Just a discussion

[paulsam1]

Ruth vs Bonds, Aaron and Maris

First I'm not a Bonds basher but what he makes managers do during a game is truely amazing.

Lets take Maris first, Maris hit 61 HR'S in 61 but not only did he play more games he had 50 more AB's At Ruth's rate of HR's he would have had at least 5 more with those extra AB'S.

Aaron, He hit 755 HR's in I believe 12,400 AB's Ruth had 714 in only 8,399 AB'S that's over 4,000 more AB's
At that rate Ruth would have hit 1,056 HR's

Bonds, Before this year had 658 HR's but he also had 8,725 AB's Now if he breaks Aaron's Record he also will do it with way less AB's. but he already has more then Ruth.
Just to put Aaron's numbers in Prospective with the same number of AB's as Ruth he would have hit 512 HR's.

That's why stuff like this is great for barroom talk but you can't compare different Eras. So when you talk about Bonds being the Best ever you should say ONE of the Best ever. That I will accept.
Don't forget Ruth was great for the game as far as Kids, Media and all fans. I can't say the same about Bonds

[BettorsChat]

Babe Ruth was the greatest player in my opinion. He could not only hit, but was a very good pitcher. Before he came around teams weren't used to hitting HR's for runs.

Not only that, but Ruth went around the country promoting baseball by putting on hitting shows which lead to fans coming out to the games a lot more. The Polo grounds got to the point that they were sold out all the time with people standing throughout the whole game. Not to mention droves of people outside listening in with the loudspeakers that they had outside the stadium.

So as you stated Ruth was a great player on the field and great for the game off the field. He was a big kid at heart.

[Tony Vegas]

I think Barry is truly amazing and I find it hard to compare players from different eras (pratically immposible) because of ball park size, fitness, money, and so on. However, if you compare what each did in their careers against their peers you will see what Ruth did is completely amazing. Not only for the reasons that BC stated but Ruth also out homered every team one year. Nobody hit the way he did when he played. I know Barry has been great but Ruth was doing things that no one ever saw. I still rate Ruth as the best all-time followed by Mays then Bonds. JMO!

[savage1]

Don't forget also that Ruth played in the "dead ball" era, making his accompllishments even more amazing.