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Tiger Fan · 06-09-2004, 08:51 PM

THE COVER STORY - WHO IS THE GREATEST SLUGGER OF ALL TIME?
The bible of baseball is dedicated to providing the reader with all the current baseball news and to try and spark some serious debate when it comes to deciding who the greatest team, pitcher or player of all-time was. We get one of those debates kick-started quickly with some thoughts on who was the greatest power hitter to grace the game. Without further ado, let's dive right in.

When it comes to the longball, only 3 names in major league baseball clear the fence. Those 3 men : Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth each hit over 600 homers. Others like Hack Wilson and Mel Ott made a go of it but compared to the big three they only have warning track power.

ALLTIME HR LEADERBOARD
Jimmie Foxx 622
Lou Gehrig 616
Babe Ruth 615
Hack Wilson 479
Mel Ott* 393
Wally Berger 340
Hank Greenberg* 318
Chick Hafey 312
Joe Hauser 304
Billy Dickey 303
*active

No one in the game has hit more homers in his career than Jimmie Foxx. Living up to his nickname Jimmie Foxx was truly a beast in the eyes of opposing pitchers. Foxx surpassed the 50 homer plateau on 4 occassions including his personal best total of 64 in 1937. Only Babe Ruth has hit more in a seasons than Double X. He made his major league debut at the tender age of 20 but surprisingly Foxx walked away from the game in 1944 at the age of 36. He hit 15 homers in his final season and possiby might have challenged the 650 mark had he so desired. Foxx truly is a great power hitter but in our books he is not the greatest.

Only 5 men have played more major league games than the 2617 that Lou Gehrig appeared in during his 19 years as a New York Yankee. Gehrig joined a Ruth-led New York club as a 22-year old in 1925 but it wasn't until after the Babe's retirement that Lou reached his peark. He won 4 straight MVP awards from 1931 to 1934 and hit a career best 55 homers in the '34 season.

Gehrig hung on until age 40 because he was trying to pass Ruth for the all-time homerun lead. He did so by hitting his 4th and final homer of the 1943 on September 25th off of Les McCrabb of the Athletics. Standing at first base for the A's when Gehrig hit his shot was no other than Jimmie Foxx who would surpass Gehrig as the all-time homerun leader less than a year later.

He may be number 3 all-time in homeruns but Babe Ruth gets our vote as the greatest power hitter to play the game. Quite simply the Babe revolutionized baseball. When he entered the HOB in 1918 as a 23 year old 15 homers seemed like a dream season. In Ruth's second pro season he hit 24 homers. Only one other man in either league managed double figures that season and his total was 11. For the next decade Ruth continued to lap the field, hitting 50 or more homers seven times when the next best player was barely breaking 30. In 1926 Ruth had the most dominant year in baseball history slugging 70 homers. Number two on the list that season was Cy Williams of the Cubs and Bob Meusel of Cleveland - each with 23 round-trippers. In fact Ruth's total of 70 was more homeruns than 7 other teams hit that season.

To say the 1920's belonged to Ruth was a huge understatement. He won 9 straight American League MVP awards from 1921-29, led the AL in homers every season from 1918 to 1929 and won the Triple Crown in 1926.

CONCLUSION
Foxx and Gehrig were outstanding hitters but it is clear that no one so thoroughly dominated the power categories like Babe Ruth. He would routinely hit twice as many homers as the next guy and on many occassions hit more homers in a season than other teams in the league hit. For those reasons it is clear to TSN that Ruth is the greatest slugger in major league baseball history.

AT BATS PER HOMERUN
--------------------------------------
Babe Ruth 10.56
Jimmie Foxx 13.96
Lou Gehrig 15.12

AROUND THE MAJORS
The Boston Red Sox are the hottest team in baseball and moved to within 3 games of first place Washington in the American League. Could this finally be the year the Red Sox end their 23 year pennant drought and claim a title? As usual 27 year old Ted Williams (.332,11,34) is leading the Red Sox offense but the Splendid Splinter is getting plenty of support from first baseman Babe Young (.314,10,54) and speedy centerfielder Mel Almada (.280, 10 sb). Offense has seldom been an issue in Beantown but the big difference is that for a change the pitching is rock solid. 35 year old journeyman Bob Bowman (9-3, 2.27)looks like the second coming of Cy Young this season after showing little in his career prior to 1946. Bowman was named the AL pitcher of the month for June.

