by Juan Leer

Created on: May 21, 2007   Last Updated: July 23, 2009

If you talk to most baseball historians and fans, they will tell you that Babe Ruth is the great baseball player that we have ever seen. For one thing, he was quite possibly the greatest hitter of all time, doing things offensively that had never been done before when he did it. But another thing to keep in mind (which most people don't know about) was that he was also an above average pitcher before he switched to hitting full time. With this combo I feel comfortable calling him the greatest player to ever play Major League Baseball.

There were seasons where he hit more HR than any other team in the MLB. He really was the first great power hitter, and of course his record of 714 HR stood all the way until Hank Aaron was finally able to break the record, and it is still remarkably the 3rd highest total all-time. For someone that played in his era, the power numbers are remarkable, and it is certainly not unreasonable to label him the greatest power hitter to ever play the game.

Beyond hitting for power, he also hit for a great average and had a great eye at the plate. The average was always pretty high, and he was great about taking walks, which just helped him with the power because he was so selective at the plate. There was no pitching around the guy, as he knew what he wanted every time at the plate and didn't really have any weaknesses. He would just easily take a walk as he would hit a home run, and patient hitters like that are always the most dangerous.

When compared to his peers, which is the way that many baseball arguments have to be looked at, Ruth was the most dominant of his generation, more so than anyone else that has played the game. As noted early, he would routinely hit more HR than several other TEAMS in a given season. I would like to see somebody do that today! He put up offensive numbers that had never been seen before, and changed the way that the game of baseball was played. If that doesn't speak to his impact and greatness, then I am not sure what does.

I think you could definitely make the argument that Babe Ruth was the greatest baseball player ever even if he hadn't been a solid pitcher. But when you throw in his baseball-changing approach at the plate (hitting for power) in with his multiple years of above average pitching, then it is clear to me that Babe Ruth is the greatest baseball player in all of history.

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