Babe Ruth Stats | Baseball Prospectus

Biographical

Babe Ruth RFYankees

Yankees Player Cards | Yankees Team Audit | Yankees Depth Chart

Career Summary

Years	PA	AVG	OBP	SLG	DRC+	WARP
22	10617	.342	.474	.690	175	88.0

Birth Date	2-6-1895
Height	6' 2"
Weight	215 lbs

Age	129 years, 2 months, 19 days
Bats	L
Throws	L

WARP Summary

Show All
Stats Only
Transactions
Book Comments
Articles

MLB Statistics

YEAR	TEAM	AGE	G	PA	H	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	HBP	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	DRC+	DRAA	BRR	BWARP
1914	BOS	19	5	10	2	1	0	0	0	4	0	0		.200	.200	.300	0	0.0	0.0	0.0
1915	BOS	20	42	103	29	10	1	4	9	23	0	0		.315	.376	.576	0	0.0	0.0	0.0
1916	BOS	21	67	150	37	5	3	3	10	23	0	0		.272	.322	.419	0	0.0	0.0	0.0
1917	BOS	22	52	142	40	6	3	2	12	18	0	0		.325	.385	.472	0	0.0	0.0	0.0
1918	BOS	23	95	380	95	26	11	11	58	58	2	6		.300	.411	.555	0	0.0	0.0	0.0
1919	BOS	24	130	542	139	34	12	29	101	58	6	7		.322	.456	.657	0	0.0	0.0	0.0
1920	NYA	25	142	616	172	36	9	54	150	80	3	14	14	.376	.532	.847	0	0.0	0.0	0.0
1921	NYA	26	152	693	204	44	16	59	145	81	4	17	13	.378	.512	.846	195	74.5	4.0	9.1
1922	NYA	27	110	495	128	24	8	35	84	80	1	2	5	.315	.434	.672	153	32.9	-0.3	4.1
1923	NYA	28	152	699	205	45	13	41	170	93	4	17	21	.393	.545	.764	201	82.9	-1.8	9.1
1924	NYA	29	153	681	200	39	7	46	142	81	4	9	13	.378	.513	.739	193	72.8	3.4	9.0
1925	NYA	30	98	426	104	12	2	25	59	68	2	2	4	.290	.393	.543	118	8.4	-3.7	1.2
1926	NYA	31	152	652	184	30	5	47	144	76	3	11	9	.372	.516	.737	187	60.5	-0.8	7.2
1927	NYA	32	151	691	192	29	8	60	137	89	0	7	6	.356	.486	.772	192	81.4	0.1	9.4
1928	NYA	33	154	684	173	29	8	54	137	87	3	4	5	.323	.463	.709	180	66.9	-3.0	7.6
1929	NYA	34	135	587	172	26	6	46	72	60	3	5	3	.345	.430	.697	143	30.4	-3.3	3.5
1930	NYA	35	145	676	186	28	9	49	136	61	1	10	10	.359	.493	.732	179	71.2	-1.9	7.3
1931	NYA	36	145	663	199	31	3	46	128	51	1	5	4	.373	.495	.700	197	75.1	-0.2	8.5
1932	NYA	37	133	589	156	13	5	41	130	62	2	2	2	.341	.489	.661	174	46.9	0.6	5.5
1933	NYA	38	137	575	138	21	3	34	114	90	2	4	5	.301	.442	.582	151	27.7	-1.2	3.7
1934	NYA	39	125	471	105	17	4	22	104	63	2	1	3	.288	.448	.537	146	21.9	-2.7	2.6
1935	BSN	40	28	92	13	0	0	6	20	24	0	0		.181	.359	.431	144	4.0	-2.1	0.3
Career			2503	10617	2873	506	136	714	2062	1330	43	123	117	.342	.474	.690	175	757.7	-12.9	88.0

Statistics for All Levels

'opp' stats - Quality of opponents faced - have been moved and are available only as OPP_QUAL in the Statistics reports now.
Minor league stats are currently shown —Click to hide.

