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Re: Would Babe Ruth be a superstar if he played today?

PostPosted: Sat Feb 09, 2019 7:58 am
by thetallguy747
If he were playing today, the Babe would own the sports media and his twitter account would be blowing up every day. And the money he'd make from baseball and outside endorsements, he wouldn't have to worry about managing the Yankees some day. He could just buy them.

Re: Would Babe Ruth be a superstar if he played today?

PostPosted: Sat Feb 09, 2019 2:34 pm
by drfreeze49
the big difference for me ... players of today cry when pitching is high and tight......back in the day they rubbed it off and beat the guy up in a bar after the game

Re: Would Babe Ruth be a superstar if he played today?

PostPosted: Sat Feb 09, 2019 8:09 pm
by Hack Wilson
If Babe Ruth grew up in today's era, he'd benefit from the sports science and training for the game, and probably be a superstar. His stats would be different, of course, as the game has changed and he'd play against players of color and a more highly competitive talent pool. Ruth had the DNA and natural talent. On the stats, it's ultimately a fool's errand to try to project outcomes from different eras in the game. So who knows exactly what he would be, but I bet he'd still be awfully good.

Re: Would Babe Ruth be a superstar if he played today?

PostPosted: Sat Feb 09, 2019 8:11 pm
by Hack Wilson
Or put it this way, if Mike Trout grew up when Babe Ruth did, what kind of ballplayer would he be?

Re: Would Babe Ruth be a superstar if he played today?

PostPosted: Sun Feb 10, 2019 2:25 pm
by Outta Leftfield
The way I think of it, this question is sort of like asking "Would Alexander the Great be an extraordinary military leader if he lived today?" Obviously, if Alexander tied to apply the technologies and tactics of 325 BC to 21st century warfare, he would not be successful.

But Alexander had such obvious military intelligence that if someone with his genetic makeup were to arrive on the military scene today, he would adapt to the new conditions and prove himself an extremely effective combat leader. And I'm with the consensus that if someone with Ruth's genetic makeup arrived on the baseball scene today, he would likely do what he needed to do to become a baseball superstar.

I think it's hard to deny that genetics has a lot to do with baseball success, given the number of successful families baseball has produced. The Dimaggios are a case in point--their father was from a family of Sicilian fishermen who had no opportunity to play baseball, but there must have been some strong baseball genes in the family makeup--pointing toward the creation of a trio of big league centerfielders. The skills of Vince, Joe and Dom were closely related--again suggesting their common gene pool. All three were outstanding defensive centerfielders. Vince hit for power, but not average. Dom hit for average but not power. Joe became an all-time great because he was at the center of the Venn diagram: he was a great defensive CF who hit for both average and power.

Baseball genetics can reach across generations, as with the Bonds family, the Griffey family, the Alou family and the Boone family. If the Boone family could produce quality MLB players over 3 generations, then I don't see why Ruth would lack the baseball genetics to play well today.

Re: Would Babe Ruth be a superstar if he played today?

PostPosted: Tue Feb 12, 2019 5:54 pm
by rburgh
What do you guys mean about old ballparks? The Polo Grounds was 279 down the LF line and 257 down the RF line. See
https://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/ballparks/polo-grounds/

Yankee Stadium (the House that Ruth built) was 318 down the LF line and 314 down the RF line.
https://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/ballparks/old-yankee-stadium/

Baker Bowl was 341 to LF and 279 to RF. Even old Griffith Stadium, one of the biggest parks of that era, was 320 down the RF line. (Curious that its HR factor for LHB is nearly always very small in this card set.)

And "orthodox" pitching strategy when Ruth was young was to mix letter high FB's with breaking stuff down. Hell, Robin Roberts made the HOF pitching that way in the 40's and 50's. And these weren't 98 MPH gas, guys who could hit 90 were few and far between.