Babe Ruth

[Nails]

IIRC...Gibson is allegedly the only guy to hit one completely out of Yankee Stadium....Mantle almost did it once.  Don't know about the level of competition, but if true... that's impressive.  

 

Babe Ruth Owns the shit out that record, He allegedly hit one out of left field in boston that landed on a train going to New York, the ball never stopped traveling, Longest HR in history, from Boston to New York

[funk51]

Ruth played in an era where no minorites were allowed. Shit, Josh Gibson hit more homers than Ruth. If Ruth would have faced Satchel Page, Satch would have struck that fat ass out on 3 pitches

quick name me 3 great african american pitchers, not latinos? not that easy right, that arguement is invalid there weren't that many teams talent was greater. babe was head and shoulders above anyobe at the time. most of the great black players were position players, ernie banks, frank robinson, hank aaron and my favorite player willie mays just to name the upper echelon players.

[funk51]

quick name me 3 great african american pitchers, not latinos? not that easy right, that arguement is invalid there weren't that many teams talent was greater. babe was head and shoulders above anyobe at the time. most of the great black players were position players, ernie banks, frank robinson, hank aaron and my favorite player willie mays just to name the upper echelon players.

that and ruth was a great pitcher before he became a regular ofer also cost him homers.babe was a giant of a man just as mays was later lost 2 years to military service and still hit 660 hrs. the next two years he came back he hit 41 and 52 homers. the 41 might have been 50 or 60 but giants told mays to go for average instead of hrs so he hit obly 5 hrs after all-star break but raised avg from 279 to 345 thus winning a batting title.

[Archer77]

One of the black guys on here is sure to argue that he was secretly part black.

[CAPTAIN INSANO]

It's fact.

I'm curious.

[Hulkotron]

Yes Willy Mays would have been the home run king for a few years were it not for the damned dirty Koreans.

[mame09]

this fat guido is a hero in america hahaha

white people arent good at real sports

stick to curling haha

[flinstones1]

Yes Willy Mays would have been the home run king for a few years were it not for the damned dirty Koreans.

agree but i still think mantle had more raw talent than mays

[funk51]

agree but i still think mantle had more raw talent than mays

amazingly mays and mantle both played 2005 games at this point of their careers mays went onto 660 hrs  and mantle 536 hrs.

[Grape Ape]

In fact, only Barry Bonds and A-Rod have 300 steals and 600HRs, and neither of the above two guys have/will hit 3000 hits or hold a lifetime .300 BA.

Are you referring to Bonds/ARod in that statement?  ARod's pretty much a lock for 3000 hits.

And I just looked, ARod and Mays' slash lines are so close it's scary - the BAs are a point apart, and their OBP, which is much more important the BA, are a point apart.  ARod's also slugging a mere 6 pts higher than Mays, giving him a miniscule 7 pt difference in OPS.   Crazy how close those stats are.

Both are incredible.

[Hulkotron]

I really don't get the "Mantle is better than Mays" argument.  Even at their respective peaks Mays had numbers that were just as good (slightly better in most cases) and did it with a lot less help than Mantle had on NYY.  Willy Mays is probably the best all-around baseball player ever.  He would almost certainly have hit more homers than Ruth without his military stint.

[Grape Ape]

ARod is pretty close to 3000 hits, yes. But, if at his pace, he's got to play healthy next year to get it. He won't get in this year. He's getting up there.

They are very, very close to being essentially the same player at the plate, which is why A-Rod is one of the greatest of all-time.

But Mays was a more dominant fielder.

He's signed to play 5 more seasons, and needs only 163 hits.   He only needs to be moderately healthy.  In other words, barring a career ending injury, it's a lock.

As for fielding, ARod was a fantastic shortstop, but we're comparing apples to oranges since Mays played the OF.  I never saw Mays play outside of the awesome highlights, so I'm curious as to how you're defining that Mays was more dominant.   I'm Sabremetrically inclined, but don't put too much faith in defensive metrics, let alone those that are retroactively calculated.

[polychronopolous]

I really don't get the "Mantle is better than Mays" argument.  Even at their respective peaks Mays had numbers that were just as good (slightly better in most cases) and did it with a lot less help than Mantle had on NYY.  Willy Mays is probably the best all-around baseball player ever.  He would almost certainly have hit more homers than Ruth without his military stint.

Ruth will always have the fact that he won 80 something games by the time he was 23 stat on his side. If you take that into account Ruth is clearly better than Mays or anyone else.

[Grape Ape]

Ruth will always have the fact that he won 80 something games by the time he was 23 stat on his side. If you take that into account Ruth is clearly better than Mays or anyone else.

Ruth's numbers are so ridiculous they look made up.  He led the league in HR and OPS in 1918, as a pitcher.

Mays was spectacular as well.

[tu_holmes]

quick name me 3 great african american pitchers, not latinos? not that easy right, that arguement is invalid there weren't that many teams talent was greater. babe was head and shoulders above anyobe at the time. most of the great black players were position players, ernie banks, frank robinson, hank aaron and my favorite player willie mays just to name the upper echelon players.

Gooden, Sabathia, Paige.... I'd put Gibson up there too.

But still, they are an extreme minority.

Think about this... Doc was the last black Cy Young winner and that was in 1985!

[Wiggs]

Gooden, Sabathia, Paige.... I'd put Gibson up there too.

But still, they are an extreme minority.

Think about this... Doc was the last black Cy Young winner and that was in 1985!

If we wanted to rule baseball, we'd rule baseball.

[Hulkotron]

Gooden, Sabathia, Paige.... I'd put Gibson up there too.

But still, they are an extreme minority.

Think about this... Doc was the last black Cy Young winner and that was in 1985!

Sabathia won a Cy Young recently.  Not sure if he's considered "African American" though.  He was born in California.

[Wiggs]

Sabathia won a Cy Young recently.  Not sure if he's considered "African American" though.  He was born in California.

CC is Afro-American, yes.

[tu_holmes]

Sabathia won a Cy Young recently.  Not sure if he's considered "African American" though.  He was born in California.

Yeah, he's in the middle, I agree... Still he's the closest thing I've seen lately.

[Hulkotron]

CC is Afro-American, yes.

Surely he has Latino or Hispanic roots though with a name like Sabathia.

I've never heard anyone say Pedro Martinez is AA, for example.

vv Haha fair enough

[Wiggs]

Surely he has Latino or Hispanic roots though with a name like Sabathia.

I thought so to.  Haven;t found any proof.  Till then, he's a regular n-word...haha.

[dr.chimps]

Fergie Jenkins comes to mind. No idea how his numbers stack up, tho. Oh, and Doc Ellis. -

[funk51]

  a couple of other great ball players at least hitting wise ted williams lost almost 6 years to the service and jimmie foxx burned out quick thanks to the bottle.

[funk51]

bob gibson but these guys are the exception rather than the rule.

[Mr Nobody]

How many hot dogs did he in one day I cant remember.