Babe Ruth Is Dead.

 

So sorry not to be able to palaver with the rest of you during the remarkable series with the Angels, but I was trapped near the inner circle of thought.  

Seriously, it is so sad when something as cruel as work interferes with following baseball.

But I just wanted to say, however belatedly...hey, we beat Babe Ruth!  

That is to say, the modern Babe Ruth, as the moguls of MLB would have it, in their relentless desire to 

overhype a game they don't really believe in.  

I'm referring, of course, to Shohei Ohtani, the bright young star from Japan. The Yanks pounded him for 4 earned runs and 8 hits in just 3 innings, before the Angels moved him back to the DH spot. 

(Last year, the beating was even worse, as our boys notched 7 earned runs off him in just 2/3 of an inning in his one Yankee Stadium appearance—before our pen gave away the game.)

All around, Ohtani had one miserable little series here in New York: 2-12 at the plate with a walk, a double, no RBI, no HR, 1 walk, and 4 strikeouts. Plus he was picked off first. 

And did I mention that he was pounded in his one mound appearance? I did.

Of course, this won't stop the hype, which extended to awarding Ohtani a Rookie-of-the-Year Award he didn't deserve in 2018, and an MVP he didn't deserve in 2021. Numerous MLB sycophants writers and TV commentators even hastened forth to proclaim that Ohtani's 2021 season—9-2, 3.18 on the mound; 46 homers, 100 RBI, .257/.372/.592/.965 at the plate—was BETTER than any, all-around season Ruth ever had.

Why, Ruth never stole 26 bases in a season, as Ohtani did last year! we were informed. (Ohtani also got caught an AL-leading 10 times. And The Babe did steal home 10 times in his career.)

Why, Ruth never had such a combined pitching/hitting season as Ohtani did last year! we were told.

Except in 1918, when—despite the whole last month of the campaign being lost to WW I—the Babe led the AL in homers, batted .300 (and led in OPS, at .966), went 13-7 with a 2.22 ERA, and 2-0 in the World Series with a 1.06 ERA.

Let's get real.

Shohei Ohtani is basically a DH with a power swing, who also pitches. That's pretty rare, and something that deserves our praise and wonder.

It doesn't make him Babe Ruth.

Ohtani is simply not a true, "two-way" player. At age 27, he has played all of 8 1/3 major-league innings in the field anywhere but on the mound...and has yet to record a single chance as a fielder, save as a pitcher.

He is a lifetime, .261 hitter, with 104 home runs. As a pitcher, he is 16-9 in the majors, with a 3.62 ERA. He has averaged 5.25 innings a start, and has never pitched so much as a complete game, much less a shutout.

At age 27, Babe Ruth already held what was then the all-time, major-league home run record, with 197 round-trippers.  His pitching career was already completed, save for two more, token, last-game-of-the season starts; he would finish at 94-46, 2.28, with 17 shutouts, 107 complete games, and 4 saves. 

Ruth's all-time home run leadership would last for over 50 years. His record for home runs in a World Series would last until 1964. His record for consecutive scoreless innings pitched in the World Series would last until 1961.  

He played a very good—if, at times, overenthusiastic—corner outfield, where he was renowned for his strong arm and never throwing to the wrong base.

I know, I know, it's a very different game today.  (Babe Ruth changed it.)

I suspect that Ohtani would probably have been a much better—or at least more durable—pitcher in the deadball era.  On the other hand, The Babe would've had a field day with so many hitters swinging for the fences on every pitch.

And Ruth did not have the DH. And played in ballparks where the fences were almost universally 20-50 feet farther back than they are today. Oh, and he never struck out as many as 100 times in a season. In fact, he never stuck one-half as many times as Ohtani fanned last year.

You all know the old saw: the coach or manager comes out to the mound and tells the quaking rookie, "Throw strikes.  Babe Ruth is dead.)

Well, he is (see the scene of fans waiting in line overnight for his Yankee Stadium showing, below).  

Will we ever see his like again? I dunno. But good as Shohei Ohtani is, it ain't him, Babe, no no no it ain't him.