Quote:
Originally Posted by robw1959
Don't forget how far away the fences were in Ruth's era, and he still managed to get to 714 even with all of the 450+ foot fences and essentially losing five years of hitting due to being a Hall-of-Fame worthy pitcher! There were years when he out-homered most or all other teams! Ruth was also a crack fielder and decent runner, at least according to the Babe Ruth candy cards that were produced.
It isn't close enough for me to go with anyone else, but I like the case for Willie Mays being second place.
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You may want to double check the outfield dimensions of Yankee Stadium, which opened in 1923 and where Ruth ended up playing the bulk of his career as a full-time position player. He wasn't primarily playing on fields with 450'+ fences. And before that, when the Yankees were playing at the Polo Grounds, the center field fence may have been about 450' away, but down the foul lines the fences were only about 280' or so away. So for someone that could pull the ball, or hit to the opposite field, and still keep it just fair, it was actually pretty short fences for them to hit homers.