Bonds quickly breaks Ruth's homer record, a very obscure one

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 9/25/2005 | Mark Camps

[SpringheelJack]

For Ruth's entire career at home games, center field was 487 ft, deepest left-center 500 FEET,(1923), 490 ft (1924).

Just how many times are you going to post that without mentioning the sub-300 foot corners Ruth benefited from?

[TommyDale]

Yeah, but you failed to mention the OBVIOUS, which is that Babe Ruth hit left handed, and the right field distance was only around 295 feet!

[dead]

The only "press investigations" I've seen of anybody have been really half-assed and were limited to those named in the Balco investigation.

I don't know of anybody the press "outed". Their "investigative" skills seem to be limited to attending a MLB press conference after somebody fails a drug test.

[SpringheelJack]

To fairly compare these home run hitters, you need a computer program to take into account atmospheric density, winds, distances, and percentages of home games. Taking all that information together, there were definite advantages for Aaron, and Ruth's right field distance (was it 295 feet to right field and a 3 foot fence?) would definitely stack up as favorable to them. What they hit on the road is more of an equalizer than an advantage, since they all had to play half their games on the road.

I was posting that information to show that there's no evidence that Ruth took an undue advantage from his park, and Mays a detriment.

[SpringheelJack]

The Babe dominated the game in ways that Bonds couldn't even dream of.

Actually, Bonds's adjusted OPS's have beaten the best Ruth ever put up. The only reason Ruth beat the number 2 guy by a 35-hr margin is because he was playing the modern game while everyone else was still stuck in a dead ball mentality. Ruth could not have put up such leads at any other time in history.

[Red Badger]

There hasn't been any real journalists since MURROW. The rest are all reporters..........and SPORTS reporters are the lowest of the bunch...........

[T. Jefferson]

There's a reason they called his Home Runs "Ruthian", he routinely hit it out of the park, in stadiums that required 500+ foot HRs. Ruth was HR champ at age 25 and hit more home runs than many opposing teams.

[TommyDale]

You don't think a 295 foot right field fence was an advantage for Ruth? If he had 335 foot fences, 10 or 12 feet high, he would have hit far fewer home runs in Yankee Stadium during that era.

[T. Jefferson]

Bonds sees less than 1/2 the number of hittable balls than any other hitter. Ruth had Gehrig hitting behind him, after all.

Ruth never saw a pitch his entire career. Gehrig was the luckiest guy on the planet batting behind Ruth. They were forced to pitch to him, and he made them pay dearly. Gehrig's stats vs. his peers are far better than Bonds vs. peers. Griffey's first 10 years were far better than Bonds.

[SpringheelJack]

You don't think a 295 foot right field fence was an advantage for Ruth? If he had 335 foot fences, 10 or 12 feet high, he would have hit far fewer home runs in Yankee Stadium during that era.

I'm talking about the whole park. It had eccentric dimensions, but overall when it came to home runs it balanced itself out --- for left-handed hitters, anyway.

[RGSpincich]

Babe Ruth will always be known as the best home run hitter before Major League Baseball began juicing the ball.

They used to say the same thing about the baseballs that Ruth hit.

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

I don't care about steroids. Bring on the moonshots

I agree, why try to hide it. Steroids are a part of every major sport...it can't be stopped.

I enjoyed the WWF & all atheletes were juiced. Football players have been juiced for 30 years & I still enjoy the NFL. Heck steroids are even into golf.

Let the athelete assume the risks.

[SALChamps03]

Actually, Aaron hold that record.

[TravisBickle]

he was playing the modern game while everyone else was still stuck in a dead ball mentality

I'm not sure I know exactly what that means, except that Ruth was playing on a different level than everyone else. And that's why I think that Bonds may exceed the Babe's numbers, but his impact on the game will never come close.

Babe Ruth carried the game out of scandal and low reputation and made it the national pasttime. While I wouldn't blame Bonds for all the steroid woes (there's plenty of blame to go around), his positve impact on the game in insignificant.

[SALChamps03]

Actually, Aaron holds that record.

[TommyDale]

I bet those balls didn't float like the ones today. I remember the first time I saw Barry Bonds hit one into McCovey Cove, and the boaters scrambled for the ball. When I played,
we lost many a ball in the pond just over the fence.

[SpringheelJack]

I'm not sure I know exactly what that means, except that Ruth was playing on a different level than everyone else.

It means that Ruth was swinging for the fences, while everyone else was still choking up.

He was still on a different level, though not a level that Bonds hasn't matched in the last four years.

[Paleo Conservative]

I bet Bonds has the record for the most home runs using steroids.

[SpringheelJack]

I bet Bonds has the record for the most home runs using steroids.

Actually, I'd bet on either Sosa or Palmeiro. Bonds reportedly only began using in 1999.

[T. Jefferson]

Actually, Bonds's adjusted OPS's have beaten the best Ruth ever put up.

What matters is how you compare to your peers. In 20 years, Bonds' lead his league in OPS just 8 times. Bonds leads in HR 2 yrs. out of 20. Ruth lead the league in OPS 13 out of his 17 years, 12 out of 17 in HRs. Slg Pct. Bonds 8 yrs. out of 20, Ruth 13 out of 17. Every major stat versus their peers Ruth blew away Bonds.