YEAR	Team	Lg	LG	G	PA	oppAVG	oppOBP	oppSLG	BABIP	BPF	BRAA	repLVL	POS_ADJ	DRC+	DRC+ SD	BRR	DRAA	BWARP
1914	BOS	MLB	AL	5	10	.000	.000	.000	.000			0.0		0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0
1915	BOS	MLB	AL	42	103	.000	.000	.000	.000			0.0		0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0
1916	BOS	MLB	AL	67	150	.000	.000	.000	.000			0.0		0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0
1917	BOS	MLB	AL	52	142	.000	.000	.000	.000			0.0		0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0
1918	BOS	MLB	AL	95	380	.000	.000	.000	.000			0.0		0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0
1919	BOS	MLB	AL	130	542	.000	.000	.000	.000			0.0		0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0
1920	NYA	MLB	AL	142	616	.000	.000	.000	.000			0.0		0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0
1921	NYA	MLB	AL	152	693	.295	.345	.414	.000	108	99.9	17.6	-3	195	15	4.0	74.5	9.1
1922	NYA	MLB	AL	110	495	.283	.337	.399	.000	84	68.1	13.8	-4	153	13	-0.3	32.9	4.1
1923	NYA	MLB	AL	152	699	.288	.344	.398	.000	91	130.4	18.3	-5.4	201	11	-1.8	82.9	9.1
1924	NYA	MLB	AL	153	681	.290	.343	.397	.000	107	98	17.6	-5.5	193	11	3.4	72.8	9.0
1925	NYA	MLB	AL	98	426	.293	.351	.410	.000	94	26.3	11.1	-3.6	118	18	-3.7	8.4	1.2
1926	NYA	MLB	AL	152	652	.282	.338	.398	.000	103	78.4	15.9	-4.7	187	16	-0.8	60.5	7.2
1927	NYA	MLB	AL	151	691	.291	.345	.412	.000	113	92.9	20.3	-6.5	192	12	0.1	81.4	9.4
1928	NYA	MLB	AL	154	684	.285	.337	.408	.000	104	80.1	18.0	-5.8	180	9	-3.0	66.9	7.6
1929	NYA	MLB	AL	135	587	.283	.336	.407	.000	98	42.9	14.0	-4.4	143	12	-3.3	30.4	3.5
1930	NYA	MLB	AL	145	676	.294	.348	.430	.000	87	109.6	19.4	-5.7	179	11	-1.9	71.2	7.3
1931	NYA	MLB	AL	145	663	.282	.343	.401	.000	111	82.4	16.9	-5.5	197	14	-0.2	75.1	8.5
1932	NYA	MLB	AL	133	589	.280	.347	.413	.000	103	67.8	14.8	-4.8	174	15	0.6	46.9	5.5
1933	NYA	MLB	AL	137	575	.274	.338	.394	.000	106	46.4	12.8	-3.6	151	15	-1.2	27.7	3.7
1934	NYA	MLB	AL	125	471	.282	.344	.411	.000	93	39.7	10.5	-3.4	146	12	-2.7	21.9	2.6
1935	BSN	MLB	NL	28	92	.276	.328	.403	.000	96	6.6	2.0	-0.5	144	20	-2.1	4.0	0.3

Statistics For All Levels

Minor league stats are currently shown —Click to hide.

Year	Team	lvl	LG	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	TB	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	ISO	SH
1914	BOS	MLB	AL	10	10	1	2	1	0	0	3	2	0	4	0		.200	.200	.300	.100	0
1915	BOS	MLB	AL	103	92	16	29	10	1	4	53	21	9	23	0		.315	.376	.576	.261	2
1916	BOS	MLB	AL	150	136	18	37	5	3	3	57	15	10	23	0		.272	.322	.419	.147	4
1917	BOS	MLB	AL	142	123	14	40	6	3	2	58	12	12	18	0		.325	.385	.472	.146	7
1918	BOS	MLB	AL	380	317	50	95	26	11	11	176	66	58	58	6		.300	.411	.555	.256	3
1919	BOS	MLB	AL	542	432	103	139	34	12	29	284	114	101	58	7		.322	.456	.657	.336	3
1920	NYA	MLB	AL	616	458	158	172	36	9	54	388	137	150	80	14	14	.376	.532	.847	.472	5
1921	NYA	MLB	AL	693	540	177	204	44	16	59	457	171	145	81	17	13	.378	.512	.846	.469	4
1922	NYA	MLB	AL	495	406	94	128	24	8	35	273	99	84	80	2	5	.315	.434	.672	.357	4
1923	NYA	MLB	AL	699	522	151	205	45	13	41	399	131	170	93	17	21	.393	.545	.764	.372	3
1924	NYA	MLB	AL	681	529	143	200	39	7	46	391	121	142	81	9	13	.378	.513	.739	.361	6
1925	NYA	MLB	AL	426	359	61	104	12	2	25	195	66	59	68	2	4	.290	.393	.543	.253	6
1926	NYA	MLB	AL	652	495	139	184	30	5	47	365	153	144	76	11	9	.372	.516	.737	.366	10
1927	NYA	MLB	AL	691	540	158	192	29	8	60	417	164	137	89	7	6	.356	.486	.772	.417	14
1928	NYA	MLB	AL	684	536	163	173	29	8	54	380	142	137	87	4	5	.323	.463	.709	.386	8
1929	NYA	MLB	AL	587	499	121	172	26	6	46	348	154	72	60	5	3	.345	.430	.697	.353	13
1930	NYA	MLB	AL	676	518	150	186	28	9	49	379	153	136	61	10	10	.359	.493	.732	.373	21
1931	NYA	MLB	AL	663	534	149	199	31	3	46	374	163	128	51	5	4	.373	.495	.700	.328	0
1932	NYA	MLB	AL	589	457	120	156	13	5	41	302	137	130	62	2	2	.341	.489	.661	.319	0
1933	NYA	MLB	AL	575	459	97	138	21	3	34	267	103	114	90	4	5	.301	.442	.582	.281	0
1934	NYA	MLB	AL	471	365	78	105	17	4	22	196	84	104	63	1	3	.288	.448	.537	.249	0
1935	BSN	MLB	NL	92	72	13	13	0	0	6	31	12	20	24	0		.181	.359	.431	.250	0

