Worldly Philosophers Club

The Worldly Philosophers, Vol.1, Number 17	September 16, 2007
THE Worldly Philosophers Club For Individualists Who Seek Worldly Wisdom

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Babe Ruth

BABE RUTH:
THE KING OF SWAT
By Mark Skousen

In this issue . . . -

	The benefits of exercise and sports
	Could Babe Ruth win the home run crown today?
	Why the Bambino died so young.
	Announcing the Free Market Hall of Fame. Vote today!

"How to hit home runs: I swing as hard as I can, and I try to swing right through the ball...The harder you grip the bat, the more you can swing it through the ball, and the farther the ball will go. I swing big, with everything I've got. I hit big or I miss big. I like to live as big as I can."
--George Herman Ruth

Dear Worldly Philosophers,

The great Chinese philosopher once said, "O wise humanity, terribly wise humanity! How inscrutable is the civilization where men toil and work and worry their hair gray to get a living and forget to play!"

Life should not be a spectator sport. A worldly philosopher never forgets his avocations. They are essential to a happy life. I have several diversions: traveling, reading, chess, writing essays for Liberty magazine, driving around town listening to audio books, and playing sports. I prefer team sports like softball and basketball to individual sports like running, weight-lifting, and tennis. Luckily, I’ve been free of injuries most of my life. My knees are still good, and some say I can keep up with twenty year olds on the court.

My Love of Baseball

I’ve always been a big baseball fan, ever since watching Mickey Mantle and listening to Mel Allen on Saturday’s baseball game of the week. It turns out that Mantle was the last of the Big Four Yankee sluggers, following in the footsteps of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe Dimaggio. (Reggie Jackson comes close, but played most of his career outside New York.)

I liked Mantle because he was a risk taker, and it paid off. Sure, he struck out a lot -- I believe he holds the record for career strike outs -- but his mammoth home runs made up for it. He was also the last Yankee to win the Triple Crown, leading the league in homers, runs batted in, and batting average. Hitting with power and average is one of the most difficult feats in baseball. And who can forget the Mantle grimace?

But of all the big hitters is baseball, nobody compares to the Sultan of Swat, George Herman Ruth (1895 - 1948). Not Mantle, not Hank Aaron, not Roger Maris, not Mark McGuire, and certainly not Barry Bonds.

Why the Babe is Better than Them All

I just finished reading a fascinating new book called "The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs," by baseball aficionado Bill Jenkinson. Jenkinson meticulously reviewed the distance of every one of Babe Ruth’s long shots that surpassed today’s fences. During the 1920s, baseball parks were larger, much larger. Today the average park size is 375 feet in left and right field, and 405 feet in center. But Ruth faced monstrous distances to the fences in his day: the average distance in baseball parks for Ruth was 450 feet! And Yankee Stadium’s "death valley" was 490 feet away from home plate. After Ruth retired, "death valley" in center field was eliminated -- center field distance was gradually reduced to today’s 408 feet from home plate.

If Ruth had played in modern-sized ball parks and according to modern rules, Jenkinson concludes that the Bambino would have hit 104 homers in his best year, 1921 (when he was 26 years old). He would have hit 91 in 1927, the year he officially globbered 60. And throughout his career, he would have knocked 1,158 balls over the fences! (Hank Aaron’s 755 and Barry Bonds’s current 762 career homers don’t come close.)

Back in those days, the rules were also different. A home run had to land in fair territory to be considered a home run. If it sailed inside the pole but landed in foul territory, the umpires called it a foul ball. This strange rule negated quite a few Ruthian homers.

Reviewing Ruth’s remarkable career, Jenkinson concludes: "To my astonishment, twenty-eight years of intense research has revealed that Babe Ruth hit baseballs harder and farther than any man who ever played….His physical superiority makes him unique in the annals of sports. It’s certainly a tale that stretches credibility, but the data is irrefutable. Accordingly, the entire narrative of this book will focus on Babe’s unnatural but intoxicating power, how far he launched baseballs. But, along the way, we will also talk about Babe Ruth the pitcher, Babe Ruth the all-around player and, of course, Babe Ruth the consummate showman and personality extraordinaire."

The Sultan Broke the Rules and Cut His Career Short

Unfortunately, the Home Run King had his weaknesses. He couldn’t help breaking the rules. He barnstormed between seasons, for which he was heavily fined by the commissioner. He was a drinker and playboy who often showed up at spring training out of shape. He ate junk food. He once said, "I'll promise to go easier on drinking and to get to bed earlier, but not for you, fifty thousand dollars, or two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars will I give up women. They're too much fun."

The Babe had many outside interests, including fishing and hunting, and making Hollywood films. He campaigned for Democratic candidate Al Smith. He wrote books through ghostwriters (I have a first edition of "The Home Run King"), but wasn’t much of a reader. He confessed, "Reading isn't good for a ballplayer. Not good for his eyes. If my eyes went bad even a little bit I couldn't hit home runs. So I gave up reading." That statement disqualifies him from being a true worldly philosopher.

But I love his famous statement when asked in 1931 about having a higher salary than President Herbert Hoover: "I had a better year than he did." Indeed, he did.

Unfortunately, the Babe died fairly young at the age of 53. He was worn out from living too much of the "good life." As he told Connie Mack the day before he died, "The termites [cancer] have got me."

Good living, AEIOU,

Marcus Aurelius

P. S. Great news! I am very pleased to announce the creation of the Free Market Hall of Fame, where you can vote on individuals contributing most to the success and advancement of free markets and free people around the globe. The categories will include the following:

1. Academic economists
2. Journalists and writers
3. Business leaders
4. Legislators and government officials
5. Think tanks

To vote, go to www.freedomfest.com/halloffame. Afterwards, you can see how everyone has voted. At next year’s Freedom Fest (July 9-12, 2008, Las Vegas) we will have our first induction ceremony honoring the top five vote getters. Spread the word!