Babe Ruth in todays game

#1
Fine Vol

Fine Vol

Go Vols
Joined
Sep 15, 2006
Messages
19,849
Likes
2
#1
The Babe is considered one of the greatest player of all tiime by many baseball fans. If Babe played in todays game would he stand out, be average, or suck out? Could players like Hank A. look like the all time greats they are or would they be playing AAA ball?:question:
 
#2
#2
well considering the players have changed i'm sure they would have trained differently. they would still be great
 
#3
#3
Babe would be great IMO. He was hitting monster shots with crappy equipment and baseballs that weren't wound as tight as they are now. Plus he was doing it on a stomach full of beer and hot dogs instead of 'roids and HGH.
 
#4
#4
JZVOL said:
Babe would be great IMO. He was hitting monster shots with crappy equipment and baseballs that weren't wound as tight as they are now. Plus he was doing it on a stomach full of beer and hot dogs instead of 'roids and HGH.
Click to expand...
Good point
 
#5
#5
Baseball is the most constant of all the major sports. The greats would be great in any era. Ruth's greatest value in today's game would be as a 25 game winning lefthanded starter.
 
#6
#6
Also Babe is the one who ended the dead-ball era basically. If he wasn't such a great pitcher to start his career, and their seasons were the length they are now his home run numbers would be untouchable. They also played exhibition games on many of their "days off" so if you included those his numbers there is no telling how many homers he hit each season.
 
#7
#7
hatvol96 said:
Baseball is the most constant of all the major sports. The greats would be great in any era. Ruth's greatest value in today's game would be as a 25 game winning lefthanded starter.
Click to expand...


I was thinking the same same thing. If anything it is much easier to hit home runs these days. Parks are smaller, equipment is better, strike zone is smaller too.
 
#8
#8
JZVOL said:
I was thinking the same same thing. If anything it is much easier to hit home runs these days. Parks are smaller, equipment is better, strike zone is smaller too.
Click to expand...

don't forget the mound isn't raised as high either. there are also more teams, which equals watered down pitching. babe would be great in today's game
 
#9
#9
Could Ruth have hit a Nolan Ryan 103mph fastball or one of Phil Niekro's knuckleballs?

As a pitcher, could Ruth strike out Pete Rose, Ichiro, A-Rod, Jeter, Reggie Jackson, Bonds?

I think the game has changed a lot more than some of you are implying. I don't think Ruth would last very long in today's game.
 
#10
#10
MG1968 said:
Could Ruth have hit a Nolan Ryan 103mph fastball or one of Phil Niekro's knuckleballs?

As a pitcher, could Ruth strike out Pete Rose, Ichiro, A-Rod, Jeter, Reggie Jackson, Bonds?

I think the game has changed a lot more than some of you are implying. I don't think Ruth would last very long in today's game.
Click to expand...
Walter Johnson threw every bit as hard as Nolan Ryan. There were knuckleballers, as well as spitballers in Ruth's era. He got Ty Cobb and Jimmy Foxx out. I don't think anyone you list is significantly better than those guys. It's still 60 feet 6 inches to the plate and 90 feet between bases. Ruth would be dominant in any era.
 
#11
#11
hatvol96 said:
Walter Johnson threw every bit as hard as Nolan Ryan. There were knuckleballers, as well as spitballers in Ruth's era. He got Ty Cobb and Jimmy Foxx out. I don't think anyone you list is significantly better than those guys. It's still 60 feet 6 inches to the plate and 90 feet between bases. Ruth would be dominant in any era.
Click to expand...
This I am in agreement with 110%.
 
#12
#12
Baseball's changed far less than any of the other major sports, largely because it's still fundamentally a game of ridiculous hand-eye coordination. The hitter has always had less than half a second to react to the pitch, decide to swing, and meet the ball squarely; no advances in strength training or anything else have changed that central aspect of the game. The last thing that fundamentally changed the way the game was played was Ruth's own greatness as a home run hitter, which is why his Hall of Fame career as a pitcher was cut short to make way for his HOF career as a slugger. Ruth would be as great today as he was then, although as Hat points out above he'd never have been moved from the mound to right field these days.
 