Plate Discipline

YEAR	Pits	Zone%	Swing%	Contact%	Z-Swing%	O-Swing%	Z-Contact%	O-Contact%	SwStr%	CSAA

Injury History — No longer being updated

Last Update: 12/31/2014 23:59 ET

Date On	Date Off	Transaction	Days	Games	Side	Body Part	Injury	Severity	Surgery Date	Reaggravation

Compensation

Year	Team	Salary

Service Time	Agent	Contract Status

Details

2019 Preseason Forecast

Last Update: 1/27/2017 12:35 ET

PCT	PA	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	DRC+	VORP	FRAA	WARP
Weighted Mean	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	0	0	?	?	.000	.000	.000	0	0.0	?	0.0

BP Annual Player Comments

No BP Book Comments have been found for this player.

BP Articles

Click here to see articles tagged with Babe Ruth

BP Chats

Date	Question	Answer
2019-06-03 19:00:00 (link to chat)	Is Espino the next Max Scherzer? (Harold Reynolds from MLB Headquarters)	Why stop there? Next Babe Ruth! (Keanan Lamb)
2019-02-04 16:00:00 (link to chat)	No disrespect meant...but Babe Ruth still ain't got shit on me! (Adam Ottavino from New York)	sir this is an arby's (Mike Gianella)
2018-12-12 17:00:00 (link to chat)	Babe Ruth ain't got shit on me! (In the Denzel Training Day voice of course) (Adam Ottavino from Bout to get that cheddar)	A Denzel/time traveling Training Day movie into the 1920s where he meets up with Babe Ruth and stops Al Capone from doing crimes would be awesome. (Mike Gianella)
2018-12-12 17:00:00 (link to chat)	What's your take on Ottavino's Babe Ruth comments? Does hitting ability transcend era, or would today's pitchers eat him up? I think he would still hit, but not be dominant in today's game due to the quantity of elite pitchers today, what say you? (6'11" Bottom from Still getting butt surgery)	I'm inclined to agree with Ottavino. We're generally healthier today/eating better/have superior access to medical care, and this is particularly true for major leaguers who have access to the best diet/health care/etc. (Mike Gianella)
2017-04-05 23:00:00 (link to chat)	Dynasty rebuild (25 man x 20 team) where prospects must be carried on roster. Which of the following acquired assets have highest upside/best chance to be "pillars" for the next championship?? ' Bats: Gallo, Josh Bell, Vlad Jr., Nick Williams, Brad Zimmer, Willy Adames, Mateo, Robles, Ames Rosario, Corey Ray Arms: Bundy, Reyes (post injury), Matt Manning, Sandy Alcantara, Walker Buehler (Loria's Cousin Fazzie from Milwaukee,, Wi)	In terms of cornerstone ceiling, I'd put Gallo, Vlad Jr., Robles, and Reyes in that category of guys I could see topping out as top-50 players. Maybe Ray too? There's varying degrees of risk baked in there - for instance, Gallo's more likely Russell Branyan than he is Babe Ruth. Vlad Jr.'s like 11 and carries the associated developmental risk, etc. It's a solid collection of talent for a rebuild with a window 3-4 years out. (Wilson Karaman)
2016-07-05 19:00:00 (link to chat)	Is Austin Hedges the next Babe Ruth? (padremurph from Los Angeles)	Hah! No, but he sure looks like he can hit some homers right now. Of course, the PCL is pretty darn power friendly, so that could just be the triple-A mirage. (Kate Morrison)
2016-06-13 23:00:00 (link to chat)	Do you think Schwarber could be on Babe Ruth's level? Almora like a Ricky Henderson type? Pierce Johnson like a Greg Maddux. I really like these comps. (BC from Urbandale)	Sure, why not. Year a the Cubs, baby. (Wilson Karaman)
2014-11-18 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Prior to 1931 there WAS a rule that no one who had won an MVP could win it again, so that's not really a "new" rule...and probably the reason why Babe Ruth only won once. (Chris from KC)	Great point, Chris. Thanks for chiming in with that. (Daniel Rathman)
2014-10-14 18:00:00 (link to chat)	What is Willy Adames' ceiling? I like Price a lot, but in a vacuum, are the Tigers going to regret trading away Willy? (Bill from Detroit)	His ceiling is Babe Ruth. He can be as good as Babe Ruth. He better start eating though. (Matt Sussman)
2014-08-06 16:30:00 (link to chat)	What other position players do you want to see pitch (Michael from CT)	Rafael Furcal, Jean Segura, Delmon Young, Babe Ruth, but he's dead. (Cespedes Family BBQ)
2013-02-22 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Did you read Posnanski's first article at NBC about Alex Rodriguez? (Joe from Kansas City)	I liked it (on.msnbc.com/YhJ8SS) a lot. I wrote before last year's playoffs about why you should root for A-Rod as a feel-good story (bit.ly/PHgtCS) and Posnanski fleshed that idea out really, really well. There is one part at the end, when he suggests that A-Rod didn't age fast so much as -- well, here it is: "He got old very fast," one scout says, but I don't think that's true. Rodriguez has been in the big regularly since he was 20 years old. He has more than 11,000 plate appearances – more plate appearances than Ernie Banks or Babe Ruth or Tony Gwynn. He has played more than 10,000 innings at shortstop, stolen more than 300 bases, scored almost 1,900 runs. The body only has so many games. That's a fascinating idea that I doubt holds up. Rodriguez has more MLB plate appearances than most people because he started at 18, of course, but every player is playing every day during those four or five years, and often in more physically demanding circumstances. That's not to say Joe's point isn't right, but I'm not sure I accept it. If it were, it would be a cool sports-themed variation on the One Billion Heartbeats phenomenon: bit.ly/TUQttk (Sam Miller)
