What If...1909 T206 Babe Ruth...

[zljones]

Wasn't the dead ball era from 1900-1920, meaning Babe Ruth actually did play in the later years of the dead ball era?

[Bosox Blair]

Originally Posted by zljones

Wasn't the dead ball era from 1900-1920, meaning Babe Ruth actually did play in the later years of the dead ball era?

Yes. But his breakout power season was 1920. From that point forward, his numbers look a lot more like the numbers of elite modern power hitters.

[Runscott]

I think Ruth would have done okay if he had started his career earlier. Here are the 1919 and 1920 HR leaders. Ruth seemed to be a bit ahead of the other guys:

edited to add: his HR's per AB weren't so great before then, but he was concentrating on pitching.

1: Babe Ruth (29)
2: Gavvy Cravath (12)
3: George Sisler (10)
4: Benny Kauff (10)
5: Tilly Walker (10)
6: Frank Baker (10)
7: Elmer Smith (9)
8: Cy Williams (9)
9: George Burns (8)
10: Rogers Hornsby (8)
11: Harry Heilmann (8)
12: Wally Pipp (7)
13: Happy Felsch (7)
14: Joe Jackson (7)
15: Larry Doyle (7)
16: Roger Peckinpaugh (7)
17: Duffy Lewis (7)
18: Ping Bodie (6)
19: Jack Tobin (6)
20: Mike Menosky (6)

and 1920:

1: Babe Ruth (54)
2: George Sisler (19)
3: Tilly Walker (17)
4: Cy Williams (15)
5: Happy Felsch (14)
6: Irish Meusel (14)
7: Elmer Smith (12)
8: Joe Jackson (12)
9: Bob Meusel (11)
10: Bobby Veach (11)
11: George Kelly (11)
12: Aaron Ward (11)
13: Wally Pipp (11)
14: Ken Williams (10)
15: Austin McHenry (10)
16: Dave Robertson (10)
17: Braggo Roth (9)
18: Casey Stengel (9)
19: Baby Doll Jacobson (9)
20: Harry Heilmann (9)