Don't expect the Senators to roll over for Boston. Washington has the most balanced offense in the league and reigning pitcher of the year winner Joe Beggs (12-5, 2.74) who is off to another strong start. The third place Yankees are also in the thick of things thanks to the re-emergence of pitcher Vito Tamulis (13-2, 2.26). Tamulis seems to have Brett Saberhagen syndrome as he consistantly alters between a good year and a terrible year. This one is turning out to be a great year.

It has been 9 years since Pirates fans lasted celebrated a National League championship and if pitcher Cliff Melton (16-2, 2.49) has any say the drought will end this year. Melton, who has won 23 games each of the past two seasons appears to have a shot at being the first 30 game winner since 1938.

GRIDIRON GRUMBLINGS - NEWS FROM COLLEGE AND THE NFL
During the off-season Gridiron Grumblings is a brief look at what's going on in both the college and the National Football League. During the season TSN will in-depth coverage on all the action, pro and college, during the week.

-----4 BUCKEYES SELECTED IN FIRST ROUND------
The Ohio State University Buckeyes have a lot of holes to fill if they wish to duplicate or improve upon their 12th place ranking in the College Football Coaches Poll from a year ago. 4 Ohio State players, including the top two overall were selected in the first round of the NFL draft this past spring. The four, guard Lou Groza (1st to Detroit), WR's Dante Lavelli (2nd to Washington) and Marquis Woodson (18th to San Diego), and DT Bill Willis (23rd to San Francisco) had all used up their college eligibility. However, do not count the Buckeyes out so quickly. There is still plenty of talent left in Columbus and another 4 Buckeyes could go in the first round of the NFL draft next year. They include standout QB Les Horvath, offensive linemen Warren Amling and Bill Hackett, and LB Jack Dugger. The preseason college poll will be released next month.

----FORD AND DAVIS SIT ATOP PROSPECT LIST ----
College teams have yet to report to training camp but NFL scouts are already busily preparing for next year's draft. TSN has surveyed a number of NFL executives in order to compile this exclusive list of the top college seniors. Opinions are divided but most of those we talked to feel if they had the first overall pick right now they would use it on either Michigan DE Len Ford or Army RB Glen Davis. A couple of QB's also received plenty of consideration. Otto Graham of Northwestern and Charles Trippi of Georgia. Graham does not appear to have the supporting cast to get Northwestern to a bowl game but Trippi's Bulldogs are favoured to win the SEC and could challenge Army for a National Championship.

GOLF GREATS PREPARE FOR RETURN TO ST.ANDREWS
The top golfers from around the world are travelling to St.Andrews, Scotland this week to prepare for next weekend's British Open championship. It will be the first championship after a five year hiatus due to the war with Germany. Dick Burton won at St.Andrews in 1939 and he will be back to defend his hold on the Claret Jug. Ben Hogan, Sam Snead and Byron Nelson are, as always among the favourites but they could receive stiff competition from South African Bobby Locke, Peter Thomson of Australia and Max Faulkner from England.

With the return of a major championship in Britian this year also marks the first of what the golf experts are calling the Grand Slam. The Masters Championship at Augusta, Georgia, along with the US Open and the match-play PGA championship round out the major foursome. The US Open will be contested at the Canterbury Golf Club in Cleveland early next month while the PGA title will be determined at the Portland Country Club at the end of August.

The Masters was played in April with Ben Hogan claiming the title after finishing 9 under par. Herman Keiser and Lawson Little tied for second, three strokes off the pace. Dai Rees and Byron Nelson rounded out the top 5.

