Curse of the Bambino

Ok everyone, the Phillies don't play until later so for now since I'm bored im gonna give you my quite unconventional thoughts on "The curse of the Bambino".

Well as you all know, the curse consists of the Red Sox selling the greatest player of all time so their owner could put on some musical or play. Now, the team that the Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees, who just so happened to turn into one of the greatest teams of all time with Ruth on their staff. Yes, I said staff because Ruth was a very talented pitcher. After his rookie season for the Red Sox, he didn't post an era over 3 at any point. But being a pitcher in the rotation prevented him from getting to the plate every day. The Red Sox finally noticed his talent at the plate and started playing him in the outfield so that he could hit everyday. Unfortunately, it was a bit too late. They started this during the last two seasons that they had him. In those two seasons combined, he hit 40 homeruns in 147 games.

You may be wondering by now what it is that I'm trying to get at? I contend that if the Designated Hitter rule had been in effect in those days than Red Sox fans would be kicking themselves even more than they had before because of the sheer numbers that he would've put up. As the designated hitter rule clearly states, using a designated hitter instead of a pitcher is 100% optional. The managers can use the pitchers to his as they please.

My theory on the matter is that the Great Bambino wouldn't have only put up 714 homeruns. This number would be far more astronomical. In his 22 seasons of play, he put up 714 homeruns, that is an average of 34 per year. that is amazing considering the time in which he played. I mean Ruth in his heyday hit more homeruns than some teams did in an entire season. He also played in these cavernous stadiums that made hitting a homerun nearly impossible for the average player. Back to his homeruns. With the average of 34 per year and adding them to the 5 seasons where he was a regular starting pitcher, he would've conceivably hit 884 homeruns. Had he played all of 1925, he would have over 900 homeruns.

EIGHT HUNDRED EIGHTY FOUR HOMERUNS! That is a ridiculous number of dingers. Hank Aaron's 755 homeruns would be now third and bonds a still distant second to Ruth. Even Alex Rodriguez, the man who is supposed to eclipse Barry Bonds as the homerun king, would have to play well in to his 40's to reach that number.

Babe Ruth would be a one in a million kind of player. The homerun king and dominant pitcher. Let me remind you that in his best season as a pitcher, Ruth was 23-12 with a 1.75 era. Those are ridiculous numbers for a pitcher. He followed that the next year with a 24-13 record and a 2.01 era. Clearly, he was in the prime of his pitching career only to have it cut short by the enormous talent he had at the plate.

I mentioned the designated hitter rule earlier. Ruth could have been not only the greatest hitter of all time, but one of the most dominant pitchers of his era. I mean the sheer talent this one human being had at his particular sport is incredible.

I only wish that Ruth could have been a DH so that he could bat every day and pitch when his spot in the rotation came up. Not only would Ruth be the greatest player of all time by far, which he is already considered by many, but Red Sox fans would be bitching even more than they already have before the 2004 World Series. Call me biased, but I absolutely hated the whiny nature of the Red Sox fans. They call the Yankees the evil empire and criticize the way that they would just buy talent with their huge payroll. Yet, no one ever seems to notice how the Red Sox would always come in a close second in payroll and go after the same players that the Yankees did (sounds like the Red Sox are good at Republican political tactics). Hmm, theres some food for thought.