I go with Willie. The Babe never had to face the great Negro pitchers nor was relief pitching as developed. Willie gave two good “hitting years” to service in Korea. The Babe had no such problem.
He could feast off those 2 nd tier white pitching. Also Babe Ruth played on loaded teams forcing opposing teams to pitch to him rather than alwa…
I go with Willie. The Babe never had to face the great Negro pitchers nor was relief pitching as developed. Willie gave two good “hitting years” to service in Korea. The Babe had no such problem.
He could feast off those 2 nd tier white pitching. Also Babe Ruth played on loaded teams forcing opposing teams to pitch to him rather than always walking him (though he did walk a lot).
The Babe was beloved, Willie faced a good deal of prejudice both on and off the field.
Yes the Babe changed baseball, but I wonder if they played during the same era (after 1947), who would be the better hitter.
But hey, two great great players…in the end let’s agree to disagree. These two guys are at the top of the hall of fame pantheon
you have a point on the Babe not facing great/any Negro [or, for that matter, Hispanic] pitchers in his day. but how many great Negro pitchers did WM face in the 1st half of his MLB career? not many, until the early or mid-'60s. and even by the mid-'60s, what % of the MLB pitchers were Black? [i don't know, just curious.]
i think you're right - they're probably GOATs 1a. and 1b., in whichever order you prefer. fun to argue, respectfully, about baseball - beats discussing the white sox!
I read 1440 news every day. Just the news with no bias or opinion. Lots of fun and educational links, too. On Willy they said “the greatest all around baseball player of all time”. They want you to send them a note if you detect any bias. I’ve done that maybe 4 times in a couple years, but, to your point, I told them they needed to say “considered by many” in front of that.
I go with Willie. The Babe never had to face the great Negro pitchers nor was relief pitching as developed. Willie gave two good “hitting years” to service in Korea. The Babe had no such problem.
He could feast off those 2 nd tier white pitching. Also Babe Ruth played on loaded teams forcing opposing teams to pitch to him rather than always walking him (though he did walk a lot).
The Babe was beloved, Willie faced a good deal of prejudice both on and off the field.
Yes the Babe changed baseball, but I wonder if they played during the same era (after 1947), who would be the better hitter.
But hey, two great great players…in the end let’s agree to disagree. These two guys are at the top of the hall of fame pantheon
you have a point on the Babe not facing great/any Negro [or, for that matter, Hispanic] pitchers in his day. but how many great Negro pitchers did WM face in the 1st half of his MLB career? not many, until the early or mid-'60s. and even by the mid-'60s, what % of the MLB pitchers were Black? [i don't know, just curious.]
i think you're right - they're probably GOATs 1a. and 1b., in whichever order you prefer. fun to argue, respectfully, about baseball - beats discussing the white sox!
I read 1440 news every day. Just the news with no bias or opinion. Lots of fun and educational links, too. On Willy they said “the greatest all around baseball player of all time”. They want you to send them a note if you detect any bias. I’ve done that maybe 4 times in a couple years, but, to your point, I told them they needed to say “considered by many” in front of that.