Even in the midst of hosting the Greater Michigan APBA Baseball Tournament, Pastor Rich Zawadzki had time to forward this card to me. Rich acknowledged that while I’ve posted plenty of Monster Babe Ruth cards before (he’s right, there are five), this one is worth a look.
Indeed it is. It’s Ruth’s 1916 card before he even played with the Yankees. He was still with the Red Sox and his primary position was still pitcher though you can begin to tell he had a mean stick.
What a season on the mound though! Ruth went 23-12 with a nifty 1.75 ERA in astounding 323 innings pitched. He completed 23 of the 40 games he started.
Ruth never played in the outfield in 1916. That “experiment” didn’t start until 1918. However, it was apparent that the Bambino had an aptitude with the bat. At the plate, he hit .268 with five doubles, three triples and three homeruns.
First, his hitting stats of 1916…
| Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1916 Totals | 68 | 152 | 138 | 18 | 37 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 9 | 23 | .268 | .318 | .413 |
and of course, his pitching stats…
| Split | W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1916 Totals | 23 | 12 | .657 | 1.75 | 44 | 40 | 23 | 9 | 1 | 323.2 | 230 | 63 | 0 | 118 | 170 |
This is first time that I have sat down and studied Babe Ruth’s pitching career as intensely as I just did. He had a couple of really amazing seasons with the Sox!
Some baseball historians and other baseball experts posit that Babe Ruth should never have become an outfielder and he was more valuable as a pitcher. It’s moot point but I agree that is possible that Ruth could have been a Hall of Fame pitcher in his own right. I would argue though that he would not have fundamentally changed the way the game of baseball was played had that happened.
If Babe Ruth not had hit his homeruns at the pace he did and forced the other teams to catch up, would the deadball era have been delayed for a few years? Now whether or not you think that is a positive thing is entirely your opinion.
thanks, Rich!
