Hypothetical Question, could Ruth hit modern pitching

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by robw1959

This is all patently false, with no evidence whatsoever. The barnstorming teams had some pretty elite competition, I believe, including such guys as Oscar Charleston, Cool Papa Bell, and Josh Gibson just on the Negro League side. On the MLB side, well, you had the stars of that era as well. How can you just dismiss and denigrate them all unless you wish to remain in denial about it?

We don't really know the context of those anecdotes. It's highly unlikely any pitcher, even Paige, could have been sure of striking out the side in a real game all the more so with that type of opposition. There may have been an element of show there.

The story Buck O'Neill told of Paige walking the bases full to get to Josh Gibson, if indeed true, was awesome.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

We don't really know the context of those anecdotes. It's highly unlikely any pitcher, even Paige, could have been sure of striking out the side in a real game all the more so with that type of opposition. There may have been an element of show there.

The story Buck O'Neill told of Paige walking the bases full to get to Josh Gibson, if indeed true, was awesome.

It is a cool story but if you bring reality into the story it really isn't impressive at all. Even the greatest hitters have a lower batting average against the great pitchers. So realistically Josh Gibson had what a 20-25% chance of getting a hit. Pretty good odds for Mr Paige being able to put on a show that looks WAY more impressive than it really is.