Was Hank Aaron better than Babe Ruth?

[pgellis]

Not to diminish what Aaron did, but he hit only 41 more home runs than Babe with about 4,000 more at bats than Babe.

Plus Ruth was one of the best pitchers of his time before he converted to outfield so that he could put his bat to use every day instead of every 4 days or so.

Ruth would also hit more home runs in a season than some teams combined.

[vintagecpa]

You need to consider that Babe Ruth broke the HR record when he was 26 years old. When you factor in he was a pitcher his first 5+ years of his career, he is by far the best baseball player of all time IMO. If he would have started out a position player from day one, you could probably figure another 150-200 HR to his HR total. Nothing against Hank, but he should be compared to Mays and Mantle. Not the Babe.

[Moonlight Graham]

Originally Posted by pgellis

Not to diminish what Aaron did, but he hit only 41 more home runs than Babe with about 4,000 more at bats than Babe.

Plus Ruth was one of the best pitchers of his time before he converted to outfield so that he could put his bat to use every day instead of every 4 days or so.

Ruth would also hit more home runs in a season than some teams combined.

And probably hit a lot of those homers with one hell of a hangover
Ruth all the way!

[39special]

Two totally different eras.I picked Ruth,but Aaron was a hell of a player.

[Peter_Spaeth]

All serious rankings of baseball players list Ruth first.

[brob28]

Got to go with Ruth he completely changed the game.

[oldjudge]

Better than Mantle, not better than Williams or Mays, and certainly not better than Ruth.

[Section103]

He was no Mays.

[Sean1125]

Adrian is set to pass my 2 1/2 year post count in the next week.

[CMIZ5290]

Aaron was great, Ruth was beyond that. I still rate Ruth and Cobb among the five best ever....

[Zone91]

What about this guy Hoshi Gangu he had 868 home runs during his career in Japan?

Post # 9

[MW1]

Originally Posted by Zone91

What about this guy Hoshi Gangu he had 868 home runs during his career in Japan?

Post # 9

Some say that Berk Ross was also quite the hitter.

[prestigecollectibles]

Originally Posted by Zone91

What about this guy Hoshi Gangu he had 868 home runs during his career in Japan?

Post # 9

Sadaharu Oh hit 868 home runs in Japan. Hoshi Gangu was the name of a card maker.

[howard38]

/

[bender07]

Originally Posted by Zone91

What about this guy Hoshi Gangu he had 868 home runs during his career in Japan?

Post # 9

Awe-some

[Bored5000]

I can't believe Hank is pulling 15 percent of the vote. Seems like a pretty good showing for him IMO, given the question presented.

[yanksfan09]

Originally Posted by Bored5000

I can't believe Hank is pulling 15 percent of the vote. Seems like a pretty good showing for him IMO, given the question presented.

I think some people like to be contrarian and vote for underdogs. There's no logical reason one could vote Aaron here. I find the poll to be embarrassing actually. But, to each their own.

That's not a knock on Aaron either, by the way...He was great.

[Pinstriper780]

Sorry, but I'm not even putting Aaron above Mantle let alone Babe.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by Pinstriper780

Sorry, but I'm not even putting Aaron above Mantle let alone Babe.

You're entitled to your opinion, of course. But a comparison of Mantle and Aaron's numbers would suggest that Aaron was at least Mantle's equal.

[KCRfan1]

Originally Posted by Pinstriper780

Sorry, but I'm not even putting Aaron above Mantle let alone Babe.

Yankee homer.......

[Big Ben]

Originally Posted by 39special

Two totally different eras.I picked Ruth,but Aaron was a hell of a player.

+1

[EvilKing00]

im shocked that there are 10 votes for aaron....

[bender07]

No

[the 'stache]

Ok, I'll play devil's advocate, and make an argument for Hank Aaron. In actuality, when you analyze the different factors involved, it's not quite so cut and dry that "well, Ruth was better". No, not really. I'm not meaning to diminish Ruth's abilities as a baseball player. He was incredible. But so, too, was Hank Aaron, and the circumstances under which Aaron played differed greatly from those in Ruth's day.

When Babe Ruth was an active player, there were eight teams in the American League (including the Yankees). None of them were west of the Mississippi, however. The Babe played in St. Louis, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Washington and Cleveland. No long cross-country trips for baseball games.

In Aaron's day (from 1960 going forward, the majority of his career), there were at least 10 teams in the National League, including the San Francisco Giants, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. A few years later, the Majors expanded to include the south. Aaron's Braves moved to Atlanta. There was also a team in Houston, first the Colt 45's, then the Astros. Aaron could be playing one series in Philadelphia, then flying across the country to face the Giants. Then he might be flying to Montreal to play the Expos, or down to Houston. The amount of travel that Hank Aaron did, not only to the west coast, but to Canada and the southern U.S, far exceeds anything that Babe Ruth had to undergo. Anybody that has ever flown from one end of the country to the other knows about jet lag, and the fatigue that comes with it. Plus, they didn't have today's commercial airlines. If you flew around in the 50s and 60s at all, you know how difficult it was getting any sleep while flying. I'm not even going to get into the racism that Hank Aaron did have to deal with while chasing Ruth's all-time home run record. Anybody that tries to discount that is a fool. Look at the pressure Roger Maris had to deal with in 1961 chasing Ruth's single season record. His hair fell out. he had stomach ulcers. What do you think Aaron had to deal with? How many years did he get letters day in, day out, where somebody was threatening to kill him? Did the Babe ever have to deal with that? Nope.

In Babe Ruth's day, Walter Johnson was likely the best pitcher in the game, and is considered one of, if not the greatest pitchers to ever play the game. Johnson's biggest advantage was the sheer velocity of his fastball. While they didn't have the technology that's available today, scientists were able to extrapolate from film/different tests they did that Johnson threw in the low 90's. Babe Ruth never had to face a Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax or a Juan Marichal, who consistently threw in the high 90's, up to and over 100 mph.

As great as Ruth was, he never had to play against those black athletes restricted to the Negro Leagues, because baseball was segregated in Ruth's day. Ruth's final year as a player was in 1935, his lone season with the Boston Braves. Of course, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947. Hank Aaron was a rookie in 1954. Not only did Aaron face the best white pitchers in the game (as did Ruth), but he faced the best black athletes, and the best baseball players from Latin America. How do you think Babe Ruth would have done against Smokey Joe Williams, or Satchel Paige? There's evidence to support the level of competition from 1947 on was tougher than it was in Ruth's day. When was the last time anybody hit .400? 1941. Nobody in Aaron's day came close. Were the hitters worse, or were the pitchers just better? Rules changes were made because pitchers had such an advantage over hitters in the early 60s.

Ruth had it relatively easy in his day. He played in ideal conditions. He didn't have to travel nearly as much as Aaron. Didn't have to deal with racism. Didn't have to deal with the same caliber of pitchers because of improved athleticism, and segregation.

Ruth was an incredible baseball player, and is rightly one of the icons of the game. But to lessen Aaron's accomplishments is a disservice to another one of the all-time great players.

How great was Aaron? If you take away his 755 home runs (which I still consider the all-time record), he still had more than 3,000 hits.

[egbeachley]

Originally Posted by EvilKing00

im shocked that there are 10 votes for aaron....

+1

Also, Babe Ruth used up to a 48-oz bat because he mistakenly thought a heavier bat meant more power. If he went to a lighter bat he could have had 50 + more homers.