2013-01-14 14:00:00 (link to chat)	re: Bonds/HOF. How can people have ethical concerns about Bonds being in the HOF when Ty Cobb, who appears to have repeatedly beaten people into unconsciousness, and Babe Ruth (amongst others), who violated the 18th Amendment on multiple occasions, are in the HOF? Isn't this just a horrific case of not voting for someone because he was generally disliked? (ttt from Manhattan)	I think the distinction some people draw (and again, I wouldn't draw this distinction) is that Cobb, while possibly (probably) a terrible person, played the game with more integrity than Bonds, that his lousy personality was largely an off-the-field problem and not something that affected play. And to play devil's advocate (because again, I'm in your corner), is the fact that some bad people/personalities are already in a good reason to add more of them? Maybe some voters see it as a "two wrongs don't make a right" situation. (Ben Lindbergh)
2013-01-02 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Jason's introduction to the prospect team said you worked as an associate scout for a National League team. How did you get that position? Any advice for someone looking to break into scouting? (Kevin from Hartford)	I really don't have anything insightful to offer other than to look for entry points in the industry. If you do not have playing experience, it can be tough to work your way into the scouting side. I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to serve as an assistant coach on a Babe Ruth 19U team on the south side of Chicago while in law school. Kept in touch with the head coach, who eventually made his way to the collegiate ranks and, four or five years later, recommended me to an area scout in the midwest when my wife and I moved from NYC to the Milwaukee area. You should speak to @HudsonBelinsky on Twitter or email him through the Baseball Prospectus site. He's worked a lot of avenues and probably has some really great insights he could share with you. (Nick Faleris)
2012-01-26 13:00:00 (link to chat)	If Bryce Harper were a native Texan, would he be a combination of Babe Ruth and Ryan Braun (sans herpes medicine)? (Busty Olner from Chicago)	Combination of Babe Ruth, Nolan Ryan, and a plate of BBQ brisket with Stubbs all over it (Jason Parks)
2011-11-30 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Jay, do you think there's any possibility baseball will turn away from having an extra playoff team? The ratings for the World Series are way down from when there were only ALCS and NLCS, and I know there are other factors, but the sport completely ignores viewer playoff fatigue. Last year one of the league championships wasn't even on a broadcast network. Am I the only one who sees this as connected to three playoff rounds? (Blake from San Francisco)	I think the chances of that happening are asymptotically approaching zero, and I don't think those inside the sport are nearly as worried about TV ratings as people like to believe - personally, I find it to be the single most boring topic connected to the sport. The networks pay MLB handsomely, MLB is awash in cash, so who cares about Fox's bottom line? As for the complaints about the LCSes, I believe it's been a few years now that Fox and TBS have split them. The days of the big three/four owning all of baseball's rights are deader than Babe Ruth, and since cable is so prevalent, I don't see why it matters much. (Jay Jaffe)
2011-06-14 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Hi Ben--Is there any way to explain Jose Bautista's recent explosion at age 30 (slugging from .408 to .617 to @.770 in consecutive years), without steroids? And to follow, has anyone in the history of baseball done this at his age prior to 1990? (GC from out to lunch)	Sure: mechanics, good coaching, and physical maturation all sound like plausible non-steroid explanations to me (for what it's worth, Bautista says he's been tested about a billion times over the last couple years). Few people have had seasons this good at any age and in any era, but I hear that Babe Ruth guy was pretty good. His age-31 and age-32 seasons were pretty close matches to what Bautista's age-30 campaign has been thus far. (Ben Lindbergh)
2011-06-14 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Babe Ruth??? I think GC was looking for a Bautista comp more along the lines of a guy who was nothing until age 30. Raul Ibanez might be a good guy to bring up instead. He did nothing at all until he was 30. (Geo from KC)	I read it as a question about whether anyone had been as good as Bautista at the same age, period, but you're probably right. This article might have some answers. (Ben Lindbergh)
2011-06-14 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Re: Bautista. 1) Not all performance enhancing drugs are being tested for. Bonds tested clean too. I'm not saying he should be accused of steroids nor that I personally believe he's using anything, just that we shouldn't overstate what not testing positive means. 2) Babe Ruth was Babe Ruth from the very start. Who else has gone from role player to MVP halfway through their career? (RMR from Chicago)	I agree with your first point: if someone is convinced that a player is taking steroids, citing clean tests is hardly an airtight rebuttal. That said, I think there's rarely sufficient grounds to become convinced that a player is taking steroids, in the absence of a positive test. As to your question, I'll refer you to the article I linked above, though it might not tell you exactly what you want to know. Bautista has been good enough that few have played at his level, period, regardless of how they got there. (Ben Lindbergh)
