Yeah, right. What the heck? The Babe pitched only a little and almost all with Boston at the start of his career.
Fewest innings for Hall of Fame pitchers. Sunday, January 13, 2019, 8:51 AM
Babe Ruth? Hey, how did he get in there? ...
... coming soon to a Hall of Fame announcement near you: Mariano Rivera with only 62 more innings than the Babe! Rivera will slide into the number four slot with 1,283 innings between Babe Ruth and Lee Smith...
Notables on this list of few innings but WAY more than Rivera:
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Mariano Rivera pitched part time and should not be elected to the Hall of Fame. Friday, January 4, 2019
Babe Ruth is number three on the fewest innings list behind Bruce Sutter and Trevor Hoffman and only a little ahead of Mariano Rivera and Lee Smith.
Hey, those other four guys are all relief pitchers. They're not supposed to pitch a lot of innings. Really? Is there a rule that limits them?
OK, but when Rivera is officially announced as a Hall of Fame member on January 22, 2019 he'll bring in his great post season record. Is that the one that includes the biggest blown save and game loss in baseball history: 2001 World Series, game 7? That record?
Babe Ruth brings his own World Series record: 29 consecutive scoreless innings, broken in 1961 by Yankee Whitey Ford with 32.
How much did Babe Ruth pitch and bat at the same time? Monday, April 9, 2018
... when Babe Ruth was a full time pitcher for the Boston Red Sox in 1915, 1916, 1917 Ruth would bat in all games in which he pitched. Ruth never played another position until 1918 when he led the AL in home runs for the first time with 11, tied with Tillie Walker, who had been Ruth's teammate the previous two years and was playing center field for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1918...
154 game schedule, which was not always completed and which could contain ties. Also, in 1918 and 1919 the schedule was shortened because of U.S. involvement in the first World War. The Red Sox played these number of games during Ruth's years with them:
1914 91-62 (2) = 153
1915 101-50 (1) = 151
1916 91-63 (1) = 154
1917 90-62 (2) = 152
1918 75-51 (1) = 126
1919 66-71 (6) = 137
There is some overlap in 1918 and 1919 when Ruth both pitched and played another position...
Ruth clearly transitioned from a full time starting pitcher through 1917 to being mostly a non-pitcher. Ruth's percentage of team games played in 1918 went from under 30% to 60%, more than double. Then in 1919 Ruth played in 97% of Red Sox games. ..
Note that Ruth's first World Series appearance was in 1915 ... pinch hitting. Ruth did not pitch in that WS.
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The premise is based on Ruth not joining the Yankees in 1920 but completing his career abruptly after three years as a pitcher and then continuing to pitch but transitioning to a non-pitcher. In those two transition seasons Ruth led the AL in HR and in 1919 set a new season HR record with 29.
So there are two issues:
- Ruth played only 6 seasons for the Red Sox, not the required 10 for the Hall of Fame.
- Ruth would also be considered for his batting, not just as a pitcher.
But it's still a fun exercise. Had there been a Cy Young award and an MVP award, Ruth might have won CY in 1916 and MVP in 1916 and 1919. That would be compelling. Ruth's pitching would be somewhat analogous to Sandy Koufax or Dizzy Dean, both in the top ten on the list of Hall of Fame pitchers with the fewest innings. We've circled back.
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