Happy Birthday to the late and great Hall of Famer Babe Ruth. In a twenty-two-year career playing for the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and the Boston Braves, Ruth excelled as a Starting Pitcher at a high level and as a hitter at an even higher level, which is why he is regarded by many as the greatest ballplayer who ever lived. 

As a Pitcher

Career Statistics/Accolades 

94-46 W-L 2.28 ERA 1,221.1 IP 488 K 1.159 WHIP

  • 3x World Series Champion (1915, 1916 & 1918)

   As a Left Hander, Ruth came up and started his career as a Starting Pitcher, where he pitched for the most part from 1914-19. Having a dominant Fastball, Curveball, and Knuckleball, Ruth was one of the more dominant starters for the Red Sox in the final years of the Dead Ball Era. During his years as a Starter, he faced Walter Johnson five times and was 4-1 against him. Ruth was on the path to becoming a Hall of Fame pitcher, having three consecutive dominant years in 1915-17. During those three years, he made 106 starts, and 74 were complete games. In 1916, Ruth had his best campaign, leading the league with a 1.75 ERA over 40 starts and 323.2 Innings Pitched. Also, amid three starts in the World Series, Ruth was 3-0, with a 0.87 ERA and 0.935 WHIP over 31 Innings Pitched. As we all know, the Red Sox saw him hit well and decided, before 1919, to make him an everyday player.

1915: 18-8 W-L 2.44 ERA 217.2 IP 112 K 1.153 WHIP (28 Starts)

1916: 23-12 W-L 1.75 ERA 323.2 IP 170 K 1.075 WHIP (40 Starts)

1917: 24-13 W-L 2.01 ERA 326.1 IP 128 K 1.079 WHIP (38 Starts)

As a Hitter

Career Statistics/Accolades 

.342 BA 2,873 HITS 714 HR 2,214 RBI .474 OBP 2,174 RUNS 

  • 4x World Series Champion (1923, 1927, 1928 & 1932)
  • 2x All-Star
  • 1923 MVP

  As a left-handed hitter, Ruth is one of the few greatest hitters who ever lived. Famous for his Home Runs, he led the league in that category twelve times, including 40 or more eleven times. In terms of driving in RBIs, Ruth had thirteen seasons in which he drove in 100 or more. He was no slugger, though; he was an all-around hitter; sixteen seasons, Ruth batted .300 or higher, winning the Batting Title in 1924. At the plate, he drew 2,062 Walks for a career while only striking out 1,330 times. While Ruth is remembered for not being in the most excellent shape, he scored 100 or more Runs in a year twelve times. Also, he did hit Triples in the double digits four times. I’ll cut to the chase: between the key Offensive Statistical Categories of Runs, HR, RBIs, Walks, AVG, and OBP, Ruth has 46 Black-Bold Face Type on the back of his baseball card, which he led the league.

As a Fielder: 

   Once Ruth was made an everyday player, he mainly played Right Field. Throughout 1,128 games in Right Field, he recorded 2,146 Putouts, 114 Assists, 20 Double Plays, and a .964 Fielding Percentage, which was +.003 above the league average for his career, nothing to sneeze at. Also, Ruth appeared in 1,047 games in Left Field, in which he was a .971 Fielder, +.008 above the league average.

Best Years:

   Oh boy, this is tough looking through his year-by-year offensive years; there were just so many to choose from. Like Ted Williams, Ruth had some years in which he, as the batter, had the advantage over the pitcher, getting On Base more than 50% of the time. I would like to remind everyone that they only gave the MVP out to a player one time when Ruth played, so his 1923 MVP season was his only one. Now, you can say that 1923 was his best season, but for me, I just can’t decide, so down below are Ruth’s eight best offensive seasons.

1920: .376 BA 172 HITS 58 HR 135 RBI .532 OBP 158 RUNS (142 Games)

1921: .378 BA 204 HITS 59 HR 168 RBI .512 OBP 177 RUNS  (152 Games)

1923: .393 BA 205 HITS 41 HR 130 RBI .545 OBP 151 RUNS (152 Games) 

1924: .378 BA 200 HITS 46 HR 124 RBI .513 OBP 143 RUNS (153 Games)

1926: .372 BA 184 HITS 47 HR 153 RBI .516 OBP 139 RUNS (152 Games)

1927: .356 BA 192 HITS 60 HR 165 RBI .486 OBP 158 RUNS (151 Games)

1928: .323 BA 173 HITS 54 HR 146 RBI .463 OBP 163 RUNS (154 Games)

1931: .373 BA 199 HITS 46 HR 162 RBI .495 OBP 149 RUNS (145 Games)

Legacy

   I don’t think there is any debate about who the greatest ballplayer of all time is; it’s Babe Ruth. Personally, when someone says the word “Baseball,” the first name that pops into my head is Babe Ruth. Nobody excelled as a Pitcher and as a Hitter the way Ruth did. While there was no Cy Young Award when Ruth pitched, he had three Cy Young-caliber seasons as a starter and showed that he was a dominant big-game pitcher in the World Series. As a Hitter, hitting the ball over the fence wasn’t expected; before the balls were changed, Ruth made it look easy by hitting 29 in the last year of the Dead Ball Era. All-time, in terms of lifetime numbers, his .474 OBP is 2nd all-time, his 714 HR, 2,214 RBI, 2,062 Walks are 3rd all-time, his 2,174 Runs are 4th all-time, and his .342 AVG is 9th all-time. Take into account that Ruth was able to hit Home Runs in the dead ball era. Had he been a hitter for his entire career, not only would he still have the all-time HR record He’d have the record in RUNS and RBIs and would’ve quickly passed the 3,000 Hit milestone.

   Regarding Hitters, I rank Ruth as the third greatest hitter of all time behind Ted Williams and Ty Cobb. But, the best player of all time, I’m sorry if your answer isn’t Babe Ruth. You need your head examined. Of course, his #3 jersey is retired by the Yankees, and the Yankees became the most incredible team ever in terms of winning championships when Ruth arrived. In 1936, he was among the first five players to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Also, in 1999, he was ranked #1 on The Sporting News’ list of 100 Greatest Ballplayers. Ladies and Gentlemen, WHAT A BALLPLAYER!

References:

  1. Babe Ruth via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_Ruth#
  2. Babe Ruth Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ruthba01.shtml