#13
#13
MG1968 said:
Could Ruth have hit a Nolan Ryan 103mph fastball or one of Phil Niekro's knuckleballs?

As a pitcher, could Ruth strike out Pete Rose, Ichiro, A-Rod, Jeter, Reggie Jackson, Bonds?

I think the game has changed a lot more than some of you are implying. I don't think Ruth would last very long in today's game.
Click to expand...
with these scrawny handled bats (compared to his bowling ball weighted jobs), Ruth could've hit a 140 mph fastball. He was the best hitter the game has seen, apologies to TWilliams fans, of which I'm one. Had Williams not lost his best years to the Air Corps, his would likely be the first name off our lips, but I still don't think he could hit it like Babe.
 
#14
#14
How could a guy like Babe or Williams hit as good as Bonds or Mcguire and not have half the muscle mass?
 
#15
#15
Fine Vol said:
How could a guy like Babe or Williams hit as good as Bonds or Mcguire and not have half the muscle mass?
Click to expand...
Muscle mass really only matters on balls hit away from the sweet spot like jam shots are balls off the end of the bat. Otherwise, hitting is about bat speed, hand/eye coordination and timing. I'd much rather have a hitter that repeatedly hits the ball solidly over a guy that can muscle the ball out of the park. Strength plays a part in the equation, but it's probably the least important of the factors. Strength will determine the size of bat a player can swing and the inertia of a heavy bat is much higher, but in the upper echelons of the great hitters, everyone has the power to swing enough stick to get the job done.
 
#16
#16
BigPapaVol said:
Muscle mass really only matters on balls hit away from the sweet spot like jam shots are balls off the end of the bat. Otherwise, hitting is about bat speed, hand/eye coordination and timing. I'd much rather have a hitter that repeatedly hits the ball solidly over a guy that can muscle the ball out of the park. Strength plays a part in the equation, but it's probably the least important of the factors. Strength will determine the size of bat a player can swing and the inertia of a heavy bat is much higher, but in the upper echelons of the great hitters, everyone has the power to swing enough stick to get the job done.
Click to expand...
Great point, I wonder how Babes HR distance compares to the hitters of today?
 
#18
#18
Do you know if the pitching speeds back then compare to now? I dont see a Randy Johnson back then.
 
#19
#19
Today, the Baby Ruth Bar would be granola instead of chocolate...and the writers wouldn't cut the guy any slack. But yeah, I think he'd still be a monster player.
 
#20
#20
Fine Vol said:
Great point, I wonder how Babes HR distance compares to the hitters of today?
Click to expand...

According to baseball historian Bill Jenkinson Ruth hit a home run 600 to 650 ft. in an exhibition game.

Babe also has the longest home run in world series history at 510 ft.

Needless to say he hit them just as far if not farther than the guys today.

On Mickey Mantle's website it says he hit one like 640 ft. if it wouldn't have hit the top of the facade in right field at Yankee Stadium, almost going out of the park. It says the ball bounced all the way back to the infield.
 
#21
#21
JZVOL said:
According to baseball historian Bill Jenkinson Ruth hit a home run 600 to 650 ft. in an exhibition game.

Babe also has the longest home run in world series history at 510 ft.

Needless to say he hit them just as far if not farther than the guys today.

On Mickey Mantle's website it says he hit one like 640 ft. if it wouldn't have hit the top of the facade in right field at Yankee Stadium, almost going out of the park. It says the ball bounced all the way back to the infield.
Click to expand...
THAT IS INTERESTING
 
#22
#22
babe would be the great in today's game with the watered down pitching because of expansion Most pitchers on MLB rosters these days would have never seen the majors in Babes era.
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top