"Babe's Fading Legacy"

[penguin4]

I hope no one posted this already, but I found this bit on Yahoo and I don't particularly agree with it.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news/cnn...9sfadingl.html

by CNNSI.com

By Jacob Luft, CNNSI.com

Breaking a record held by Babe Ruth was once considered sacrilegious. Now it is almost passé.

Rickey Henderson became the latest to surpass Ruth by eclipsing his career record for walks Wednesday night. Henderson took a ninth-inning bases on balls from the Phillies' Jose Mesa to notch No. 2,063.

The lone major career record still held by Ruth is his slugging percentage of .690, which is a whopping 56 points higher than the No. 2 man on the list -- Ted Williams.

The Babe still holds two important single-season records as well -- 170 walks in 1923 and an .846 slugging percentage in 1921.

For one thing, no one really likes Rickey, and he's been playing so long I don't think anyone cares what records he sets as much as other players, because if you keep playing until you're 50, they're all going to fall anyway.

Second, walks isn't necessarily a sought-after record to the same extent strikeouts or homeruns are. People always ask "How many dingers have you hit? How many RBIs?" No one ever asks "how many walks do you have?". It's a part of the game, not something you readily keep track of. And a lot of it is luck; some people are thrown pitches right down the middle all the time, so never have a chance to draw a base on balls; others always see the pitch high and outside. It also depends who's up next after you (as you probably know Maris didn't draw an IBB once in '61 because he had Mantle behind him...)

I think this writer was expecting some sort of nationwide celebration a la Henry Aaron or Mark McGwire, and when he didn't get it he made assumptions.
I'd think most people would quite impressed to pass the Babe, almost undisputably the best player of all-time. Just the association should be enough to give you an ego boost.

[#1Coneyfan]

Watching Mark McGuire in "61*" I couldn't help but think how many The Babe would have hit had he taken steroids. Players today don't compare physically with old-time players. Now they have conditioning coaches for every part of their bodies, training facilities that were unheard of back then, and nutritional knowledge that wasn't even dreamed of in The Babe's day. The average player today is over 6' and 200 lbs. It's a whole new ballgame today.

[Nome]

All I can say about the Babe's fading legacy is that it has been 65 years since he played his last game and 53 years since he passed away from cancer. To understand how long his records have lasted and how much better his performances were than the rest of the players is to understand his greatness.

It is impossible to compare the 20's and 30's to today's game and players and their performances. Ruth was and will remain the greatest ballplayer of all time especially when compared to his contempories. Henderson and McGuire as compared to there contempories and great but not in Ruth's league.

[toots]

Not to mention longer seasons.

People will still be awed by the Babe for generations to come. Others may be breaking his records, but no-one dominates the sport the way he did. Aaron, McGuire, Henderson, 3 different records broken by 3 different guys previously held by 1 man. He was quite simply the best.

[Gator]

I don't think ANYONE will ever surpass Babe as the greatest player in Baseball history. Babe Ruth has one of the lowest ERAs in World Series history, and had more shutouts than Pedro Martinez. He single-handedly changed the game from a dead ball era to a live ball era when he stopped pitching and went to hitting. He was an amazing player, and it's unlikely we'll see his kind ever again.

[seahorse]

Not to mention steroids and weight training.

[CJM]

A guy breaks one of his records 65 years after he plays his last game and it's becoming passe'?This guy is a total idiot.

[Jimbo]

There always has, will and forever more be the Bambino and everyone else...

Passe???...Perhaps. But anyone who follows baseball knows that baseball would be nothing if not for The Babe...

[patrick.o]

I think it's pretty impressive that Rickey broke the record, but it's only one record. Maris broke one. Aaron broke another. But one guy set them all, and that's just one of the reasons that he is the greatest ever.