Archive of SportingNews.com's old SOM Baseball forum

I've been watching the discussions here the last week or so and I have seen quite a bit written about favorite and value players. Mick, Banks, Cuyler ect are all great, but I have not seen one word about Babe Ruth. I have had him on most of my 6 teams. If he has not won the MVP, he has finished in the top 5. That's in feilds from Forbes to Yankee 27. What am I missing?[b:006241492e][/b:006241492e]

Well, Babe doesn't dominate RF, the way some other players do. Also, for the money, he is not always the best value. You can usually get two really good players for his money (although in my opinion the same can be said for Mick). The two times I have had Ruth, he has slightly underperformed (low BA), although he always hits HRs.

Look at our recent playoff teams. Babe hit .271 in Dunn for me. Of all the players in this game, he seems to get screwed the most on batting average. Most players should lose about 30 points off their avg. given the quality of pitching and fielding they face. But Ruth routinely hits under .300.
And that's crap. If anything he should hit better than .356 in hitter's parks because of the #'s. But for me he never has. Speaker also seems to suffer. Cobb and Hornsby on the other hand routinely hit over .400, at least for me. It ain't right. Hell, even Larry Gardner often hits .300 for me in Dunn when platooned. And his card sucks.

Still in the league that we were in I am now 5-0 in the playoffs and Babe has 5 hrs. so far. Coincidence? I don't think so. I just hate having a player of his caliber hit .270. :x

Part of the problem with Ruth: Looking at his card against righties at an extreme pitchers park Griffith highlights the problem best. In 600 AB's his card will be used 300 times.

From that we can expect only 32 singles a remarkably low number which will lend itself to easily being undershot and even if overshot does not seem significant. As Petrosian points out Gardner we can expect 61 singles. From both Ruth and Gardner we can expect 15 doubles. Virtually all of Ruth's value comes from his expected HR's off his card - 34 and walks - 75. Since most managers limit the BP HR's Babe ends up underperforming unless you are looking to maximise HR's at a pure slugging park. His BA off his card at .377 is lower than Sam Rice's.

So to have Babe reach his potential you need a Polo Grounds or Fenway 67 to maximise his BP HR"s but at that HR level that are plenty of cheaper power options that allows for better pitching or the better more expensive high OBP production at other positions.

The Babe suffers from the same problem with his BA as guys like Morgan and Teddy Ballgame. They walk so much that there are not as many hits on their card. Consequently if you draft any of the above expecting a high BA you will only be disappointed.

Babe has always hit around the .300 mark for me, Morgan about .280. Just keep looking at those run totals.

I have had the Babe hit under .300 far more than over.
I suspect the Babe is intimidated by all these other sluggers that didn't have a 296' RF porch that padded their HR totals by 30%.

Whoopycat hit it right on the head, if you draft someone like Ruth, Morgan or Ott you should not expect a high BA. It doesn't mean they are less valuable & should not be used, even in a pitchers park. Ruth is a dominant player in any park, particularly in a lefty slanted park, the question with him or any hitter over 10 mil is would the $$$ be better spent elsewhere.

and a Baby Ruth candy bar for desert, even if it is overpriced at the ballpark.

Arky, I think the Babe ate Payday candy bars. Remember? He made more money than the Prez that year. Washed that Payday down with 16 foot long hot dogs, 8 Polish sausages, and a case of ....? Enjyoyed a fine cigar afterwards. No steroids. I think the Babe had a girlfriend, or two. God Bless the Babe.