if Babe Ruth never was a pitcher and was always a right fielder, could he have gotten 1,000 home runs?

Answer 1

No. Babe Ruth only pitched full time for 3 seasons. He would would have had to hit 300 HR's over the course of those seasons in order to get to 1000.

Answer 2

I had never really broken down the numbers before, but what I came up with is that if he had come up as an outfielder and played only in the OF >never pitched< he would have hit "approximately" 76 more HR's

Babe Ruth - Pitcher
1914-GP - 4
1915-GP - 32
1916-GP - 44
1917-GP - 41
1918-GP - 20
1919-GP - 17

His 1st season it's obvious he would have only been a part time player - Projection 5 HR - the next 3 seasons he was a full time starter and hit 9 HR, if he had only played as a full time OF I project 60 HR(avg 20 per season) - His final 2 seasons in Boston he split time between pitching and the OF he hit 40 HR if he had played full time in the OF I project 60 HR(25 in 1918 & 35 in 1919)

I consider these to be conservative projections since he hit well over 50 HR's in 1920 & 1921 after being sold to the Yankees.

Actual HR's with Boston 49 - my projection if he had played OF only 125 HR, a difference of 76 giving Ruth a career total of 790

But who knows he might have been severly injured and never become the player he did. I think Babe Ruth's career is much more interesting just the way it is. Can you imagine if Johan Santana started playing rightfield next year and became the greatest offensive force in the history of baseball. That's pretty much exactly what Babe Ruth did.

Answer 3

As great of a home run hitter that the Babe was, he would not have hit 1000 home runs. He began his career during a time which was considered the "dead ball era". He began his carrer as a pitcher in 1914. In 1918 and 1919 for the Red Sox, he pitched and played the outfield. In the years in which he just pitched, he would have had to average over 70 home runs per year. He might have had 70 home runs in 4 years. He may have gotten to 800, but 1000 is a bit too many to fathom.

Answer 4

No. Conditions weren't right for Ruth, not even Ruth, to hit another 286 shots. Even playing full time in the hitter-cuddly Polo Grounds, four seasons at 60 per would leave him 46 short. Nice thought, but his seasons primarily pitching didn't deprive baseball fans from seeing THAT many more dingers.

Answer 5

He averaged about 120 AB's the 3 years he pitched and he had 4,3and 2 HR's... for the rest of his career he averaged around 500 AB's a season so if you multiply each of his first 3 seasons by 5 you get 20,15 and 10 HR's....nope

Answer 6

No. He was a pitcher and still got some bats. He wouldnt have had 300 more homeruns by getting a few more bats.

Answer 7

I don't think he would have got 1000 HR, but he was awesome. Most people forget that he pitched during his career. He was baseball!

Answer 8

no back then pitchers also battedd

Answer 9

hell ha

Answer 10

uh ..... no