Throwdowns > Closed

Tnerbo-charger said 10/09, 05:18 AM
Very good topic idea, Darth, and good luck.


Babe Ruth. The greatest baseball player that ever lived. Just as Gretzky did, Babe Ruth re-wrote the record books during his 22-yr major league career. Babe Ruth held 56 major league records at the time of his retirement, and still held 54 of them at the time of his death. Many of the Babe's records still stand, even 77 years later, and some of them likely will never ever be broken, such as his ridiculous .847 slugging percentage from 1920, and his career .690 slugging percentage.

No one has led the league in HRs as many times as Ruth (12). No one has hit 40 or more home runs in a season more times than Ruth. Babe Ruth is still 2nd in RBIs, to Hank Aaron, 2297 to 2213, but it took Hank over 3000 at bats more to get the record.

Hell, if Ruth had started out as a position player, rather than spending his first three and a portion of a fourth as a pitcher, he very likely still would be the all time home run king.

Remember, every one that has surpassed the Babe did so by playing longer seasons and getting thousands more at bats.

Oh yeah, I got more.

Tnerbo-charger said 10/10, 04:42 AM
Yes, Babe Ruth led the league in HRs 12 times. You use assists as a favorable comparison for Gretzky. I contend that, although one can't truly compare the two sports, a more accurate comparison to Ruth's 12 HR crowns would be Gretzky's times leading the league in goals scored - which turns out to be 5.

As far as striking the object and creating a direct point for your team, Ruth was far and away the more prolific leader of his time than Gretzky was. Gretzky was a flashy finesse player that was able to benefit mightily from the NHL's very strange assist rule (that's another TD altogether) in order to amass his very impressive point totals.

Lets look at it another way: Babe Ruth hit a HR every 11.76 at bats. Only Mark McRoider bettered that, and he don't count. Wayne Gretzky averaged .601 goals per game. Both Mario Lemieux and Mike Bossy had better averages for their careers.

What you are now trying to make me believe is equivalent to saying Magic Johnson was more prolific than Michael Jordan.

Ruth is the bottom line more prolific athlete here.

Tnerbo-charger said 10/11, 02:02 PM
Ok, to counter-summarize:

1) Babe Ruth is still the greatest per at bat producer in history

2) Led the league in HRs 12 times (still a record)

3) Prior to Ruth, no player had ever hit 30 HRs. Ruth hit more than 50 4 times.

4) The HR record prior to Ruth was 27. Ruth hit 60. More than double.

5) Ruth had a slugging percentage over .840 in back-to-back seasons. Untouchable mark.

6) On top of all his power numbers, Ruth was a career .342 hitter!

Now, things that the Babe's records have had to endure:

Longer seasons

Smaller ball parks

Increased at-bats

Steroids


The fact of the matter is that, even 77 years later, nobody has approached what the Babe was able to do per at bat. You can take both Bonds and McGwire out of the equation to to roids and smaller ball parks, and the only reason Aaron surpassed Babe was due to longer seasons, which resulted in 3965 more at bats.

As for Gretzky, per game stats don't favor him as strongly. Two players scored more goals per game, and Lemieux is very very close in points per game. These stats tend to bring the Great One back to the field.

Fine TD, Darth, GL!