• Babe Ruth

  From Stat Geek Baseball's, the Best Ever Book.
  
  When you dominate the game during an entire decade to the point where almost every season ranks as one of the best seasons ever, it's not hard to imagine that when you cobble a career together, it ranks as the best in the long history of the game. Babe Ruth was, and still is, an icon that's hard for the public to imagine today. Yes, he was the Tiger Woods of baseball, if Tiger laps Nicklaus for the majors record by a mile. There was nobody in the game prior to Babe Ruth who was so dominant and nobody who has come along in later times who accomplished as much. There are some who prefer the grace and power of Mays or the dogged determination and consistency of the magnificent Hank, and there's logic in that passion. However, when the passion subsides and the newsreel footage rolls, it is Babe Ruth who accumulated statistics that almost defy logic. In a career of 154 game seasons, he hit 714 Home Runs, one per every 11.6 At Bats. All with a glass of beer and no PED allegations.
  
  It wasn't until he was 24 years old that Ruth even became a full-time position player, dividing time before then, while with the Boston Red Sox, as one of the best pitchers in the game. And yes, he could really pitch, winning 94 games with an ERA of 2.28. If you add his pitching rating to the Batting PEVA, it would rise by nearly 50 points. But it would be with that big stick where Ruth would amaze the crowds of folks who filled the seats at Yankee Stadium. His Slugging Percentage is the highest in baseball history, at 0.690 over 56 points higher than the man in second place, Ted Williams, at 0.634.
  
  He had 17 seasons with more than 20 home runs and hit 0.342 for his entire career. There was no more dominant player in the game during his career than the man that built a stadium and rekindled a game after scandal. And he did it with a style that marveled the people of the times. Babe Ruth ranks as the Best Ever Career Batter in baseball history, with nobody really close.

Notes: Photo Credits: Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb; Library of Congress. Hank Aaron; Wikipedia Commons.

HOF/HOFP - Hall of Fame player. PEVA - Player Rating for Season or Career. PEVA per Year - Average Player Rating per season. Seasons include all seasons played with no monimum.

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