Babe Ruth was the best

Contemporary baseball fans forget, or never knew, how great Babe Ruth was. It's interesting to compare him to other great hitters. The great Hank Aaron, who hit 755 home runs, never bested Ruth in any of the six meaningful categories. Ruth's best slugging percentage for a season was .847 (Aaron .669). Ruth hit 60 home runs one year, Aaron's best was 47. Ruth had 171 runs batted in to Aaron's 132. Ruth once scored 177 runs to Aaron's best of 127. Aaron's best average was .355 - Ruth .393! Finally, Ruth's best on-base percentage was .542, Aaron .410.

The current monster, Albert Pujols, has a slugging percentage best of .678 - small compared to Ruth's .847. Pujols knocks in a lot of runs, but he's still 34 behind Ruth's best of 171. And Pujols has never topped Ruth in any of these six categories.

Bobby Bonds did have a great year when he hit 73 home runs, but if you look at his record, that year indicated an amazing jump over what he had done historically. Still, he only knocked in 137 runs that year, still 34 behind Ruth's best. Even with the steroids, his slugging percentage was only .16 higher than Ruth's (.863 to .847). Don't forget: Ruth's "steroids" were hot dogs, cigars, and beer!

Even comparing Ruth to the great Ted Williams indicates how great the "Sultan of Swat" really was. In fact, ESPN ranked Ruth's 1921 season the "greatest single season performance by any athlete in any sport." Long live the Bambino!