Re: "He will be a Hall of Famer someday..."
There really is no way to compare players from different ERAs in baseball. It's a tad easier in football, but in any sport though, it's almost impossible to do so effectively.
Players in the Ruth era were a lot less talented than players today. If Babe Ruth or anyone from his era were to play today, they would more than likely not succeed. Just like any sport, over a significant period of time, players get bigger, faster, and stronger.
In the early 1900's a pitcher who could throw even in the upper 90's seemed almost untouchable. Not only is the speed of pitching much higher, but the quality of pitching is increased as well. Breaking balls today have a much greater breaking action as well.
While this does mean that someone like Ruth wouldn't be that great in 2012, you can't say that he isn't better than someone like Pujols. You have to judge how elite they are in their era.
A good example of this would be lets say Justin Verlander. Does Verlander have more quality pitches and throw much harder than almost everyone in Ruth's era? Yes. Does this mean Verlander is the best pitcher ever? No.
Just as how pitching has increased over the years, so has hitting. So someone like Pujols isn't using the same tools as someone like Ruth while facing much better pitching.
There really is no way to compare players from different ERAs in baseball. It's a tad easier in football, but in any sport though, it's almost impossible to do so effectively.
Players in the Ruth era were a lot less talented than players today. If Babe Ruth or anyone from his era were to play today, they would more than likely not succeed. Just like any sport, over a significant period of time, players get bigger, faster, and stronger.
In the early 1900's a pitcher who could throw even in the upper 90's seemed almost untouchable. Not only is the speed of pitching much higher, but the quality of pitching is increased as well. Breaking balls today have a much greater breaking action as well.
While this does mean that someone like Ruth wouldn't be that great in 2012, you can't say that he isn't better than someone like Pujols. You have to judge how elite they are in their era.
A good example of this would be lets say Justin Verlander. Does Verlander have more quality pitches and throw much harder than almost everyone in Ruth's era? Yes. Does this mean Verlander is the best pitcher ever? No.
Just as how pitching has increased over the years, so has hitting. So someone like Pujols isn't using the same tools as someone like Ruth while facing much better pitching.
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