2011-04-05 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Steve, I know you are a huge politics guy in addition to sports, so to take a break from one love for another, what are your thoughts on Obama now that he's had a chance to "Change". (DanLong from NYC)	During the election of 1932, Babe Ruth was asked to pose shaking hands with Herbert Hoover. He refused, saying, "Nothing doing on politics." In some versions, he adds, "Besides, I'm a Democrat." I feel a lot like Ruth. I stopped blogging about politics, despite a decent readership over there, because I am now thoroughly alienated by both parties. Obama is a massive disappointment to me. "Change" was just a sales slogan. As Theodore Roosevelt once said of William McKinley, "The president has the backbone of a chocolate eclair." He is, in Churchill's words, resolved to be irresolute, an empty suit. (Steven Goldman)
2011-04-05 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Alfredo Griffin, 6780 lifetime ABs.. free topic. (Guillermo from Montevideo, Uruguay)	(A) 1984 season: 441 PAs, 4 BBs. (B) I feel fortunate to have watched him run the bases in person on a number of occasions. One of my most vivid game memories is sitting on the first-base line at Yankee Stadium and having a perfect view of Griffin being picked off, this would have been 1986 or 1987. I mean, I didn't get to see Babe Ruth hit a home run, but I saw one of the worst baserunners of all time do what he did best. (Steven Goldman)
2011-01-05 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Hi Jay! greetings from your southern-most follower (unless someone in the southern island of NZ is also out there?) Quick question, who would be the 5 charter members of the Baseball HoF if it was founded today? (Guillermo from Montevideo, Uruguay)	Hey Guillermo! I think if you were to start today, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Cy Young would be four of those five. I'm not sure who the fifth would be, though - probably another pitcher. Maybe Tom Seaver given that he had the highest vote percentage of all time. (Jay Jaffe)
2011-01-05 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Can't we all feel more comfortable with an opening class of 10 of Babe Ruth, Cy Young, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Walter Johnson, Jackie Robinson, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, Rogers Hornsby, Honus Wanger? (Bernard from Jersey City)	That's a great place to start. (Jay Jaffe)
2010-10-20 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Speaking of the Civil War, I'm re-watching Burns' documentary, and I've come to the conclusion that I could listen to Shelby Foote talk for hours on end about anything at all. (jamin67038 from Wichita)	I really enjoyed Foote. Not sure I agree with everything he says in that docu, but he was very entertaining. I also liked his personal Babe Ruth anecdote in the Baseball series. I have his three-volume Civil War doorstop here. I've only read bits of it in the past, but once I'm done with this morbid Lincoln book, I intend to see if I can read it straight through. (Steven Goldman)
2010-08-09 13:00:00 (link to chat)	I just noticed that Babe Ruth did not get ANY MVP support in 1927 when he hit 60 home runs, yet 25 other players did. He played 151 games and had the highest OPS+ in the league. I know they didn't look at that then, but a .356 BA to go with 60 HR would have been monumental in any season. In fact, Ruth was completely snubbed every year from 1924-1930. What was that about? (hotstatrat from Toronto)	Back then, you were ineligible for the MVP if you'd previously won the award. (Joe Sheehan)
2010-04-29 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Am I the new Babe Ruth? (Kelly Johnson from AZ)	No. You might be the new Kelly Johnson though. Not really buying KJ putting up a 40% HR/FB rate the entire year. He's been my favorite fantasy sleeper the last few years, so needless to say he's very popular in certain circles right now, and I do think he could be pretty good over the course of an entire season, but this tear isn't gonna last much longer. (Shawn Hoffman)
2010-04-29 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Am I the new Babe Ruth of taunting? (Bryce Harper from NM)	Kevin's article had a LOT of people talking last week. My take is this: short of being a violent criminal, you can't really be a worse makeup guy than Barry Bonds. Now how many of you wouldn't want Barry on your team? Anybody? (Shawn Hoffman)
2010-04-28 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Why does any club ever sign a 30 year with a waist size greater than 36 to a long term contract? (Mo Vaughn-Ortiz-Fielder from Philadelphia, PA)	Well, Babe Ruth was in his 30s when he hit 60. Lolich was winning 20-plus in his 30s. The long term comes in primarily because agents hold guns to the heads of owners and GMs. Well, they do, don't they? (David Laurila)
2010-04-01 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Hi Steve, Thanks for chatting. I can't wait for Opening Day and would just like to hear your favorite (possibly semi-obscure) Babe Ruth anecdote. (ripfan008 from Baltimore)	Off-color, so hide the kids... Ready? This is hardly a story but I think about this quote quite often. Big party in the Babe's hotel suite. Lots of women. At some point, the Babe appears in his robe and says, "Okay, anyone who doesn't want to [reproductive expletive], get out!" Lord knows what happened with those who stayed... Related story: can't recall which of Ruth's roommates it was, but he liked to tell a story of Ruth's terrific appetites. Ruth took a woman to his bedroom. The bed would creak for awhile, and then the Babe would come out of the room, smoke a cigar, put it out in the ashtray, go back to the bedroom, the bed would creak for awhile, and Babe would come out and smoke another cigar... When the roommate got up in the morning, there were the remains of 20 cigars in the ashtray. (Steven Goldman)
