Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth
Another point that may support you is that the longest home runs don't really seem to be any longer than they were well back in the day. Something I haven't figured out.
|
I am not sure if Peter's remark was meant to be tongue-in-cheek but you can put me in the camp that is skeptical of the idea that players in the 1920s were hitting multiple 500+ foot home runs even though this is not done with regularity today. People can run faster, jump higher, lift heavier weights, hit a golf ball farther...but cannot hit a baseball farther than people 100 years ago?
Wouldn't the more likely answer be that earlier measurements were largely anecdotal or based on estimates ("some kid said the ball landed here", "I saw Babe hit them over the railroad tracks which must be 600 feet away") or were measured from where a ball stopped rolling. Versus today where we can fairly accurately say how far a ball would have traveled based on exit velocity and launch angle (which I assume is how they come up with current distances since a ball rarely actually lands at the stated distance).
To me Babe Ruth's home run achievements stand alone, especially in comparison to other players of his era. He was the outlier of all outliers. I just don't think we need to make stuff up for this to be true. And saying that there is a similarity between 1919 Ruth and 2021 Ohtani (a starting pitcher who also played a position and hit a lot of home runs) doesn't take away from either player's accomplishments. I think it adds to both players. Ruth because he did something (in a season) that has not happened again for so long and Ohtani because he is doing something (in a season) that was last done by the consensus greatest player ever.