No doubt. I'm amazed and embarrassed I didn't realize he was still alive.
This AM on Morning Joe, they spent 5-10 minutes speaking of Willie Mays. I learned the Red Sox has first dibs on Mays in MLB, but said “No thanks!”...
Hey, the Sox were the last team to put a black on their roster...Pumpsie Green. He just passed in this past year I believe.
My husband and I took our kids to Phoenix in 1987 for spring break, to catch a little MLB spring camp and take a side run up to the Grand Canyon.
I have never heard that story. Back then there was no draft. Players could sign with whom they wanted, I think anyway.
You know Bo Schembechler offered Willie a scholarship to Michigan as a RB...I was sitting in the lefypt field bleachers on Sunday afternoon and Willie hit a gapper to left...Jim Ed Rice misplayed the ball and by the time he got control of it, Willie Wilson was rounding third base for an inside the park homer. The Royals beat my beloved Red Sox 1-0. That KC lineup was really something as was the Red Sox.
Ruth was a hell of a pitcher and better hitter. Bonds was a better hitter and base runner plus he was a hell of a defensive player as well. We can go back and forth all day long as it’s very subjective, I would just put those two ahead of Mays.
Ruth could run and field with the best of them as a young man. The misperception about Ruth stems from the fact that most of the film of him playing is from when he was older.
That's cool. One of the neat things about ST is that even today you can rub elbows with some great ballplayers. ST like everything else is trending commercial as the owners try to leverage every dollar, but you still get to run into guys that you watched as a kid. I've mentioned this before, but two years ago I was standing in front of Lee Smith to get an autograph and this short, gray haired guy walked up and started talking to him, Fergie, and George Foster who were also there. They all jumped up and gave him a hug and were asking him about his wife, etc... He was wearing a Giants jacket, and turned and shuffled off by himself. I asked Smith who that was and he told me it was Phil Niekro. I wish I'd recognized him so I could have had him dab some saliva on the ball I had Smith sign.
My dad told me that Ruth was the most complete ballplayer in his day. He was the original 5 skills ballplayer. Agree that a lot of the film seen today is from late in Ruth’s career..Dad said he was always “fat” but he was very quick on his feet, had tremendous reflexes and was fantastically (hand-eye) coordinated as well as a very good/ smart base runner.
Young Babe Ruth was pitching and winning ball games...Willie Mays wasn’t...not even close.
Ruth didn’t compete against all the best players.