2010-04-01 13:00:00 (link to chat)	you think about that quote quite often??!?!? (roache26 from boston)	You know, I really do. You have to understand that I'm the kind of guy who feels very lonely in crowds. At any gathering of more than a few people I start to feel detached and become more of an observer than a participant. I wish I wasn't like that, but I am. And as I watch the pageant go by, among the things that cross my mind is, "Wouldn't it shake up these deadbeats if I shouted, "Anyone who doesn't want to [censored], get out!" I never do, though. If you're Babe Ruth, you get away with saying that. If you're me, you get bundled off to the mental hospital, I expect... (Steven Goldman)
2010-04-01 13:00:00 (link to chat)	My grandfather was a politician. He hosted a lot of parties in his home. When he wanted people to leave, he'd go into his bedroom, and then come out in just his jockey shorts and say, "Good night everybody." The guests would leave very quickly. I can't get away with that any more than you can get away with quoting Babe Ruth. (kevin from maryland)	I think I admire your grandfather. (Steven Goldman)
2010-01-19 15:30:00 (link to chat)	Regarding the steroid issue: I really don't know or think steroids had much, if any, of an effect. And you're right to point how that there are examples throughout history of athletes seeking competitive advantage through drugs and other means. But what I find frustrating about the discussion (and I'm not saying you do this) but is the tendency for people on your side of the discussion to belittle people for being angry and upset with steroid users. Their decision was an ethical failure. It's not as if McGwire didn't think he was doing something shady and wrong when he did them. He did it in secret. He didn't come out until years later. In using, he helped contribute to the culture that compelled people to do these potentially dangerous drugs. Just because Babe Ruth ate horse balls for testosterone and tons of players did greenies back in the days, doesn't exactly excuse McGwire and Co's crappy decision-making. (Ted from New York)	I don't feel that I'm belittling anyone. You know, I had this reader over at the PB say something like that the other day, that I was "huffy" in a response to a reader. When I said I wasn't, another reader quoted something I wrote back to me and said, "Read that and say it's not huffy." Well, it doesn't. In my head it sounds the way I wrote it, which was in my usual tone. My job is to craft things well enough that you can't read more into it than I intended, but it is also true that the reader brings a great deal to the table, and you want to perceive me as angry or self-centered or thin and handsome, well... ... Anyway, I agree with you completely in my essay on this for Commentary, I said the same thing, that their sin was one of omission, as the lie about what they were doing was bigger than the impact of the thing itself. I don't excuse that at all. What frustrates me (gets me "huffy," if you will) is the failure by the mainstream media to consider this point, to assume that they know what the effects were, and for someone like Harold Reynolds on the MLB network to say that even if he was just doing it for medical reasons it was still a competitive advantage. Which is bull. At that point you're just drawing lines between different colored pills. In the PB I talked about Thalidomide, which was good, then evil, and now, when used properly, is good again. This ground shifts all the time, and there's no acknowledgment of that. (Steven Goldman)
2010-01-14 16:00:00 (link to chat)	1. Is it cheating to take every available advantage not forbidden to you by the rules of the game you're playing? 2. As a psychologist, can you speak to why we like to pretend to be angry and anguished when our heroes fall nowadays -- irrespective of how obvious the naughty behavior in question has been to everyone for a long, long time -- whereas in the days of Babe Ruth and JFK we preferred to politely avert our gaze and maintain our idols' perfection at a comfortable distance from their flawed humanity? (RE: McGwire from Grey Cube, DC)	1. Dammit Jim, I'm a (fake) doctor, not a theologian. 2. I hardly think that indignation at a fallen idol is a new thing. As a therapist, something I often have to tell people is that there's no such thing as perfection in life and it's one of those things that people have to learn to live with. (Russell A. Carleton)
2009-07-30 14:00:00 (link to chat)	To Sean from Hanoi: I think it is better in the North American leagues. The "players for cash" thing is just a way to buy and sell players as if they weren´t humans. Remember that "selling players" was a normal thing back in the day in baseball. Even Babe Ruth got sold, and for a good amount! (Guillermo from Madrid, Spain)	I'll just pass this along. (John Perrotto)
2009-06-25 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Do you think steady era-over-era improvement due to advancements in health and technology occur in all sports? I think most people would agree that Pujols would have been otherworldy in Babe Ruth's time, but how would Bjorn Borg fare against Federer? Shaq v. Kareem? (E from K)	In any sports, in any field, the closer to the modern era you go, the better it is. Strategies evolve, bodies evolve. training methods evolve, technology moves things along. (Joe Sheehan)
2009-06-24 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Wait, Babe Ruth used a federally banned substance? The horror! (ashitaka from long beach, ca)	He paid for sex too, buffet style. Thoroughly disillusioned now? (Steven Goldman)
2009-06-15 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Thanks for answering our questions and sweet gyroball, Will! Did Joe Mauer do some magic yoga or what to get over his back pain and become Babe Ruth? (Jim from Portland)	As with Contreras, we don't know. It's the opaqueness of baseball that makes us watchers sometimes seem like Kremlinologists, making educated guesses based on parade seats or in this case, an amazing month. Then again, it could be because I traded Mauer with Cliff Lee. (Will Carroll)
