This video might be the best example of Ruth’s famous power. That ball was crushed!
Babe Ruth home run video…
- Thread starter Kinnick.At.Night
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I watched a video of a minor leaguer hitting with replicas of all the old timey bats.
Pitching was slower back then, but ability to get that 40oz hickory bat around as quickly as he did was incredible.
Pitching was slower back then, but ability to get that 40oz hickory bat around as quickly as he did was incredible.
My Great-Grandfather owned a store in D.C. and several baseball players went there. He had a leather notebook and got the autographs of Babe Ruth, Lou Gherig, Walter Johnson, Whitey Ford plus several other lesser known players.
My Uncle still has the autograph book. When one of my Uncle's was young, he accidentally smudged the Babe Ruth autograph. Yikes. It still looks about 80% good, though.
Would Babe Ruth dominate baseball today? I asked a guy at a baseball game and he said he thinks Ruth would dominate with some training to adapt to the modern game.
He said the outfields are shorter now and Ruth may hit more home runs.
Anyone have any thoughts?
My Uncle still has the autograph book. When one of my Uncle's was young, he accidentally smudged the Babe Ruth autograph. Yikes. It still looks about 80% good, though.
Would Babe Ruth dominate baseball today? I asked a guy at a baseball game and he said he thinks Ruth would dominate with some training to adapt to the modern game.
He said the outfields are shorter now and Ruth may hit more home runs.
Anyone have any thoughts?
He may have hit more home runs today with faster pitches because the ball goes faster. At least, that's what I heard a guy say.
The right field line was 297 feet when both Ruth and Roger Maris played.
I think Ruth would still be a great hitter in today’s game. He had elite coordination, timing and reflexes. Those skills have always been primary among the game’s best hitters.
As far as that autograph book, wow!
I read that he could read a license plate several blocks away.
The RF line at Yankee stadium was 255. And he played nearly half of his away games at fields with a RF under 300 feet.
How does that compare to today?
The article I linked states today's ballparks are built for home runs.
That Ruth (especially) and Maris (a bit less) took advantage of worse pitching and smaller fields than today's hitters.
Keep in mind, every sport progresses, and every sport now is filled with players that are bigger, faster, stronger and more skilled than players of yore. That's why you don't compare Bonds and Ruth, you compare Ruth and Foxx, and Bonds and Pujols (as examples)
It’s interesting to compare the advantages vs. disadvantages of hitters from different eras. That topic makes for great discussions on Baseball Fever’s forum.
Bonds was doing steroids, like half the players in that era. Or more..
Does that make Babe look even better by comparison?
I haven’t heard that about Ruth, but it wouldn’t surprise me. It’s rumored that Ted Williams could accurately determine different brands of baseballs pitched to him at game speed.
The stadiums then were built to fit in whatever available space there was. The Polo grounds, for example, had a weird, almost rectangular shape, because that was what was available for space to put a field. The pre-Wrigley West Side Park the Cubs played in was nearly 500 feet to straighaway left, but only like 230 to the RF line because of the available space.
No one was tearing down building to put in ballparks. They were putting them in spots that was available and big enough for a stadium. But fitting them between existing streets/train lines. Everything was like Wrigley and Fenway, weird dimensions. So you might have a 250' LF line and 460 to CF and 370 to RF line, or the reverse.
No, Ruth was facing the equivalent of today's HS pitching and no blacks. You can't compare the eras.
This is a good point. Ebbet’s Field is another example of building within a space that was available.
And I'd actually agree with that discussion. Comparing the environments is actually interesting. Comparing the players is boring, because, in every sport, modern players are better. And a lot of it has to do with the changing environments, progression in training, advances in the game itself, etc.
So yeah, I love discussing what 1920s players did for training, used for bats, what the stadiums were like, etc.
That's certainly not true.
Ruth faced some of the best pitchers in history.
This is a good point. Ebbet’s Field is another example of building within a space that was available.
That RF isn't that way because it looked cool, they used every inch they had available to them
That's certainly not true.
Ruth faced some of the best pitchers in history.
They were great for that era. Every single pitcher in the league right now has better "stuff" than Walter Johnson. Don't compared 1920s baseball players and 2020s baseball players.
I think you're underestimating just how great Babe Ruth is. He's the best baseball player in history.
With modern training and equipment, he may be just as great.
Babe Ruth Would Annihilate Modern Day Pitchers
Babe Ruth is widely considered the greatest baseball player who ever lived. In his era, he would out-homer entire teams. When he hit 60 homers in 1927, he passed the single season home run mark. Of…
metsdaddy.com
My dad once commented that after all those HRs Ruth hit, he seemed he always had to “shorten his gait” when he approached 3rd base to touch it….one would think with all the HRs he hit, he’d have figured out his stride where he could have touched 3rd base more smoothly and more in pace.
Tip: Slow the playback speed to 50% and watch again.
Walter Johnson was believed to throw in the 90’s. He’d still be an MLB pitcher. He also threw way more and without any of the rehab or medical knowledge we have today.
Ruth played on shorter fields, but with higher mounds and a softer baseball. I still think he’d be an elite player.
Bonds and Ruth both had exceptional hand eye coordination and great wrists. Bonds was one of the greatest hitters before he juiced. Ask Greg Maddux.
It’s also worth noting that pre-testing players would take greenies and eat high testosterone foods like bull testicles. Lots of guys were juicing before “juicing” was a thing.
My dad told me that Ruth was strong, FAST and very quick (hands and feet) and he was a big man for his times. He was one helluva athlete. Ruth’s “juicing” shortened his career as opposed to lengthening it.
He actually hit more home runs on the road in his career.
367 to 347. He also had 10 inside the park home runs in his career.
I've studied and read a lot about Walter Johnson. I even exchanged letters with his grandson, who wrote an amazing biography about WJ. Obviously, his speed was never properly recorded, but the stories of him are legendary. Even as a retired old man, he'd throw a lot of game speed BP to professional players in the off season and still amaze them with his speed. Almost to a man, former players or coaches who saw him pitch and also saw guys like Feller, Ryan, Grove, McDowell, etc. said that Johnson threw harder than anyone they'd ever seen. I was at the Perfect Game in Cedar Rapids the first year it opened for a pitcher/catcher workout. There was a rep there from the Cleveland Indians who was a third generation scout. His grandfather had seen Johnson pitch for years and said that he was "head and shoulders" faster than anyone else he'd seen over the course of his career in baseball. I remember being impressed by that statement! I think it's pretty much beyond question that Johnson threw 100+.
Baseball Fever has an awesome forum if you've never been there. Some of the posters there have unbelievable knowledge of the game.
In terms of how many pitches they can throw for strikes, absolutely! Johnson never even developed an effective curve. He threw a fastball. At full speed and at pacing speed. That's it.
A lot of the old timers even up to Warren Spahn had as many complete games as wins. You might get to bat against the starter 4-5 times most games. Relievers were an afterthought. Today most starters hope for a quality start ( 6 innings ) and then the parade of relief specialists enters the game, with the 100 mph closer, who also has a hard slider to end the game. That's a main reason batting averages are at an all time low...
I believe he played 3 seasons at the Polo Grounds (1920-1922) as a Yankee with a RF corner of 258’. Not to mention as a Red Sox player from 1913-1919 he would have played a number of games there as well.
Here’s the ball parks for most of his career. Only one of these is significantly favorable to a left hand hitter and he only played three years there.
