What gets lost in the fog of time is that prior to Ruth, the home run wasn’t considered an offensive weapon. They believed it tactically superior to keep the ball in play (to keep men on base and pressure on the pitcher) and nobody swung for the fence. When Ruth hit 29 dingers in 1919, he was breaking a record that had stood since 1884!!!
Two years later he hit 59.
It doesn’t matter how many homers players who came after Ruth might hit, it still doesn’t compare to his accomplishments being the first player to use the long ball as a tactical weapon, MORE THAN doubling the home run record in the process.
Records come and go but it’s unlikely anyone will ever have as great an impact on the way baseball is played, and George Herman Ruth will always be the Sultan of Swat.
Ruth was the greatest baseball player who ever lived.
He was the best left-handed pitcher in the American League, at a time when pitching dominated the game.
Then he became the greatest slugger ever seen, by an incalculable margin.
He also stole home 10 times in his career, a feat few modern players can match.
The Sultan of Swat indeed!
Well look at the size of some of those ball parks back then. They weren’t the Little League Fields they play on today. So going for a home run wasn’t good strategy
Another interesting thing about Ruth, before 1930 there was no foul pole. So even on balls over the fence, it was where the ball landed whether it was call fair or foul. Think of all the hook shots of today that wrap around the foul pole. Ruth might have 75 to 100 more career home runs if the foul pole was always around.
Way back when, the ball was kept in play while it got mushy. No replacement just because there was a nick or a scuff.
Ruth was a pitcher, so he wasn’t taught to swing for contact like other hitters.
Finally, Ruth was one of the first hitters to use a knob at the end of the bat. It gave him more leverage than others.
Can't deny that but today's players are bigger, faster and have off season training regimens that the Ruth's of that day never had.
In other words, the players of that time, along with the NFL players of that time, would never achieve the same greatness today.........