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Post by Henry Skrimshander on May 6, 2021 19:16:45 GMT -8
I hate to go all Wilky on you Smails, but ...
Babe Ruth had 11 triples in 95 games in 1918 and 12 triples in 130 games in 1919 playing half his games in Fenway Park, which plays much the same as it does today. From 1918 when he was 23, until 1931, when he was 36, he never hit fewer than five triples in any season where he played more than 130 games.
Babe Ruth hit 24 triples from age 35-39. Albert Pujols hit 16 in his entire career. Babe hit 16 triples in 1921, probably helped somewhat by playing half of his games at the Polo Grounds, which had a huge OF. OTOH, Willie Mays played six seasons at the same Polo Grounds and only had more than 16 triples once. The only players on the 1951 and 1954 Giants, who won the NL pennant and were not slow, to reach double figures in triples were Monte Irvin (11 in 1954) and Mays (13 in 1951).
Babe Ruth was not slow. There is very little film of him when he was in his prime, and in shape. Most of the film we see, and judge him by, was taken late in his career, at which point he had put on 40-50 pounds.
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Post by Judge Smails on May 6, 2021 19:38:47 GMT -8
I hate to go all Wilky on you Smails, but ... Babe Ruth had 11 triples in 95 games in 1918 and 12 triples in 130 games in 1919 playing half his games in Fenway Park, which plays much the same as it does today. From 1918 when he was 23, until 1931, when he was 36, he never hit fewer than five triples in any season where he played more than 130 games. Babe Ruth hit 24 triples from age 35-39. Albert Pujols hit 16 in his entire career. Babe hit 16 triples in 1921, probably helped somewhat by playing half of his games at the Polo Grounds, which had a huge OF. OTOH, Willie Mays played six seasons at the same Polo Grounds and only had more than 16 triples once. The only players on the 1951 and 1954 Giants, who won the NL pennant and were not slow, to reach double figures in triples were Monte Irvin (11 in 1954) and Mays (13 in 1951). Babe Ruth was not slow. There is very little film of him when he was in his prime, and in shape. Most of the film we see, and judge him by, was taken late in his career, at which point he had put on 40-50 pounds. Fenway is a triple’s haven to dead center. Especially back in the day when the CF was not playing as deep as they are now. |
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Post by wilkyisdashiznit on May 6, 2021 22:22:46 GMT -8
96 years ago today Babe Ruth was playing for the Yankees, not pitching for the Red Sox ![]()  ![]() My two baseball year calculations are off by 10 years. |
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Post by wilkyisdashiznit on May 6, 2021 22:47:54 GMT -8
I hate to go all Wilky on you Smails, but ... Babe Ruth had 11 triples in 95 games in 1918 and 12 triples in 130 games in 1919 playing half his games in Fenway Park, which plays much the same as it does today. From 1918 when he was 23, until 1931, when he was 36, he never hit fewer than five triples in any season where he played more than 130 games. Babe Ruth hit 24 triples from age 35-39. Albert Pujols hit 16 in his entire career. Babe hit 16 triples in 1921, probably helped somewhat by playing half of his games at the Polo Grounds, which had a huge OF. OTOH, Willie Mays played six seasons at the same Polo Grounds and only had more than 16 triples once. The only players on the 1951 and 1954 Giants, who won the NL pennant and were not slow, to reach double figures in triples were Monte Irvin (11 in 1954) and Mays (13 in 1951). Babe Ruth was not slow. There is very little film of him when he was in his prime, and in shape. Most of the film we see, and judge him by, was taken late in his career, at which point he had put on 40-50 pounds. A fun fact is that one of Babe Ruth's triples in 1918 was actually a game-winning two-run home run that did not count as a home run, just a triple. Back then, the game ended once the game winning run scored, whether you hit a home run or not. Babe Ruth hit 715 home runs. But ground rule doubles were home runs before 1930 and home runs that hit the foul pole were doubles. Also, if a home run bent around a foul pole and landed foul, it was foul. And a home run that curved around the foul pole to land fair was a home run. In conclusion, comparing Babe Ruth to players who played after 1930 is stupid. |
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Post by Werebeaver on May 7, 2021 6:25:35 GMT -8
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Post by chinmusic on May 7, 2021 10:59:22 GMT -8
Pumpkin patch or clinical presentation of HGH ?
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Post by Henry Skrimshander on May 7, 2021 13:09:27 GMT -8
In his prime the Babe was 6-2, 215 pounds. As tall as Ryan Nall, but 20 pounds lighter. Nall could run a little. So could the Babe.
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Post by mbabeav on May 7, 2021 13:49:29 GMT -8
Popular Science magazine in 1921 took Ruth to get tested at Columbia University in search of a scientific answer to why he bashed so many home runs. Researchers used state of the art scientific techniques for the era, although some have since been called into question. Here are the pertinent results:
To gauge power, Ruth swung a 54-ounce bat 75 mph, a measure that flabbergasted researchers.
To test fine motor control and speed, he was given a steel board punched with holes and asked to insert a peg into those holes as many times as possible in 60 seconds. He managed 132 hits with his (dominant) left hand. The average score was 82, according to Popular Science.
To measure reflexes, he was asked to depress a button with his index finger as many times as possible in 10 seconds. The results were reported by percentile. Ruth was in the top 99.8 percent.
Popular Science went bananas over the results. “The tests proved that the coordination of eye, brain, nerve system, and muscle is practically perfect,” it wrote.
The New York Times went equally berserk with its headline: “Ruth supernormal, so he hits homers.”
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Post by steinlager on May 7, 2021 14:34:17 GMT -8
A 54 oz bat. My god. I remember trying to use a 34 inch, 34 oz once. Went back to the old 33-32 after failing miserably.
Hats off to the Babe.
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