Who is the greatest all time?
Well, to say that Babe Ruth is the best baseball player of all time, in my opinion, would be an understatement of “Ruthian” proportions!
Let’s start with a brief bio.
Born in Baltimore Maryland, February 6, 1895 ~ Died August 16, 1948 in New York, New York.
Birth name: George Herman Ruth.
Batted: Left. Threw: Left. MLB. Debut: July 11, 1914.
With names such as Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, Ty Cobb and dare I say Barry Bonds, trying to determine who is the greatest of all time can be a monumental task. This is strictly my opinion, and I welcome all thoughts and arguments for and against The Babe.
That being said, let’s begin the debate shall we?
Babe wasn’t only the most prolific hitter ever, he was also one of the best left handed pitchers ever. Over the course of a ten year pitching career, Babe had a career record of 94 wins & 46 losses, and an ERA of 2.28. And get this: 107 complete games! What pitcher wouldn’t love those kind of career numbers? And by the way, did I mention that in those 10 years he never had a losing season….
Now on to what most of us think of when we think of The Babe.
With only 8,399 at bats, Ruth set the all time home run record with 714 career home runs. While this record was eventually surpassed first by Hank Aaron, and later on by Barry bonds, it took Bonds over 9,000 at bats, and Aaron over 11,000 at bats.
The Sultan of Swat. After 3 world series championships with Boston, and after breaking the single season home run record in 1919, the Sox decided it would be a good idea to trade him to the Yankees. (Pause while I scratch my head) He went on to win 7 league championships, and 4 world series championships with New York! As a member of the famed Murderer’s Row lineup of 1927 Ruth hit 60 home runs to break his own single season record. Meanwhile Boston embarked on an 86 year drought of no world series titles. Baseball people are a superstitious lot, and this went on to become known as the curse of the Great Bambino. In 2004 The Babe finally forgave them and lifted the curse, allowing them to win the 04′ series.
Some Final Thoughts
The Colossus of Clout. As a 7 time world champion, 6 time RBI champion, and 12 time A.L. home run champion, I could spend the rest of the week just listing achievements. What makes Babe the greatest all time was his ability to bring you into the game heart and soul. Grown ups loved him (Yankees fan or not). Kids idolized him, and he loved you back. Statistically or otherwise, I rest my case.
Is Babe Ruth the greatest player of all time? In my humble opinion: Absolutely!
I hope you enjoyed the post. As always, please feel free to leave a comment or share your opinion and experience. See you soon ~ Jeremy.
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Hi Jeremy,
Yes, I agree Babe Ruth was the best. I went to school with a guy who was named after Mickey Mantle because his father idolized him and knew him personally. (Google Mickey Mantle Fortin) Mantle was rough around the edges with a serious drinking problem.
Your blog is great and I really enjoyed reading it. Well done!
Take care,
Donna
Thank you very much Donna, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Mickey Mantle was certainly a little rough around the edges, but he definitely belongs on the top 10 greatest players ever list.
That’s cool that you went to school with Mickey Mantel’s friends kid, not many people can say that!
Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you soon ~Jeremy
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You make a pretty good case. A lot of the time we must take into consideration other factors that make a player great. You did that by explaining his pitching achievements as well.
Also, I loved the Sandlot..(the nostalgia already kicking in). They talked about him a lot in that movie 🙂
-Stu
Ah yes, the Sandlot…My all time favorite! Everyone (baseball fan or not) needs to see this movie. All great hitting stats aside, what pitcher wouldn’t kill for those pitching stats? Thanks for dropping by Stu and come back anytime and we’ll talk some baseball. ~Jeremy
Coming from a place that doesn’t really have baseball, I have to say that one of the only names I knew is Babe Ruth, I guess that says something. I had no idea why before but now know some impressive looking stats. He really sounds like a true legend. It’s great to hear some of the old school ways are still the best, shown by his stats
Hey Vince. Babe is definitely a legend of baseball. It’s cool to hear that he’s known everywhere. Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you again soon. ~Jeremy
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This is a nice little history of Babe Ruth’s life. It’s always interesting to learn how star athletes and celebrities got their starts!
Hey Dustin. I’m glad you liked the story. I agree with you, it’s always cool learning where my favorite players started out. Thanks for dropping by. ~Jeremy
I have to agree with you, Jeremy. Nice post. I look forward to reading more.
John
Hi John. I’m glad you enjoyed it, and looking forward to talking with you again soon. ~Jeremy
Can’t argue with the reasoning for putting Babe as #1. If one argues pure “hitting” as opposed to power, they could argue that Ty Cobb ranks up there. But Cobb didn’t pitch and he didn’t hit home runs, nor did he lead the Tigers to a lot of championships. Note: I’m a life-long Tigers fan and that means my thoughts about New York … well, let’s just say that, as a kid, my dart board had certain baseball cards on it back in the 50’s and 60’s.
Your site looks great!
Hey Allyn. I have to agree with you. While Cobb was definitely one of the greatest pure hitters of all time, The Babe was simply the greatest all around player. As a Tigers fan myself, I surely get the dart board thing! Stop on by any time. ~Jeremy
Great information! definitely taught me some things that I never knew about Babe Ruth, and I’d have to agree with you!
Hey Anthony. It’s hard to argue against the Babe! Glad you enjoyed it, and hope to see ya soon. ~Jeremy
Jeremy, I did enjoy this post about Babe Ruth. I did not know these statistics about him and enjoyed reading them. This is a cool site you have.
Hi Shirley. Thanks for stopping in and leaving a comment. I hope the article was helpful, and I have to assume you agree with me! 🙂 See you soon ~Jeremy
You’ve maganed a first class post
Thank you Estella!!
Hi Jeremy, I really liked this. I know nothing about baseball but it was fun to read about Babe Ruth, as even I have heard about him over here in Sweden 🙂
Regards, Kristina
Hey Kristina.. Wow..Sweden.. That is awesome. It seems that the reach of the great bambino is limitless. Thank you for stopping by and have a great day! ~Jeremy