Quote:
Originally Posted by CofR
Babe Ruth's lore and numbers are very impressive, but it's hard to consider him the GOAT when he played in a time where only white guys were allowed in the majors.
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It's a very valid point, and one that will be argued to the end of time. However, no one, of any race, has been able to put up the type of career numbers that Babe Ruth did. Barry Bonds record setting season numbers are Ruthian. One thing interesting is the length of Bonds home runs and the length of outfield walls compared to when Ruth played. I don't know the numbers off the top of my head, but I read a very interesting book a couple years ago called "The year Babe Ruth hit 108 Home Runs". In the book they point out that a lot of Bonds Home Runs wouldn't of cleared the fence back in Ruth's era. And in Ruth's era he hit a lot of 450 foot doubles because of the huge out fields in the Polo Grounds (where the Yankees played in the early 20's until Yankee Stadium was built) and Yankee Stadium to name a few. Short porch in right in Yankee Stadium, but spray charts show that he hit home runs all over the field.
Interesting topic none the less, and someone like Josh Gibson could have matched or surpassed Ruth's numbers, we will never know.