Babe Ruth was the greatest baseball player ever. He started and ended his career in Boston but became famous in New York. His adjusted statistics are eye-popping, and “The Babe” was much better than his contemporaries. It is important to consider, he was primarily a pitcher for his first six seasons. He was a great pitcher who held the record for scoreless innings by a pitcher in the World Series for 43 years. Who do you think is the greatest baseball player ever?
Unbelievable Babe Ruth Statistics
It does not make sense to list his career statics here. The statistics are great, but there are other great players with great statistics. What makes Ruth so great is when you compare his statics to his contemporaries and adjust them for modernity.
He led the American League in home runs 12 times in 22 years. Twice he had more home runs than every other team in the league. He played in the American League for 21 of his 22 years. He hit .342 for his career and led the league in batting average once. He has the highest career slugging percentage and OPS.
According to Bill Jenkinson, Ruth hit 198 home runs of at least 559 feet. Barry Bonds hit 35 and Mark McGwire hit 74 such home runs. When you consider that Ruth ate hot dogs and drank beer, while Bonds and McGwire are suspected to have taken steroids, this is amazing.
Again, according to Jenkinson, MLB parks are on average 29 feet shorter now than they were in Ruth’s era. Factoring that in, according to Jenkinson, Ruth would have hit 1,158 home runs in his career and 91 in 1927 alone.
How Did Ruth End Up With the Yankees?
It is famous how Ruth ended up with the Yankees. Red Sox Owner Harry Frazee sold him to the Yankees to finance his play, No, No Nanette. This generated the so-called, “Curse Of the Bambino.” The Red Sox did not win a World Series until 2004.
However, it is worth noting that Frazee was in financial trouble and sold multiple players, 17 in all, to the Yankees. The other sixteen were traded over the ensuing three years. Red Sox starters whom Frazee sold to the Yankees included pitchers Carl Mays, Waite Hoyt, Joe Bush, Sad Sam Jones, George Piepgras, and Herb Pennock. The starting catcher for the Yankees was from the Red Sox, Wally Schrang as was shortstop, Everett Scott and Third Baseman Joe Dugan. With these players, the Yankees won their first of 27 world championships in 1923.
Bad Babe
Ruth also holds many negative records. He remains the only man to be thrown out stealing a base to end a World Series. In a 1915 start, he complained to the umpire after one batter about the strike zone. He would up punching him. Ernie Shore came in and went on to retire the next 26 batters. The batter who walked was thrown out stealing. Shore pitched a no-hitter. When Ruth was sold from the Red Sox to the Yankees, Frazee excoriated him as an immature clubhouse cancer in an open letter.
Conclusion
When you consider that Ruth both hit and pitched and was so much better than his contemporaries, there is no question that he was the greatest baseball player ever. He won world championships and led baseball in all sorts of statistics. When one adjusts the Ruth statistics to modern times you get some incredible numbers. These incredible statistics more than makeup for his abhorrent behavior. He was larger than life.
