A fun article for debate: old ballplayers vs current

[NDallasRuss]

Adam Ottavino (who averages 13Ks/9IP):

"I remember I had an argument with a coach in Triple-A about Babe Ruth’s effectiveness in today’s game, and this was, like, 10 years ago. I said, “Look, Babe Ruth, with that swing, swinging that bat—I got him hitting .140 with eight homers.”

He was like, “Are you nuts? Babe Ruth would hit .370 with 60 homers,” and I’m like, “I would strike Babe Ruth out every time.” Like, I’m not trying to disrespect him, you know, rest in peace, you know, shout out to Babe Ruth. But, it was a different game. I mean, the guy ate hot dogs and drank beer and did whatever he did. It was just a different game."

https://deadspin.com/no-offense-but-adam-ottavino-would-absolutely-wreck-th-1831018636

I figure that yes, Babe Ruth in the 1920s couldn't do much with today's top pitchers. But, I think that if you took Babe Ruth as a kid and put him through today's processes for youth ballplayers: with the coaching, diet, supplements, that he'd still end up being pretty good. The guy was 6'2", 215# at a time when other guys weren't that big.

From the article:

"Bat speed: trash. Stance: trash. Running form: trash. He runs like Benny Hill. Babe was able to hit the most homers in history at the time because he launched those dingers off railroad workers and saloon owners. In 58 plate appearances, he slugged .750 against some clown named Lil Stoner. The most notable fact about Lil Stoner is that he loved to collect irises. Please."

 

[GoNolesTX]

Valid. The lack of ability to know what kind of velo pitchers threw back then makes any comp really difficult. "Ol Tuffy over there, he's bringing the heat today, throwing a solid 72 mph with a nasty forkball that's being aided by abnormal gravity brought on by the summer solstice."

Adam O brings up a separate, equally valid hypothetical though. What would Stan Musial, Hank Greenberg or Honus Wagner do with today's agility training, dietary rigidity, video coaching, etc? What would the early 20th century pitchers do with a regimented throwing program (core work, interval distance throwing, between start bullpen sessions, etc)?

 

[PoopandBoogers]

Running form: trash. He runs like Benny Hill.

But if they played his theme song, he'd make Vince Coleman and Ricky Henderson look like Prince Fielder.

 

[PoopandBoogers]

Valid. The lack of ability to know what kind of velo pitchers threw back then makes any comp really difficult. "Ol Tuffy over there, he's bringing the heat today, throwing a solid 72 mph with a nasty forkball that's being aided by abnormal gravity brought on by the summer solstice."

Adam O brings up a separate, equally valid hypothetical though. What would Stan Musial, Hank Greenberg or Honus Wagner do with today's agility training, dietary rigidity, video coaching, etc? What would the early 20th century pitchers do with a regimented throwing program (core work, interval distance throwing, between start bullpen sessions, etc)?

I have no idea, but Ty Cobb would still be a nasty sumbitch.

 

[funksouljon]

Pretty interesting Ted talk on the topic.




Andy Roddick beat me with a frying pan was a good book about sports comparisons / barstool banter.

 

[Formerly Rockymtnole]

You’re killin’ me, Smalls.

 

[LesClaypool]

I don’t really care about baseball, but even I know that good pitching beats good hitting every time.

Take the fitness, vitamins, diet, endurance, et. al. and the pitchers of today are all Walter Johnson vs Babe Ruth, instead of “railroad workers and saloon owners” (which by the way is an awesome sound bite from that commentary.)

 

[cfbfan23]

Hot dogs can be an amazing source of strength. Sometimes, that gets overlooked.

 

[noleclone2]

Worth noting that in addition to training changes, there was a much smaller pool to pull from back in the day. For starters, Jackie Robinson did not make his historic start until 1947, the year before Babe died. And international MLB baseball players were not common. Now over 1/3 of MLB teams are international players.

Another interesting thing is the deeper pool means more pitchers and the bullpens are used a ton more.

 

[DFSNOLE]

Heard this discussed on the radio the other day. Would Babe Ruth dominate like he did in the 20's? Probably not. He had several years where he hit more homeruns himself than entire teams. That is obviously not happening again. But, if you're going to put Ruth in today's game, you also have to give him all the advantages of the modern day player. Give him access to the best training, nutrition, equipment, charter travel, etc, and he would be one of the best IMO.

As has been argued with Bonds pre and post PEDs, he still had the God given ability to hit a baseball. That wouldn't change. He was a career .342 hitter. What many also forget is Ruth was 94-46 as a pitcher. I'd like to see any modern day player match that all around game.

 

[mcgrawfsu]

It's tough to compare eras due to so many differences in the game. The one thing about the Babe that makes me think he'd be just as good as the best hitters today (with access to the same equipment and training) was his approach. While many players had swings that weren't very athletic and really just tried to put the ball in play, the Babe had a leg kick similar to lefty greats like Big Papi, great balance, and swung hard at everything.

 

[rjstf]

I agree that you have to compare players to others in their era. Sabermetrics show that Ruth dominated like nobody else except Bonds on steroids.

I'd think he probably had excellent vision like Ted Williams along with that sweet swing.

 

[Nole Lou]

Heard this discussed on the radio the other day. Would Babe Ruth dominate like he did in the 20's? Probably not. He had several years where he hit more homeruns himself than entire teams. That is obviously not happening again. But, if you're going to put Ruth in today's game, you also have to give him all the advantages of the modern day player. Give him access to the best training, nutrition, equipment, charter travel, etc, and he would be one of the best IMO.

Right, you have to appreciate just how MUCH better Babe Ruth was vs the competition. He was putting up numbers that you would expect if you took a modern day ballplayer and time-travelled him back to that era.

I don't know that he'd be an all-time top 5 player playing in the modern era, but I don't know that he wouldn't if he'd been raised in a modern system. He wouldn't look, train, swing, etc like that if he grew up in modern baseball. You're not talking about a guy who was simply one of the best around at the time, he was a total new level of player, and WITHOUT even trying to stay in shape, train, etc. I don't think you can just blow that off.

But yes, if you picked him up straight off the field in 1927 and put him in front of a major league pitcher today, he'd fail, but that's kind of a silly argument.