Babe Ruth is undoubtedly the greatest hitter in the history of baseball. He was the greatest hitter because of the fundamentals of his swing. His height stood at 6′ 2″ and weighed 215 pounds. When you consider that Reggie, Ruth was far exceptionally superior for his time.
Besides his power hitting, he also had a .342 lifetime batting average. Ruth made contact with power, and often. A case can be made that his bat swing was genius.
Lets look at some points which made Babe Ruth the greatest:
- Ruth had a great stride into the swing but left his hands way back in the swing.
- Weight shifted to the front side
- Back hand had palm up, with arm bent for some time through the swing.
- Ruth did not roll over his hands too soon. He kept the line so that his area of impact was huge. If his timing was off or if he faced an off-speed pitch, he could still make contact.
- He had the best slot position, and his hands held back for power and leverage.
Due to his extreme flexibility, he was able to hold his hands farther back than most baseball players. Moreover, with his size, eye of seeing the ball, and competitive spirit, he is arguably the best hitter in the world of baseball.
Ruth had an edge in natural flexibility. If you count the power, guys these days cannot match him, although they were gifted at par when it comes to talent.
Records created by Ruth as a baseball player
- Career Home Runs: 714 (the most in MLB history when he retired, now third most)
- Career Batting Average: .342 (10th-best all-time)
- Career OPS: 1.164 (first all-time)
- Career RBI: 2,213 (second all-time)
- Career W-L record as a pitcher: 94-46
- Career ERA: 2.28
- World Series Winner seven times
- Set record for home runs in a season (29), then broke it three more times (54, 59 and 60)
- Set record (since broken) for consecutive scoreless innings pitched in World Series (29.7)
- Stole 123 bases in his career
- Member of first Hall of Fame class (1936)
