“He would stink” - Jeff Passan tarnishes Babe Ruth against today’s athletic standards

Babe Ruth was a historically good player, but the era in which he played was not as talented in the eyes of Jeff Passan. The MLB reporter went on the Pardon My Take podcast to deliver what many will deem a scorching hot opinion on the legendary MLB player. In his estimation, Ruth playing today would not be a very good ballplayer.

Passan pointed out that Ruth's 60+ home runs and Lou Gehrig's 60+ home runs, which came four decades apart, were vastly different. Ruth didn't face black, Venezuelan or Dominican players in his era.

The reporter said:

"Babe Ruth was going against players who worked day jobs in the offseason who threw 85. If you had Babe Ruth playing baseball today right now, he would stink."

Passan admitted that a year to train and the proper equipment for today's game, he would be a good baseball player, but 1927 Ruth would spend time in the minor leagues if he were just dropped into today's sport.

---

How Babe Ruth would stack up against today's players

The athleticism in today's game is almost unparalleled, and it certainly is hard to compare to the 1920s when Babe Ruth dominated. He was good at the sport, but he wasn't a supreme athlete, and the competition he played against was not as high.

It's the same argument that is used against Michael Jordan, saying that he played against plumbers. Ruth's league was supremely segregated and it didn't have the best pitchers or players. It's not a comparison to compare the game nearly a century later, which is the heart of this argument.

Adam Ottavino once went viral for saying his slider, which has tremendous break, would strike the former New York Yankees legend out on three pitches. That may seem bold, but Ruth didn't have to face that much break in a pitch very often.

Adam Ottavino said he would strike out Babe Ruth

Now that half the league throws sweepers with 15 inch break, it's even harder to imagine a player who only had to hit mediocre fastballs dominating in today's sport. This shouldn't take away from how good the former Boston Red Sox star was in his time, but it should be used as necessary context for the eras of the sport.