Posted by: The Hitting Guru (hitman3527@aol.com) on Mon May 22 15:09:31 2006

> Wasn't there a guy named Oh, who never crowded the plate wearing a thick arm protector? Rumor has it that he never cheated by taking performance enhancing drugs. The word "great" has to be open to individual interpretation.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
True. But both players would have to be considered great compared to their peers. And it is easy to take credit away from any hitter (including Ruth). Ruth is seen as the greatest hitter of all by the majority of people. But people do not know or remember that when Ruth played, many of the great hitters did not even try to hit homeruns. They preferred hit and run little ball, advancing the runner, bunting etc. This is not meant to take away from Ruth, but hitters were not willing to strike out in an effort to go for extra base hits. Also being a .400 hitter was not a rare feat. This means it was a LOT easier to get a hit. Ty Cobb was question about Babe Ruth's hitting homeruns. He thought is was not big deal and hit 3 homeruns the next day after being challenged. Afterwards he went back to hitting singles, doubles, and triples.

Ruth was one of a kind, cemented baseball as America's past time, and was beloved as well as admired for being the best of his time. I am not about to say he was not the best all time because there really is no case to support otherwise and no reason to do so. But the writers and others who would criticize players today as they approach his milestones, need to put their stones down. The game has changed and so have the requirements, obligations, and expectations. We all need to appreciate the players of today for who they are and leave the past in the past.