2009-05-12 13:00:00 (link to chat)	How can a team that has both Tomko and Berroa on its 25-man roster be serious about winning? (Frank from Waterbury)	They think they're serious. The Yankees just have a dearth of resources in certain areas. I sort of understand the Tomko thing as an attempt to catch lightning in a bottle ("The scouting reports say he's developed a new pitch, the 'dipsy-doodle chicken-ball' and he's a whole new guy!") that can be tried and quickly dispensed with. Berroa I don't get. Not that Shelley Duncan is Babe Ruth, but he's hitting like him at the moment, and you'd think that his odd home run off the bench (or Juan Miranda's, as mediocre as I think he is) would be more valuable than anything Berroa might do, especially when the team could PH for the catcher in the eighth inning of every game as long as Posada is out. (Steven Goldman)
2009-02-26 13:00:00 (link to chat)	The Ballpark in Arlington has a nice little museum. Just a few blocks from Camden Yards is the museum for where Babe Ruth was born. Any plans for a museum on any of the newer ballparks in the works? Is this more standard now? I don't recall seeing one in CO. (Corkedbat from Dallas)	The Mets and Yankees will both have them, with promised "interactive" exhibits. That probably means stations for playing home run derby on PS3s, though I'm still holding out for the Sparky Lyle Sit Bare-Assed On A Birthday Cake simulator. (Neil deMause)
2008-06-20 13:30:00 (link to chat)	Joe, here is a hypothetical question. Your lineup spots 2 through 9 are set and you get to pick a leadoff hitter. Do you take the peak version of Rickey Henderson or Barry Bonds? Thanks! (Mark from CT)	I take peak Barry Bonds for any role over any player in history except for Babe Ruth. (Joe Sheehan)
2008-05-28 13:00:00 (link to chat)	Yankee history question: how come Babe Ruth was only team captain for 5 days, May 20-25th 1922?? Then Everett Scott was named Captain for a few years. (Tim from DC)	The Babe had a really tough year, was suspended multiple times for a variety of infractions, and one of the punishments was that he was stripped of the captaincy - itself an effort to make the guy calm down and get control of himself. It clearly wasn't working. If I'm remembering the incident in question correctly (there were several), he came ran in from the outfield to argue a play at second base he wasn't even part of, ended up cursing off the umpire, then went into the stands when fans began heckling him. (Steven Goldman)
2008-03-14 13:00:00 (link to chat)	re: colorful baseball stories There are certainly many stories about Babe Ruth and Executive Club-type ladies but isn't there a famous one about Babe visiting a brothel in the St Louis area and reporters asking him about it? (Cody Pancake from Crozet, VA)	Ruth was well known for visiting brothels, at least to his fellow players and the beat writers, but culturally things were a bit different again. I'm by no means an expert in this little area of our history, but prostitution was unofficially tolerated for a long time. I don't think Ruth's tastes were commonly known to the public, because the writers tended to be more discrete -- one thing we tend to forget is that travel expenses and such were paid for by the clubs for a very long time, not the newspapers. That had an effect. My favorite Ruth story in this area, to start things off on an off-color note, was of a party he gave in a hotel suite, and at some point during the evening Ruth emerged from his room in a robe and said, "Okay... Anyone who doesn't want to _____, get out!" This always struck me as not a bad philosophy by which to run one's life, actually. (Steven Goldman)
2008-03-14 13:00:00 (link to chat)	I'm confused about that Babe Ruth quote...I've been trying to figure out what fills in the blank. "Okay, anyone who doesn't want to eat pork ribs, get out???" (Clay from San Antonio)	Could be, could be... If one man's barbecue is another man's polite euphemism. (Steven Goldman)
2008-03-14 13:00:00 (link to chat)	No offense, Steve, but I don't see how you can call the connection "tenuous." It's the same playing field. Nothing historic ever happened in the grandstand until Jeff Maier showed up with his glove for the 1996 playoffs. And while we're at it, hasn't there been enough history in this version of the Stadium to satisfy you? (Ellie Twitchell from The Great Beyond)	Actually, you're wrong about the grandstand. IIRC it was 1929 when the Yankees, who were in the habit of overselling the stadium, had a game interrupted by a sudden squall. Fans in the outfield all went running for the concourse at once. Many people were injured, one died... And yeah, I guess there's been enough history in the new park, but it's 30 years, not 80. Big difference. And I don't know if it's the same field, really. I ask myself this every time I go, if it's really accurate to stare out at right field and think to myself, "That is where Babe Ruth stood, thinking, 'Anyone who doesn't want a hot dog, get out,'" because the changes have been so radical. But look, that's the last reason to denigrate Yankee Stadium. Take my other reasons first. It's old, it's not got modern amenities, it's horrible at moving crowds, and - and I should have said this before - it's disintegrating. Remember pieces falling off of it about five years ago? That would have started happening more and more if the Yankees had stayed. (Steven Goldman)
2008-01-10 13:00:00 (link to chat)	The 5 most influential figures in the history of baseball are...? (Jessica from Utica, NY)	Babe Ruth Branch Rickey Walter O'Malley Jackie Robinson I can't settle on a fifth. Either a prehistory pioneer or a TV exec. (Joe Sheehan)

