The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs: Recrowning Baseball's Greatest Slugger

Its great to be able to read a book that has taken so many , many hours of labor and yielded so much useful information. After reading the detailed analyses and descriptions in this book it is hard to argue the conclusion that Babe Ruth hit the ball harder and farther than anyone else-- with his much-too-heavy bat reducing bat speed and no weight training, much less artificial enhancements ala MC Quire and Bonds. Even on steroids, the latter two cannot touch the Bambino for 450 foot + shots. Its not even close. And consider Babe routinely bombed 400 --475 + footers that were fly outs in the huge old fields of the 20s and 30s-- So the truth actually transcscends the myth-- Ruth was better than his legend. With some aerobic work and strength training, modern medical care, a lighter bat, modern day fields and the DH rule...

If you've read "The Big Bam" by Leigh Montville and/or "Babe" by Robert Creamer, you owe it to yourself to read Bill Jenkinson's book. Although you may think it's not possible, Ruth was a better slugger than you ever imagined. He was truly one of a kind. Jenkinson's book is interesting, fascinating and meticulously well researched. He spent more than 25 years researching each of Ruth's home runs, during spring training, the regular season, post season and on barnstorming tours. Part of Jenkinson's book details Ruth's "hidden career" of exhibition games. Jenkinson calculates that Ruth participated in 800 exhibition games in six countries, 42 states and more than 200 cities. He blasted more than 300 homers in those games. In 1921, Ruth played an unbelievable total of 207 games. A consummate showman, Ruth kept an incredible schedule, not to mention his off-the-field activities. Jenkinson focuses on Ruth's power and superlatives. The Bambino didn't hit many routine home runs. Most fans really don't comprehend how spacious the ballparks were in Ruth's days. Jenkinson calculates that Ruth walloped 22 fly outs that traveled more than 450 feet. No one has ever hit as many balls as far as Ruth. What he could do in today's ballparks is unfathomable. Jenkinson spends 70 pages near the end of the book discussing comparative difficulty of Ruth's home run feats compared to today's game, drawing conclusions and making projections. Stadium photographs showing where some of Ruth's monumental homers landed are particularly interesting and impressive.

Any historian or student of history must engage in countless hours of research in order to convincingly prove his thesis. Mr. Jenkinson succeeds with flying colors. The most fascinating section of this book is the one dealing with comparative difficulty. Jenkinson leaves no doubt that Ruth played under much more adverse conditions than modern day sluggers. I telephoned Mr. Jenkinson about a couple of points of comparison not mentioned in his book that had me wondering. One was the fact that Ruth played against only 7 teams and faced pitchers much more frequently (4-man rotations) than today's players. Could this be considered an advantage for Ruth. Jenkinson replied that after a while it really doesn't matter how often a hitter faces a pitcher. Another point I made was the fact that during day games, which Ruth played exclusively, shadows can hinder the batter's view. Again Jenkinson said that while this may have been a disadvantage for Ruth, the impact would have been negligent. I must say that his willingness to discuss these issues (and others) with a reader of his fine book only makes his work more appreciated. I am looking forward to his next book.

This book is unlike any other on Babe Ruth, and I have read quite a few most recently Montville's "Big Bam" and Reisler's treatise on the 1920 season. Jenkinson has spent nearly 30 years recreating all of Ruth's long drives, those counted as homers and those that may have just been flyouts. I had no idea that records this detailed could be obtained from Ruth's era, but Jenkinson has read every sportswriting account imaginable for each official game and for hundreds of exhibition (preseason, during season, and postseason) games that Ruth participated in. I had always labored under the assumption, even after reading all the bios, that many of Ruth's homeruns were simply the product of the short right field at Yankee Stadium. In fact, the Babe hit very few down the right field line; most of his drives were between right-center and left-center field. Right-center was quite a shot in Ruth's day since the fence angled out sharply. The Babe also had tremendous power to the opposite field. Jenkinson's "spray" diagrams show all the homeruns hit by Ruth and their approximate distances. Aerial photos of the stadiums around Ruth's time are also shown and arrows shown where Babe's longest drives landed. A second assumption of mine is that Babe did not take care of himself over the years. In fact, the man wanted to exercise more but the Yankee ball club would not let him in order "to save his legs" for the long season. Ruth had taken it upon himself before spring training started, for several seasons, to hire one of the best exercise gurus in New York. The fact that Ruth could keep coming back strong after all his early season illnesses and nagging injuries shows the fortitude of the man. Baseball was his life and he never wanted to let any one down that had come to see him play. He had a remarkable compassion for people that is shown in several places. The third assumption was that Babe was probably just an average fielder. I had always wondered about what type of fielder he was, and was always surprised that no biography that I read ever mentioned this. In fact he was an elite fielder, one of the best in the game according to Tris Speaker, the premier outfielder of the day. He was also a terrific baserunner until his last five years. Babe Ruth was one of a kind and he would be a superstar in any era, whether as the great pitcher he was or as an everyday player. Jenkinson does an interesting analysis of how difficult it was for Ruth as opposed to the difficulties faced by today's players. He also has analyzed conservatively how many homeruns the Babe would hit based on today's shrunken stadiums. It will show the sluggers of the past 30 years in a new light. I hope to meet the author someday at the Babe Ruth museum. No one compares to the Bambino.

If you value historical perspective on any sport, especially baseball, this is an excellent read. If you like to talk baseball with your buddies over a cold one, this is a must read, as it will arm you with facts to bolster your heartfelt opinions about power hitting. I have always wondered just how great Ruth really was as a hitter and how his abilities would translate to today's game. I never searched for this type of book because I assumed, incorrectly, that the raw data was not available. The data is available and the author, Mr. Jenkinson, has uncovered it and organized it with what could be called a "Ruthian" effort. The detail is as staggering as the distances Ruth hit the ball. However, the fun begins with the comparisons of every candidate slugger in the history of baseball and the projection of Ruth into today's game. The author covers every urge you have that starts with "and what about...". From the rule changes, stadium dimensions, the condition of the ball, pitching talent, the Negro leagues, the schedules, to conditioning of today's athletes, including steroids, and others, you receive both facts and opinions to help you make up your mind about just who was the greatest power hitter in baseball - by far. As a bonus, you get insight into just who the Babe was and come to the conclusion that sports, and the world in general, could use a character like that although you may have to conclude that it just might not be possible.