Did Babe Ruth dominate baseball at the same level Wayne Gretzky did hockey?

[Bpm0014]

I'm not a hockey fan in the least bit, and I may be the biggest baseball fan in the world, but I'm going to give maybe the most crazy stat in sports ever...

Wayne Gretzky is the career goals leader. If you take away every single one of his goals, he's STILL the NHL's all time leading scorer. I didn't believe it, lost a bet, and had to find out the hard way. But look it up.

[Zone91]

I am not talking about influence on the game I am only talking stats wise!!!

Wayne to me is FAR and beyond the athlete that no one else even comes close to in hockey...almost a 1000 points ahead of anyone else. That is like having 5200 hits in baseball...way more than Pete Rose had.

For me Babe would have had to have well over 1000 home runs and 5000 hits to be even close to Wayne's statistic dominance.

Post # 6

[Zone91]

Look at this very very closely:

Link:

http://statshockey.homestead.com/alltimepoints.html

Post # 7

[nsaddict]

Your polls are getting stranger? What's next, which HOF'er chewed the most tobacco during doubleheaders? However, being a hockey fan, Gretzky's career stats are incredible. But I always felt he was overrated as a player. His teammates "protected" him that aided his stats greatly. If he had played in the 50's, he would have NEVER had the same success as he would have been knocked around game after game. In my opinion (although a shorter career due to injuries), Bobby Orr was THE most dominant player of all time. He excelled on defense and more so on offense and was a brawler. Sort of like Ruth ,multi talented, pitcher/hitter. As a side note, his rookie cards are WAY overpriced as millions and millions were produced.

[Sean]

Originally Posted by nsaddict

Your polls are getting stranger? What's next, which HOF'er chewed the most tobacco during doubleheaders?

I believe that would be Lenny Dykstra.

[HRBAKER]

Originally Posted by Sean

I believe that would be Lenny Dykstra.

Man I have been asleep awhile if Lenny Dykstra is in the HOF.

[Sean]

Originally Posted by HRBAKER

Man I have been asleep awhile if Lenny Dykstra is in the HOF.

Sorry, I missed the HOF reference.

[prewarsports]

I played both Hockey and baseball in College and still play both sports and follow them actively.

If anyone genuinely thinks there was a better hockey player than Gretzky, then they are just trying to stir the pot. Orr was basically a forward with a D next to his name in the scorecard and Howe was a great player for a LONG time that had probably half the skill Gretzky did in a much bigger body frame. Mario Lemieux had all the potential in the world but he is the Ted Williams of Baseball. He could have been the best but for injury, but the fact is he WAS injured a lot and he simply did not achieve the level of career success he could have otherwise. Gretzky was the best hockey player who ever lived, period. there is no debate.

Babe Ruth similarly was the greatest Baseball player who ever lived and anyone who thinks otherwise is usually biased towad fielding, or "leveling the field" toward early black players etc.

They are by far the two most dominant athlete of all time, and others like Jordan are not even close, he ushered in a new era of Basketball but hardly dominated the way Ruth and Gretzky did. Chamberlain would be a better comparison in that Sport.

It is hard to say who was more dominant, Socially and "Impact on the game" it was Ruth. Purely stat wise it was Gretzky. The early numbers for Ruths home runs dont translate to Hockey at all, you would need to talk about Runs and not Home Runs if doing that analysis and Ruth didn't outscore entire teams by himself. Home Runs are NOT the same as goals or assists in hockey.

Rhys

[Zone91]

billyb

Actually he played agaisnt some of the best players in the world:

Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman, Paul Coffey, Marc Messier (when they no longer played together), Patrick Roy, Ron Francis, Joe Sakic, Ray Bourque, Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille, Martin Brodeur, Bryan Trottier, Adam Oates and many many others!!!

Post # 10

[Rob D.]

Nobody ever misspells Babe Ruth's name. Case closed.

[billyb]

Everyone's stats were inflated during that time. I have seen all of Yzerman's career and he was great, but his talents today, would be greatly deiminished, as well as Gretzke's.
Remember, the World Hockey Association was active from 1972- 1979, and many stars, including Bobby Hull went over to the WHA.
In 1974, six teams were added, and in 1979, when the WHA folded, the NHL picked up 4 more of their teams, 21 totaled. It wasn't until 1889 and later, when the Soviets, and other Europeans came into the league. Wayne had already gathered a vast majoity of his points.
I know Gretzke didn't start until '79, but you can see how the league was watered down when he started his career.
I do not want to take away anything from Gretzke, I have met him, talked to him, and he is a very nice guy.
But my vote, as best hockey player of that era, was Orr, who changed the style for defensemen, the offensive defense men.
I am also old enough to have seen Howe and Richard play, against teams that they played on a regular basis. Just six teams, best in North America, and they seen you often enough to know all your moves and how to play you.
Comparing Gretzke's stats to Ruth, Ruth would have had to play half of his career against minor league players to get a good comparison.

But on that note, was Gretzke dominate in the NHL for his time.......yes.

[HOF Auto Rookies]

Originally Posted by billyb

Everyone's stats were inflated during that time. I have seen all of Yzerman's career and he was great, but his talents today, would be greatly deiminished, as well as Gretzke's.
Remember, the World Hockey Association was active from 1972- 1979, and many stars, including Bobby Hull went over to the WHA.
In 1974, six teams were added, and in 1979, when the WHA folded, the NHL picked up 4 more of their teams, 21 totaled. It wasn't until 1889 and later, when the Soviets, and other Europeans came into the league. Wayne had already gathered a vast majoity of his points.
I know Gretzke didn't start until '79, but you can see how the league was watered down when he started his career.
I do not want to take away anything from Gretzke, I have met him, talked to him, and he is a very nice guy.
But my vote, as best hockey player of that era, was Orr, who changed the style for defensemen, the offensive defense men.
I am also old enough to have seen Howe and Richard play, against teams that they played on a regular basis. Just six teams, best in North America, and they seen you often enough to know all your moves and how to play you.
Comparing Gretzke's stats to Ruth, Ruth would have had to play half of his career against minor league players to get a good comparison.

But on that note, was Gretzke dominate in the NHL for his time.......yes.

Come on man, you talk about how greatly diminished his stats would be, this and that, and claim you're from Hocketown (which is def. MN ) and you can't even spell his name right

Note, this is all in jest