April 21st, 2020 at 12:00 pm 
by Ron Cervenka On May 30, 2020, it will be exactly 85 years to the day that George Herman ‘Babe’ Ruth – at 40 years old – played his final major league baseball game. Yet even today, nearly 13,770 regular-season games later, ‘The Bambino,’ as he was often and lovingly called, is still considered:
“The Best There Ever Was.”
(Photo credit – Tom Sande)
Although Ruth was among the inaugural five to be enshrined in the sacred Halls of Cooperstown in 1936 (along with Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, and Honus Wagner), there have since been 235 former major league players, 35 Negro league players, 31 baseball executives, 22 managers, and 10 umpires who have achieved baseball immortality at 25 Main St, Cooperstown, NY 13326.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
During his remarkable 22-year career, Ruth posted an insane slash line of .342 / .474 / .690 / .1.164 (with his SLG and OPS still ‘The best there ever was‘), with 506 doubles, 136 triples, 714 home runs, and 2.214 RBI.
But wait … there’s more!
Ruth also pitched 163 games (of which 147 were starts), finishing with a ridiculous 94-46 (.671) record, 2.28 ERA, 488 strikeouts, 441 walks, while allowing only 10 home runs in his combined 1,221.1 innings pitched. Oh, and by the way, 107 of those 147 starts were complete games. As a basis of comparison, future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw currently has 25 complete games through 12 major league seasons.
But was Ruth really that good, or could it have been that the competition was that bad? Although this topic is often debated, the absolute bottom line (and the debate-ender) is that Babe Ruth was, hands down, the best player of his time … or ever.
* * * *
But what about now? Who is the Babe Ruth of the 21st century?
On the batting side, the overwhelming favorite is, of course, 28-year-old Angels centerfielder Mike Trout who, through his first nine major league seasons, has a Ruthian-like slash line of .305 / .419 / .581 / 1.000, with 251 doubles, 46 triples, 285 home runs, and 752 RBI. And while these numbers may pale in comparison to those of The Babe, they are among the best of the best of this generation’s players.
Here is what Trout has accomplished through nine MLB seasons:
- Named the 2012 AL Rookie of the Year
- Named the 2012 Wilson Overall Defensive Player of the Year
- Won three AL MVPs
- Named to eight AL All-Star teams
- Won two All-Star-Game MVP awards
- Won seven Silver Slugger awards
- Named the 2019 AL Player of the Year
On the pitching side, there are currently several pitchers – mostly starters – who are clearly on the fast-track to Cooperstown, including (and especially) the aforementioned Clayton Kershaw.
Here is what Kershaw has accomplished through 12 MLB seasons:
- Won the 2014 NL MVP
- Named the 2014 MLB Player of the Year
- Won MLB’s Triple Crown in 2014
- Won three NL Cy Young awards
- Named to eight NL All-Star teams
- Won a Gold Glove
- Won five NL ERA titles
- Pitched a No-Hitter on June 18, 2014
(Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)
All of this said and despite the number of exceptional future Hall of Famers in the game today and over the 151-year history of Major League Baseball, there will never again be another Babe Ruth … not ever. He was and always will be:
‘The Best There Ever Was.’
* * * * * *
Posted in 
How does Babes HR’s allowed compare to other pitchers of his time? I believe most, if not all, of his pitching was in the dead ball era.
Excellent question and point, Bob. There is zero doubt that the dead ball era had a huge impact on pitching success back then.
In his 10 seasons as a pitcher, Ruth had (what today is called) a HR9 of 0.1, as did fellow inaugural Hall of Famer Walter Johnson over his 22 seasons (all as a pitcher). Inaugural Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson’s was 0.2 over 17 big league seasons as a pitcher.
This is obviously a ridiculously small sample size, but Ruth was clearly an exceptional pitcher.
BTW: Kershaw’s HR9 through his 12 MLB seasons thus far is 0.7.