Babe Ruth Did Not Hit 714 Home Runs!

[Te tutava nei matou]

technically, that is...in babe ruth's day, if you hit a ball that bounced over the fence, it was a homerun, just as if it had gone over on the fly...babe ruth had a few like that bounced over...today those HR would be ground-rule doubles as the rule was changed, but the 714 number...same as joe friday's badge, disneyland's area code or quaalude code number...it is not a real 714

[[email protected]]

Re: Babe Ruth Did Not Hit 714 Home Runs!

Although you are correct, you are leaving out certain details. Ruth did get extra Home runs from balls that bounced over the wall that would have been doubles today. There are no official stats as to how many times it happened because balls that cleared the wall and balls that bounced over the wall looked the same in the box score. It is reasonable to assume however that it happened a few times over the course of his career. (I would guess an avg of 2 or 3 times a season)

But what you are not considering is all the home runs that Babe Ruth lost due to other differences in the rules. For example, when Ruth played it depended on the bounce off the wall. If the ball bounced on the field, it was in play, if it bounced in the stands to the foul side of the pole it was a foul ball, if it bounced in the stands to the fair side it was a home run. Today any ball that hits the foul pole is a home run. (Meaning that the famous Game winning HR that Pudge Fisk hit in the game 6 of the 77 world series, in Ruth's day would have been a long strike

Speaking of Game winning Home Runs, in today's game, if you hit a game winning home run, it is always a home run regardless of the situation. In Ruth's day you were awarded only enough bases needed to win the game. This means that if you hit a Home Run with the bases loaded in the botom of the ninth in a tie game, in Ruth's day you would have been awarded a single.

Just as there is no evidence of how many HR's he gained over today's players via the ground rule double, there is also no evidence of how many he lost over today's players via these other rules. (there is footage of a game where there were runners on 2 and 3 in the ninth, Ruth his a HR over the wall but he man on second won the game so Ruth was credited with a triple) So although it is reasonable to assume that it might not be 714 in today's game, you shouldn't assume that it would be less because it could very well have been more.

[dideh]

good rebuttal