05-31-2006, 04:55 PM
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The Great Leader
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: South Korea
Age: 35
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Let's also not forget that Babe Ruth was an excellent pitcher and missed several years of hitting in his prime. If he was a career hitter, we would be talking about Bonds still waiting to pass Hank Aaron into the number two spot. We are talking 40 home runes between Aaron and Ruth and Babe pitcher for 3 years.
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Ruth was a skillful pitcher, but the Red Sox's starting rotation was already stacked with lefties, so they initially made little use of him. With a 1–1 record, he sat on the bench for several weeks before being sent down to the minor league Providence Grays of Providence, Rhode Island. Pitching in combination with the young Carl Mays, Ruth helped the Grays win the pennant. At the end of the season, the Red Sox called him back to the majors, and Ruth would stay in the majors permanently. Shortly after the season, Ruth proposed to Helen Woodford, a waitress he met in Boston, and they were married in Baltimore on October 14, 1914.
During spring training in 1915, Ruth secured a spot as a starter. He joined a fine pitching staff that included Rube Foster, Dutch Leonard, and a rejuvenated Smokey Joe Wood, and their pitching carried the Red Sox to the pennant. Ruth won 18 games and lost 8, and helped himself with the bat by hitting .315 and hitting his first four major league home runs. The Red Sox won the 1915 World Series, defeating the Philadelphia Phillies 4 games to 1, but because manager Bill Carrigan preferred right-handers, Ruth did not pitch and grounded out in his only at bat.
Ruth continued to improve in 1916. After a slightly shaky spring, he would make a case as the best pitcher in the American League. He went 23–12, with a 1.75 ERA and 9 shutouts; the shutout mark is still tied for the best mark for an A.L. left hander. The Red Sox offense had been weakened by the sale of Tris Speaker to the Cleveland Indians, but their strong pitching again took them to the World Series, where they met the Brooklyn Robins. In game 2 of the series, Ruth pitched a 14-inning complete game victory, helping the Red Sox to another World Series title, a 4–1 series win over the Robins. He repeated his strong performance in 1917, going 24–13, but the Red Sox could not keep pace with the Chicago White Sox and their 100 wins, and they missed out on a third straight postseason appearance.
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There is also this fact:
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Some speculate as to how Ruth's home run total would be different if he played under current rules. For example, in 1918 Ruth had a game-ending hit over the fence that was only scored as a triple because rules in effect until 1920 stated that in that situation, only the minimum hit needed to score the winning run would be credited, and there was a runner on first. Today that hit would be scored as a home run. Also during Ruth's era, if a ball went over the fence in fair territory and landed in foul territory it counted as a foul ball whereas today it would be a home run. On the other hand, until 1931, a ball that hit the playing surface in fair territory and bounced over the fence was credited as a home run, whereas today such a hit would be scored as a ground-rule double.
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