How was Babe Ruth not unanimous for the Baseball Hall of Fame?

[JordansBulls]

How was Babe Ruth not unanimous for the Baseball Hall of Fame?

And has any Baseball player ever been unanimous?

[Nymfan87]

Nobody ever gets unanimously voted in because some voters prefer to use votes on guys they know will actually need them.

[Jeffy25]

Nobody has ever been unanimous.

[cwick925]

Not sure.. Ill get on my horse drawn buggy and go ask the voters.

[Tragedy]

Cal I think was one of the highest % ever.

I assume a few people that voted were not fans of Babes personal life? I don't know.

[nymetsrule]

Some people felt that he wasn't good enough.

[dee279]

Someone liked the butterfinger candy bar more.

[LASportsFan1996]

Tom Seaver has the highest percentage ever of hall of fame voting

[Jeffy25]

Tom Seaver has the highest percentage ever of hall of fame voting

Along with Nolan Ryan.

98.8%

[Quinnsanity]

Seaver has the highest percentage. Nobody will ever be unanimous because there are voters who think if Babe wasn't nobody should be. Just one of the many reasons all baseball writers over 60 suck.

[Kyben36]

hes an urban myth like big foot or santa clause

[abe_froman]

How was Babe Ruth not unanimous for the Baseball Hall of Fame?

because there were many stalwarts that didnt like the way he changed the game and conduct himself

And has any Baseball player ever been unanimous?

nope,its kind of a rule to try to keep that from happening because ever since ruth wasnt a unanimous choice,that raises the question "if the goat isnt unanimous,who is?" and so a few voters will always vote against just to keep the tradition going

[bagwell368]

because there were many stalwarts that didnt like the way he changed the game and conduct himself

This is the closest to correct.

Consider the voters. Some of them saw baseball back into the 1880's and like many people always believe things were better in the "old days".

The old days to them was Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Cy Young, etc.

The live ball era Ruth ushered in was seen by quite a few as brash, classless, and that HR's were cheap and a gimmick.

The first class in 1936 earned these totals:

Cobb: 98.2%
Honus Wagner 95.1%
Babe Ruth 95.1%
Mathewson 90.7%
W. Johnson 83.6%

That's 2 guys totally dead ball, 2 guys partially live ball, but more dead ball, 1 guy split.

At that time based on what was written and said, Ty Cobb was considered the greatest player of all time.

In terms of rWAR their value was:

Ruth
WJ
Cobb
Wagner

Mathewson

IMO Babe is the greatest revolutionary in the game, but he's not the GOAT. Too many too quickly were able to match his batting feats. His pitching feats were in an era when almost every pitch throw was under 90 MPH. Other candidates like Mays, Mantle, Bonds, Williams, Aaron played in tougher time with more better pitchers and hitters (thus blunting their feats by way of comparison to others in their time). No player that was able to get hits with a 48 ounce bat could hope to hit well in the Majors over the past 25 years - diet, training, film study, and better competition wouldn't make the difference. He's a one time/one person wrinkle in time that won't be repeated - that doesn't make him the goat. Just a statistical anomaly due to his place and role in time.

[Jeffy25]

This is the closest to correct.

Consider the voters. Some of them saw baseball back into the 1880's and like many people always believe things were better in the "old days".

The old days to them was Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Cy Young, etc.

The live ball era Ruth ushered in was seen by quite a few as brash, classless, and that HR's were cheap and a gimmick.

The first class in 1936 earned these totals:

Cobb: 98.2%
Honus Wagner 95.1%
Babe Ruth 95.1%
Mathewson 90.7%
W. Johnson 83.6%

That's 2 guys totally dead ball, 2 guys partially live ball, but more dead ball, 1 guy split.

At that time based on what was written and said, Ty Cobb was considered the greatest player of all time.

In terms of rWAR their value was:

Ruth
WJ
Cobb
Wagner

Mathewson

IMO Babe is the greatest revolutionary in the game, but he's not the GOAT. Too many too quickly were able to match his batting feats. His pitching feats were in an era when almost every pitch throw was under 90 MPH. Other candidates like Mays, Mantle, Bonds, Williams, Aaron played in tougher time with more better pitchers and hitters (thus blunting their feats by way of comparison to others in their time). No player that was able to get hits with a 48 ounce bat could hope to hit well in the Majors over the past 25 years - diet, training, film study, and better competition wouldn't make the difference. He's a one time/one person wrinkle in time that won't be repeated - that doesn't make him the goat. Just a statistical anomaly due to his place and role in time.

Some interesting notes on Babe


He couldn't hit a curveball, but not many pitchers threw them. He greatly struggled with curveballs.

There have been some studies that 're-create' the home runs of Ruth's career. He would likely have been awarded a lot more home runs because of a few factors. If a ball hit the foul pole, it was ruled a ground-rule double. And if a ball hooked around the foul pole, it was a foul ball. One study said he would have had as many as 104 home runs in one year (believable or not). But that same study ignores that he was playing in the polo grounds, which had a joke of a right field.

He was so hot tempered that it was partially the reason he was traded from the Red Sox, and why he was almost traded from the Yankees in 23 after a suspension.

The Red Sox were offered 60,000 and Joe Jackson for Babe Ruth in 1919. The Red Sox preferred the financial offer from the Yankees which came with a loan. Babe wanted out of Boston because he wanted a raise to double his current pay, and Fraze wanted him out because of his attitude. Fraze was convinced Ruth would fail and got as much for him as he could find.

[bagwell368]

Some interesting notes on Babe


He couldn't hit a curveball, but not many pitchers threw them. He greatly struggled with curveballs.

There have been some studies that 're-create' the home runs of Ruth's career. He would likely have been awarded a lot more home runs because of a few factors. If a ball hit the foul pole, it was ruled a ground-rule double. And if a ball hooked around the foul pole, it was a foul ball. One study said he would have had as many as 104 home runs in one year (believable or not). But that same study ignores that he was playing in the polo grounds, which had a joke of a right field.

He was so hot tempered that it was partially the reason he was traded from the Red Sox, and why he was almost traded from the Yankees in 23 after a suspension.

The Red Sox were offered 60,000 and Joe Jackson for Babe Ruth in 1919. The Red Sox preferred the financial offer from the Yankees which came with a loan. Babe wanted out of Boston because he wanted a raise to double his current pay, and Fraze wanted him out because of his attitude. Fraze was convinced Ruth would fail and got as much for him as he could find.

Yeah the Polo Grounds put Mel Ott on the map.

Yeah the Yanks almost did get rid of Ruth after '23.

Funny that such a legendary team won so few titles. The DiMaggio and then Mantle eras produced a lot more.