Is Ottavino right about the Babe?

[Northern Star]

That in today's game he'd hit a buck 80 with 8 HRs?

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/2...wipe-babe-ruth

[jacksonianmarch]

If you transplanted the Babe from 1925 to now and make no caveats for nutrition exercise, etc, yeah he probably would have. That being said, if he was born in 1990 or so and had access to nutritionists, gyms, analytics, etc he’d be amazing

[Bellhorn04]

It's silly. Babe was a beast compared to his contemporaries and that's all that matters. The rest is time travel fantasy shit...entertaining in books by H G Wells and Vonnegut and Stephen King, but useless in reality.

[moonslav59]

Nice start.

Welcome back to your old hometown.

[Youk Of The Nation]

It's impossible to know for sure, but given that pitchers are throwing way, way harder than they were back then and balls aren't being reused all game until they're brown and spongy, I'd say he might have a point. Baseball is a hell of a lot different than it was back then.

[Northern Star]

It's impossible to know for sure, but given that pitchers are throwing way, way harder than they were back then and balls aren't being reused all game until they're brown and spongy, I'd say he might have a point. Baseball is a hell of a lot different than it was back then.

But he would have grown up with the new baseball, and therefore, I think he would have been better than Ottavino thinks.

[notin]

He’s certainly wrong about Babe in how he describes him, which, while consistent with the footage and pictures from his later career, is apparently inaccurate with how he looked i his heyday...

[dgalehouse]

What with Pedro drilling him in the ass and Ottavino blowing him away on three pitches ; the Bambino must be choking on his hot dogs in heaven.

[notin]

But he would have grown up with the new baseball, and therefore, I think he would have been better than Ottavino thinks.

The trade off is he’d be about 125 years old....

[Jasonbay44]

It’s impossible to know for sure, but I think I would bet on one of the greatest players of all time would hit a little better than .180 in today’s game.

[Kimmi]

On the flip side of things, could our current superstars, like Mookie and Trout, go back to Babe's era and be as good as they are today?

You can't be too sure about that either.

[Bellhorn04]

Seriously, Ottavino has to be a pinhead to make a statement like that.

[Bellhorn04]

As a PITCHER for the Boston Red Sox, Babe won 89 games with a 2.19 ERA.

So maybe, just maybe, he was a pretty decent all-around athlete, huh, Ottavino, you f'king clown?

[notin]

As a PITCHER for the Boston Red Sox, Babe won 89 games with a 2.19 ERA.

So maybe, just maybe, he was a pretty decent all-around athlete, huh, Ottavino, you f'king clown?

One thing is for certain regardless of the differences in the game today vs a century ago. Ruth would do a better job hitting against Ottavino than Ottavino would do against Ruth...

[BillyWilliams]

Pujols aces scientists' tests -- just like The Babe
Aug 22, 2006
Associated Press

ST. LOUIS -- How does El Hombre match up against the Sultan
of Swat?

This spring, Washington University scientists, at the request of
GQ magazine, put Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols through a series
of tests similar to those given to Babe Ruth 85 years ago -- tests
ranging from finger tapping, to visual responses, to bat speed.

The results? Both men aced the tests, and their performances
were strikingly similar.

In 1921, psychologists at Columbia University put Ruth through
tests to try to determine what made him great. He had faster than
average reflexes, steady nerves, and superior sight and hearing.

The same holds true for Pujols. At Washington University,
clinical neuropsychologist Desiree White and cognitive psychologist
Richard Abrams and their colleagues gave Pujols tests resembling
the ones Ruth took. Both men were 26 and top hitters when they were
tested.

GQ features some of the results of the Pujols tests in its
September issue.

For one test, White put a piece of paper in front of Pujols.
Capital letters were strewn about the page. White told Pujols to
locate and cross out all of the As.

White realized she'd never seen anyone scan the page the way
Pujols did. Most people scan a page left to right, the way they do
when they read. Pujols visually divided the page into sectors and
searched each one briefly for the letters before moving on to the
next sector. When he'd searched all sectors, he returned to the
first and started over. It took him four rounds and a minute to
complete the task.

"I've never seen anyone scan that way, but it would be
important on the baseball field," White said, noting the skill
would allow Pujols to scan the field and know where everyone is
without missing any action.

In another test, Pujols replicated 133 symbols in a minute -- a
testament to his hand-eye coordination. The test makers don't even
list a score that high.

http://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=2557786