Babe Ruth
The most remarkable thing about Ruth isn't the 714 home runs or the .342 batting average — it's that he was literally two Hall of Fame players in one body. Before revolutionizing hitting, he posted a 2.28 ERA as a pitcher, going 94-46 with dominant stuff. The transition from mound ace to home run king remains baseball's most stunning career pivot.
Ruth didn't just hit for power; he obliterated every offensive category. That 1.164 OPS represents a level of dominance that makes modern sluggers look pedestrian. His 206 OPS+ stands as the all-time record, meaning he was more than twice as productive as an average hitter throughout his career. When he smashed 60 home runs in 1927, he was rewriting the very definition of what was possible.
The seven World Series titles tell the story of sustained excellence across two decades. Ruth transformed baseball from a small-ball game into the power spectacle we know today, and the numbers prove he did it better than anyone who followed.
Career · Batting
22 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1914 | BOS | 5 | 10 | 0 | 2 | .200 | — | — |
| 1915 | BOS | 42 | 92 | 4 | 21 | .315 | — | — |
| 1916 | BOS | 67 | 136 | 3 | 15 | .272 | — | — |
| 1917 | BOS | 52 | 123 | 2 | 12 | .325 | — | — |
| 1918 | BOS | 95 | 317 | 11 | 66 | .300 | — | — |
| 1919 | BOS | 130 | 432 | 29 | 114 | .322 | — | — |
| 1920 | NYY | 142 | 457 | 54 | 137 | .376 | — | — |
| 1921 | NYY | 152 | 540 | 59 | 171 | .378 | — | — |
| 1922 | NYY | 110 | 406 | 35 | 99 | .315 | — | — |
| 1923 | NYY | 152 | 522 | 41 | 131 | .393 | — | — |
| 1924 | NYY | 153 | 529 | 46 | 121 | .378 | — | — |
| 1925 | NYY | 98 | 359 | 25 | 66 | .290 | — | — |
| 1926 | NYY | 152 | 495 | 47 | 150 | .372 | — | — |
| 1927 | NYY | 151 | 540 | 60 | 164 | .356 | — | — |
| 1928 | NYY | 154 | 536 | 54 | 142 | .323 | — | — |
| 1929 | NYY | 135 | 499 | 46 | 154 | .345 | — | — |
| 1930 | NYY | 145 | 518 | 49 | 153 | .359 | — | — |
| 1931 | NYY | 145 | 534 | 46 | 163 | .373 | — | — |
| 1932 | NYY | 133 | 457 | 41 | 137 | .341 | — | — |
| 1933 | NYY | 137 | 459 | 34 | 103 | .301 | — | — |
| 1934 | NYY | 125 | 365 | 22 | 84 | .288 | — | — |
| 1935 | BSN | 28 | 72 | 6 | 12 | .181 | — | — |
| Career | 2503 | 8398 | 714 | 2217 | .342 | — | — | |
Career · Pitching
10 seasons| Year | Team | G | IP | W | L | ERA | ERA+ | SO | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1914 | BOS | 4 | 23.0 | 2 | 1 | 3.91 | 75 | 3 | 1.217 |
| 1915 | BOS | 32 | 217.7 | 18 | 8 | 2.44 | 119 | 112 | 1.153 |
| 1916 | BOS | 44 | 323.7 | 23 | 12 | 1.75 | 159 | 170 | 1.075 |
| 1917 | BOS | 41 | 326.3 | 24 | 13 | 2.01 | 134 | 128 | 1.079 |
| 1918 | BOS | 20 | 166.3 | 13 | 7 | 2.22 | 127 | 40 | 1.046 |
| 1919 | BOS | 17 | 133.3 | 9 | 5 | 2.97 | 104 | 30 | 1.545 |
| 1920 | NYY | 1 | 4.0 | 1 | 0 | 4.50 | 77 | 0 | 1.250 |
| 1921 | NYY | 2 | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 9.00 | 45 | 2 | 2.556 |
| 1930 | NYY | 1 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 | 160 | 3 | 1.444 |
| 1933 | NYY | 1 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 5.00 | 77 | 0 | 1.667 |
| Career | 163 | 1221.3 | 94 | 46 | — | — | 488 | — | |
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.