by Jay Nolan

Created on: February 28, 2007   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

George Herman Ruth may have been the most talented baseball player we have ever seen. He single handedly changed the collective consciousness of how the game of baseball would be played. Babe introduced the home run as a weapon and by doing so brought an end to the era of station to station baseball that had dominated the game for over 40 years. Ironically, Ruth was also one of the elite pitchers of the time. And if it wasn't for his ability at the plate he may have gone on to become a hall of fame pitcher. Either way the Babe seemed to be destined for greatness.

Ruth began his career in 1914 as a starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox were a dynasty in the decade of the teens. They had won four World Series titles from 1912 to 1918 and finished in second place twice. Babe was a big part of that dynasty and proved invaluable as he recorded 29 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings in the World Series. A record that lasted 70 years. In his career Babe started 148 games, winning 94 of them and completing 107. Consider that both Greg Maddux and Roger Clemens have only 108 and 118 complete games respectively. His career era was 2.28 with just under 500 strikeouts. He amassed these numbers in basically four full years of pitching. Ruth appeared less on the mound and more in the field in 1918 and 1919 finally moving full time to the outfield in 1920 and all but abandoning the mound.

Babe went on to rewrite the record books. He destroyed all previous home run records and competed with entire teams for home runs. He hit for a high average and drove in runs like never seen before. There is no comparison to what Babe Ruth did to baseball unless we want to jump to Einstein and his effect on the scientific world. Never has one athlete's skill level been so superior to that of his peers. Players such as Ted Williams and Willie Mays were outstanding and legendary but neither changed baseball. We have also seen Gretzky and Jordan but they didn't change their games either. They just excelled to greatness. Babe Ruth changed the game of baseball forever and his legacy is still being felt. Yes, Babe Ruth is the best baseball player to ever play the game.

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