06-09-2004, 08:51 PM	#9
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,541	Volume 1 Issue 1 July 3, 1946 THE COVER STORY - WHO IS THE GREATEST SLUGGER OF ALL TIME? The bible of baseball is dedicated to providing the reader with all the current baseball news and to try and spark some serious debate when it comes to deciding who the greatest team, pitcher or player of all-time was. We get one of those debates kick-started quickly with some thoughts on who was the greatest power hitter to grace the game. Without further ado, let's dive right in. When it comes to the longball, only 3 names in major league baseball clear the fence. Those 3 men : Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth each hit over 600 homers. Others like Hack Wilson and Mel Ott made a go of it but compared to the big three they only have warning track power. ALLTIME HR LEADERBOARD Jimmie Foxx 622 Lou Gehrig 616 Babe Ruth 615 Hack Wilson 479 Mel Ott* 393 Wally Berger 340 Hank Greenberg* 318 Chick Hafey 312 Joe Hauser 304 Billy Dickey 303 active No one in the game has hit more homers in his career than Jimmie Foxx. Living up to his nickname Jimmie Foxx was truly a beast in the eyes of opposing pitchers. Foxx surpassed the 50 homer plateau on 4 occassions including his personal best total of 64 in 1937. Only Babe Ruth has hit more in a seasons than Double X. He made his major league debut at the tender age of 20 but surprisingly Foxx walked away from the game in 1944 at the age of 36. He hit 15 homers in his final season and possiby might have challenged the 650 mark had he so desired. Foxx truly is a great power hitter but in our books he is not the greatest. Only 5 men have played more major league games than the 2617 that Lou Gehrig appeared in during his 19 years as a New York Yankee. Gehrig joined a Ruth-led New York club as a 22-year old in 1925 but it wasn't until after the Babe's retirement that Lou reached his peark. He won 4 straight MVP awards from 1931 to 1934 and hit a career best 55 homers in the '34 season. Gehrig hung on until age 40 because he was trying to pass Ruth for the all-time homerun lead. He did so by hitting his 4th and final homer of the 1943 on September 25th off of Les McCrabb of the Athletics. Standing at first base for the A's when Gehrig hit his shot was no other than Jimmie Foxx who would surpass Gehrig as the all-time homerun leader less than a year later. He may be number 3 all-time in homeruns but Babe Ruth gets our vote as the greatest power hitter to play the game. Quite simply the Babe revolutionized baseball. When he entered the HOB in 1918 as a 23 year old 15 homers seemed like a dream season. In Ruth's second pro season he hit 24 homers. Only one other man in either league managed double figures that season and his total was 11. For the next decade Ruth continued to lap the field, hitting 50 or more homers seven times when the next best player was barely breaking 30. In 1926 Ruth had the most dominant year in baseball history slugging 70 homers. Number two on the list that season was Cy Williams of the Cubs and Bob Meusel of Cleveland - each with 23 round-trippers. In fact Ruth's total of 70 was more homeruns than 7 other teams hit that season. To say the 1920's belonged to Ruth was a huge understatement. He won 9 straight American League MVP awards from 1921-29, led the AL in homers every season from 1918 to 1929 and won the Triple Crown in 1926. CONCLUSION Foxx and Gehrig were outstanding hitters but it is clear that no one so thoroughly dominated the power categories like Babe Ruth. He would routinely hit twice as many homers as the next guy and on many occassions hit more homers in a season than other teams in the league hit. For those reasons it is clear to TSN that Ruth is the greatest slugger in major league baseball history. AT BATS PER HOMERUN -------------------------------------- Babe Ruth 10.56 Jimmie Foxx 13.96 Lou Gehrig 15.12 AROUND THE MAJORS* The Boston Red Sox are the hottest team in baseball and moved to within 3 games of first place Washington in the American League. Could this finally be the year the Red Sox end their 23 year pennant drought and claim a title? As usual 27 year old Ted Williams (.332,11,34) is leading the Red Sox offense but the Splendid Splinter is getting plenty of support from first baseman Babe Young (.314,10,54) and speedy centerfielder Mel Almada (.280, 10 sb). Offense has seldom been an issue in Beantown but the big difference is that for a change the pitching is rock solid. 