Jagger69
Three lullabies in an ancient tongue
wlfman812 said:What Babe Ruth did in his era was unprecedented. He was so far ahead of any other player of his time...and for many years after. And keep in mind he did all this while being quite the 'party ******'.
Some facts about Ruth
*In 1919 he hit 29 home runs which beat the old record of 27 which was set in 1884.
*Ruth's 1920 season turned into one that no one had ever come close to seeing before. He hit 54 home runs, smashing his year-old record, batted .376, and led the league in runs (158), RBIs (137), bases on balls (148), and his slugging average of .847 was a major league record for over 80 years (Barry Bonds eclipsed it with a .863 mark in 2001). Ruth's season was so dominating it led to one of the most amazing statistics in baseball history. In 1920, Ruth
out-homered all but one team in baseball, as only the Philadelphia Phillies with 64 hit more home runs than Ruth.
(How many steroids would Bonds have to take to hit more homers than an entire team? :1orglaugh )
*It is no coincidence that the 1920 Yankees shattered the league attendance mark. The Yankees drew nearly 1.3 million fans, breaking the old mark of the 1908 New York Giants by nearly 400,000 fans.
*As historic as Ruth's 1920 season was, his 1921 season was even better. Ruth's 1921 season is statistically the greatest season by any batter in major league history. This season merits a mention of most of his numbers, with how some of them rank all-time for a single season. In 152 games, Ruth batted .378, had 204 hits, 44 doubles, 16 triples, 59 home runs (8th all-time), scored 177 runs (2nd all-time), had 171 RBIs (7th all-time), 144 bases on balls, with 119 extra base hits (1st all-time), an .846 slugging average (3rd all-time), and amassed 457 total bases (1st all-time).
*1927 Ruth hits 60 home runs. In addition to the home runs, Ruth batted .356 and drove in 164 runs.
*Career batting average of .342.
I could go on and on...but you get the idea. The man was a true legend.
(*facts courtesy of Wikipedia)
Damn right! I agree 100%...no one comes close. Not to mention the fact that he single-handedly resurrected baseball in the aftermath of the Black Sox scandal in 1919 which cast a pall over the credibility of MLB. After the Babe came along, baseball became king in America. No telling what might have happened had he not been there.