Bob Costas

mine

C- Ron Hassey
1b- Alvin Dark
2b- Mike Gallego
3b- Tom Brookens
ss- Wayne Tolleson
lf- Von Hayes
cf- Jerome Walton
rf- Kevin Bass
dh- Steve Balboni

util- Jose Oquendo

rhp-Charlie Kerfield
lhp- Zane Smith
closer- Jesse Orosco (who may very well still be pitching)

 

Ruth is untouchable when it comes to any reasonable discussion of the best baseball player ever. His hitting prowess is well documented and the fact that he achieved his home run total in thousands of less at bats than Aaron and Mays is feat enough to separate him from those two great ballplayers. A few facts that most do not know about Ruth....he stole home 10 times. He pitched 30 consecutive SCORELESS innings in World Series play. The line for the greatest ever starts with Ruth and goes from there...now if you want to talk about #2 and #3 then Aaron and Mays are right there.

 

Case Closed

In 1920 Babe Ruth hit 54 home runs, he hit more homers than 14 of the 15 other MLB TEAMS!! This is stunning, only the Philadelphia Phillies (64) hit more than the Babe in 1920. A year later, arguably Ruth's best year, he hit 59 homers,which was more than 8 TEAMS. In 1927, Ruth hit 60 home runs, and that was greater than 12 of the 15 other TEAMS in baseball! And the next season, he hit 54 long balls, and that total was more than 7 TEAMS in MLB. Just the thought that ONE PLAYER hit more home runs than many other entire TEAMS is mind-boggling. To put it in perspective, that is akin to a player hitting close to 200 home runs today.

 

ok

Now, I know you guys are going to yell at me, but be kind cuz I'm a girl. But I have a question.

How was it possible for Ruth to accomplish this when you think about the baseball players today and how strong they are and how long the season is, etc?

I mean..what was it? Clearly, he didn't LOOK like he was the most fit guy, ya know? Was the pitching not as strong back then? Were the fields shorter? Were the balls different, the bats? I mean, there had to be SOME contributing factor that made him able to consistently do what he did and why it is so difficult to achieve anymore.

ok...please don't blast me, I just sincerely want to know all your thoughts.

 

Bonsway, the reason Ruth did all that he did is because like a few athletes in different sports he was way ahead of his time. Very few athletes change the way the game is played and change rules of the game. Ruth was one of those players. There would be a legitimate argument if one was to say he didn't face this, they didn't have this and so on, but he played against what every one else played against during his time and he dominated. In my mind he does belong on baseball Mt. Rushmore with Hank Aaron. Phillie Dave i know Aaron played different positions during his career as did every ball player that i have seen mention in these posts, but the majority of his career was in Right Field.

 

Bonsway....Babe Ruth swung a 54 ounce bat..that compares to most major leaguers today swinging 34-35 ounce bats. His ability to handle the mass of that big bat and bring it through the strike zone with such power is what drove so many balls out of the ball park at a rate that far exceeded any other player. Interesting proof point: When Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs in 1927, he hit 14% of all home runs in his league that year. For a player to hit 14% of all home runs today, he would have to hit over 300 home runs in one season. (stat adjusted to balance the number of teams in the AL today vs. then).

 

WOW!

FIFTY-FOUR OUNCES??? Well, that might explain it. That's a small tree!!!!

 

Bonsway...check out Alfonso Soriano of the Cubs...he is a departure from most major leaguers today because like Ruth he swings a big, long bat with some real mass behind it ...38 ounces, much heavier than most. He is a small player, but routinely hits 30+ home runs (46 in 2006)...and when he connects they get out of the yard quickly....simple physics (and some strong and quick wrists to move that heavy bat head). When you see him batting in a game the size of the bat is noticeable)

 

My best team of players I have seen:

C Johnny Bench
1B Will Clark
2B Pete Rose
SS Derek Jeter
3B Mike Schmidt
LF Barry Bonds
CF Ken Griffey, Jr.
RF Hank Aaron

LHP Randy Johnson
RHP Greg Maddux

CLOSER Mariano Rivera

 

Too bad the Cubbies couldn't get the job done...again. I like Soriano, but never really took notice of the bat. I guess (if I remember), I'll check it out next season. I heard him interviewed the other day and I was surprised by his accent! I guess I never heard him talk before. Where the heck is he from? I was amazed cuz the guy has been around for so long. I guess he's not typically one of the guys they look to to do an interview. I was like "what the??"