Major League Reliever Claims He Would 'Strike Babe Ruth Out Every Time'

Babe Ruth

A free agent pitcher made a serious boast during a recent episode of MLB.com’s Statcast Podcast. Adam Ottavino, who most recently pitched for the Colorado Rockies recalled an argument he had with a Triple-A coach after he claimed that he "would strike Babe Ruth out every time."

He explained that baseball is much different than it was 90 years ago, and players like Ruth would be outmatched against modern-day pitchers, many of whom can throw upwards of 100 miles per hour. 

“I had an argument with a coach in Triple-A about Babe Ruth’s effectiveness in today’s game. I said, ‘Babe Ruth, with that swing, swinging that bat, I got him hitting .140 with eight homers.’"

“He was like, ‘are you nuts? Babe Ruth would hit .370 with 60 homers,’ and I’m like, ‘I would strike Babe Ruth out every time.’"

“I’m not trying to disrespect him, you know, rest in peace, you know, shout out to Babe Ruth. But, it was a different game, I mean the guy ate hot dogs and drank beer and did whatever he did. It was just a different game.”

Babe Ruth is arguably one of the best hitters to ever play Major League Baseball, and currently ranks third on the all-time home runs list with 714, second on the all-time RBI list with 2,214 and leads every player in history with a .687 slugging percentage. Ruth was not known to strikeout much either. He never struck out more than 100 times in a season during his illustrious career. 

Photo: Getty Images


Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content