such a dominating level across the board, for so long, compared to EVERYONE ELSE in his era.


I agree that he dominated his era. But you can't cross-compare him with players of another era. That's ridiculous. If anything, the fact that he dominated so much shows that the level of talent was inferior to the present day.