35 year old journeyman Bob Bowman (9-3, 2.27)looks like the second coming of Cy Young this season after showing little in his career prior to 1946. Bowman was named the AL pitcher of the month for June. Don't expect the Senators to roll over for Boston. Washington has the most balanced offense in the league and reigning pitcher of the year winner Joe Beggs (12-5, 2.74) who is off to another strong start. The third place Yankees are also in the thick of things thanks to the re-emergence of pitcher Vito Tamulis (13-2, 2.26). Tamulis seems to have Brett Saberhagen syndrome as he consistantly alters between a good year and a terrible year. This one is turning out to be a great year. It has been 9 years since Pirates fans lasted celebrated a National League championship and if pitcher Cliff Melton (16-2, 2.49) has any say the drought will end this year. Melton, who has won 23 games each of the past two seasons appears to have a shot at being the first 30 game winner since 1938. GRIDIRON GRUMBLINGS - NEWS FROM COLLEGE AND THE NFL During the off-season Gridiron Grumblings is a brief look at what's going on in both the college and the National Football League. During the season TSN will in-depth coverage on all the action, pro and college, during the week. -----4 BUCKEYES SELECTED IN FIRST ROUND------ The Ohio State University Buckeyes have a lot of holes to fill if they wish to duplicate or improve upon their 12th place ranking in the College Football Coaches Poll from a year ago. 4 Ohio State players, including the top two overall were selected in the first round of the NFL draft this past spring. The four, guard Lou Groza (1st to Detroit), WR's Dante Lavelli (2nd to Washington) and Marquis Woodson (18th to San Diego), and DT Bill Willis (23rd to San Francisco) had all used up their college eligibility. However, do not count the Buckeyes out so quickly. There is still plenty of talent left in Columbus and another 4 Buckeyes could go in the first round of the NFL draft next year. They include standout QB Les Horvath, offensive linemen Warren Amling and Bill Hackett, and LB Jack Dugger. The preseason college poll will be released next month. ----FORD AND DAVIS SIT ATOP PROSPECT LIST ---- College teams have yet to report to training camp but NFL scouts are already busily preparing for next year's draft. TSN has surveyed a number of NFL executives in order to compile this exclusive list of the top college seniors. Opinions are divided but most of those we talked to feel if they had the first overall pick right now they would use it on either Michigan DE Len Ford or Army RB Glen Davis. A couple of QB's also received plenty of consideration. Otto Graham of Northwestern and Charles Trippi of Georgia. Graham does not appear to have the supporting cast to get Northwestern to a bowl game but Trippi's Bulldogs are favoured to win the SEC and could challenge Army for a National Championship. GOLF GREATS PREPARE FOR RETURN TO ST.ANDREWS The top golfers from around the world are travelling to St.Andrews, Scotland this week to prepare for next weekend's British Open championship. It will be the first championship after a five year hiatus due to the war with Germany. Dick Burton won at St.Andrews in 1939 and he will be back to defend his hold on the Claret Jug. Ben Hogan, Sam Snead and Byron Nelson are, as always among the favourites but they could receive stiff competition from South African Bobby Locke, Peter Thomson of Australia and Max Faulkner from England. With the return of a major championship in Britian this year also marks the first of what the golf experts are calling the Grand Slam. The Masters Championship at Augusta, Georgia, along with the US Open and the match-play PGA championship round out the major foursome. The US Open will be contested at the Canterbury Golf Club in Cleveland early next month while the PGA title will be determined at the Portland Country Club at the end of August. The Masters was played in April with Ben Hogan claiming the title after finishing 9 under par. Herman Keiser and Lawson Little tied for second, three strokes off the pace. Dai Rees and Byron Nelson rounded out the top 5. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles Columnist- The Figment Sporting Journal MY FIGMENT LEAGUE BROOKLYN KINGS DYNASTY PAST DYNASTYS My History of Hockey Replay Tiger Fan's Sporting News : the mid 1940's Tiger Fan's All Sport Replay: The 1920s History of Sports 1901-15 Historical Tutorial and Feedback League My first fictional attempt The HOB4: The last of my series of history of baseball replays that go back to OOTP2 and the old message board.