BP Roundtables

Date	Roundtable Name	Comment
2009-10-16 13:00:00	NLCS Game Two/ALCS Game One	No, but he had a good excuse what with Babe Ruth's Moat of Sharpened Spikes in the old building. (Steven Goldman)
2009-10-12 15:00:00	Phillies/Rockies Playoffs Roundtable	dcoonce (bloomington, indiana): Speaking of post-season chokes, nobody seems to mention that Babe Ruth once got thrown out caught-stealing to end a world series. If A-rod did that today....geez, could you imagine? And what manager lets that happen, even back then? It was Miller Huggins, and he just didn't have a lot of control over Bonds in general. He was about three feet tall and sickly. Also, what was there for him to do? If Ruth ran in spite of a sign, you're still not going to trade/bench/demote him... (Steven Goldman)
2008-10-10 13:30:00	Friday LCS	I wanted to mention another great one-run postseason game, the second game of the Dodgers-Red Sox World Series in 1916. Babe Ruth started and went all the way, beating the Dodgers 2-1 in 14 innings. Sadly, no pitch counts, even fake, for that one... That was one of the most famous games in Series history for a long time. Someone once brought up that fact to Casey Stengel, and he said, "Yes, that game was so famous that they never used me!" Because Ruth, a lefty, went all the way, Dodger Stengel, a lefty hitter, sat on the bench for the whole game. (Steven Goldman)