25 Reasons Why Babe Ruth is the Greatest Baseball Player of All Time

1) Even though he retired in 1935 and died in 1948 Babe Ruth is still recognized by over 97% of all Americans which ties him with Muhammad Ali for most recognized athletes of all time.

2) In 1936 just after he retired Babe Ruth was one of the first 5 players elected and inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.

3) Babe Ruth changed the game of baseball by always swinging for the fences and hitting more home runs than anybody thought possible at the time.

4) Babe Ruth lead the league in home runs a record 12 times. That's 2/3 of the years he played regularly as a hitter.

5) Babe Ruth has the highest career slugging percentage of all time at .690.

6) Babe Ruth has the highest career OPS of all time at 1.164.

7) Babe Ruth scored a run once every 25.9% of the time he had an at bat which is the all time best in baseball history.

8) Babe Ruth drove in a run once every 26.4% of the time he had an at bat which is the highest rate in baseball history.

9) Babe Ruth hit a home run once every 8.5% of the time he had an at bat which is the highest in baseball history by a player who did not use steroids. (Mark McGwire's HR rate is 9.4% but he used steroids. Even with steroids Barry Bonds is below Ruth at 7.7%).

10) Babe Ruth lead the league in slugging percentage 13 times which is the most ever.

11) Babe Ruth lead the league in OPS 13 times which is the most ever.

12) Babe Ruth lead the league in runs scored 8 times which is the most ever in baseball history.

13) Babe Ruth is the greatest World Series player of all time.

14) Babe Ruth went 94-46 (.671) as a pitcher with 2.28 ERA.

15) Babe Ruth's winning percentage as a pitcher is the 11th highest in major league baseball history at .671.

16) In 3 World Series starts as a pitcher Babe Ruth went 3-0 with a .87 ERA in 31 innings pitched. His World Series record includes a complete game shutout and a 14 inning complete game he won 2-1 and just for the heck of it he drove in the tying run.

17) Leaving out his first season in 1914 and his last season in 1935 when he barely played for the Boston Red Sox and Boston Braves respectively, Babe Ruth played for 20 years in the major leagues. He went to the World Series in 10 of those years and won the World Series 7 times.

So Babe Ruth made it to the World Series in half the years he played and won the World Series in better than 1/3 of the years he played.

18) Babe Ruth is the only non-steroid player to hit 50 home runs in a season 4 times (McGwire and Sammy Sosa also accomplished the feat).

19) Babe Ruth is the all time leader in 40 or more home runs in a season which he did an amazing 11 times all with the New York Yankees.

20) Four times Babe Ruth set the record for most home runs in a season - 3 times he broke his own record.

21) Babe Ruth has the highest home run percentage in World Series history at 11.6% and hit the 2nd most home runs in World Series history with 15 (Mickey Mantle is the all-time leader with 18 WS home runs but he played in 24 more WS games than Babe Ruth did).

Babe Ruth was trained as a tailor and was part of the marching band and drama club at St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys which was an orphanage Ruth attended for 12 years due to his mother's illness.

Ruth was nicknamed "Babe" by his teammates when he signed his first professional baseball contract to play for the then minor league Baltimore Orioles in 1914 at age 19. "Babe" Ruth would be in the majors by July of the same year playing for the Boston Red Sox as a pitcher.

22) Babe Ruth lead the league in walks 12 times which is tied with Barry Bonds for most all time.

23) Babe Ruth probably hit 50 or more home runs he did not get credit for.

Prior to 1931 any ball that passed the foul pole in fair territory but landed in foul territory was deemed a foul ball and any ball that hit the foul pole was a ground-rule double.

Also prior to 1931 any walk-off home run was only credited to the batter as whatever base hit needed to win a game. This rule also robbed Babe Ruth and many other players of RBI's and runs scored plus doubles and triples if only a single was needed to win a game.

24) One of Babe Ruth's old Louisville Slugger bats sold for $1.26 million dollars at a Sotheby's auction in 2004.

25) During WW II Japanese soldiers would yell "to hell with Babe Ruth!" at American soldiers.

The Japanese knew Ruth well as he used to barnstorm through Japan swatting home runs against Japanese teams as part of the major league baseball all-star teams that traveled through Japan during the off-seasons in the 1930's.

For more see Babe Ruth and the World Series

How Many Strikeouts Did Babe Ruth Have in His Career?

Players With the Most Home Runs in the World Series

Sources:

Baseball-Reference

Babe Ruth on Wikipedia