Babe Ruth on Every Team in History

[Michael Xavier]

I saw this article last night, which detailed what would happen if LeBron James was on every team in the NBA. That got me to thinking, the greatest single season in baseball is Babe Ruth's 1923 season, a 14.1 WAR. What would happen if he was placed on every team in history? How much would that team improve? How many would make the playoffs?

[Michael Xavier]

First experiment is the 1987 Cincinnati Reds. Cincy jumped from 84-78 with a 2nd place in the NL West finish to a 104-58 finish with a World Series victory over the Kansas City Royals. Ruth led the league in homers, RBI, BB, OBP, SLG, OPS, and posted a 9.2 WAR.

[thehef]

"... every team in history..."

This is going to be a long thread...

[Michael Xavier]

Sure, he took the '87 Reds to the World Series, but they were a very good, second-place team. What about hooking him up with the worst team in the same division, the Padres? Well, the 1987 Padres went 65-97, were in second-to-last in home runs, and were not especially memorable, except for a 34-game hitting streak by rookie catcher, Benito Santiago.

The Ruth-led Padres improved to 78-84, which is a 13 game swing, and finished 3rd, instead of 6th in the NL West. They also jumped from 23rd place in MLB with 668 runs scored in real life to 1st place with 858 runs in simulation. He had a big impact, but not enough to make the playoffs. Maybe I should have had him pitching, too. Oh, by the way, Ruth had a 10.8 WAR for the '87 Padres.

[Michael Xavier]

Originally Posted by thehef

"... every team in history..."

This is going to be a long thread...

Well, I'll see how it goes, but I may do one team a day.

[thehef]

Originally Posted by Michael Xavier

Well, I'll see how it goes, but I may do one team a day.

Cool. Should be done sometime in mid-2024 then!

[Michael Xavier]

So far, two simulations in, and Ruth exceeded expectations in Cincinnati and pretty much met them in San Diego, but lets put him on a real dog of a team. I mean, how would Ruth do with the 2003 Detroit Tigers? You know, the team that went 43-119.

The Ruth-led 2003 Tigers saw a 30-game swing, finishing 73-89, barely beating out the Royals to avoid last place in the AL Central. Ruth posted a 10.6 WAR and led the league in BB, OBP, SLG, and OPS.

[Michael Xavier]

Originally Posted by thehef

Cool. Should be done sometime in mid-2024 then!

Yeah, you're right. I would have to do 6 or 7 a day to finish in a calendar year.

[Michael Xavier]

My last one for today is the 2001 Seattle Mariners. They were already an amazing team. The M's scored 926 runs, won 116 games, and featured the debut of Ichiro. Sadly, they fell to the Yankees in the ALCS.

So, would the Ruth-led M's win more than 116 games? Nope. Ruth didn't help a bit with this team. In fact, the Ruth-led Mariners lost in the ALDS to the A's, but he did manufacture a 11.2 WAR and the M's scored over 1,000 runs and came close to averaging .300 batting as a team.

[Michael Xavier]

I've been looking into it, and I have noted, there are players with better WAR than Ruth's 1923 season. All but one of them are pre-1900 pitchers, but Walter Johnson does have two seasons post-1900, where he puts up 16.0 and 14.6 WAR. It makes me wonder if I should have a showdown between the Big Train and Big Bambino.

[ThatSeventiesGuy]

Now put him on the '62 Mets. He'll probably get hurt in the first game or something.

[dmacgreg37]

Originally Posted by Michael Xavier

So far, two simulations in, and Ruth exceeded expectations in Cincinnati and pretty much met them in San Diego, but lets put him on a real dog of a team. I mean, how would Ruth do with the 2003 Detroit Tigers? You know, the team that went 43-119.

The Ruth-led 2003 Tigers saw a 30-game swing, finishing 73-89, barely beating out the Royals to avoid last place in the AL Central. Ruth posted a 10.6 WAR and led the league in BB, OBP, SLG, and OPS.

Jesus, looking at that lineup is sad. That is pathetic.

[Dukie98]

Originally Posted by Michael Xavier

Sure, he took the '87 Reds to the World Series, but they were a very good, second-place team. What about hooking him up with the worst team in the same division, the Padres? Well, the 1987 Padres went 65-97, were in second-to-last in home runs, and were not especially memorable, except for a 34-game hitting streak by rookie catcher, Benito Santiago.

The Ruth-led Padres improved to 78-84, which is a 13 game swing, and finished 3rd, instead of 6th in the NL West. They also jumped from 23rd place in MLB with 668 runs scored in real life to 1st place with 858 runs in simulation. He had a big impact, but not enough to make the playoffs. Maybe I should have had him pitching, too. Oh, by the way, Ruth had a 10.8 WAR for the '87 Padres.

Two things jumped out at me: (1) John Kruk with 30 steals, and (2) Kevin Mitchell starting at shortstop. Perhaps not coincidentally, the Padres were 12th in runs allowed...

[thehef]

Unlike in basketball*, where one great player can make a difference on both ends of the floor, in baseball (and football, too) a mega-star player can only improve a team so much. IOW (and I know that I'm not revealing rocket science here), The Bambino is going to seriously juice up an offense but isn't going to do much for an inept pitching staff, and The Big Train will anchor a pitching staff like few others could, but won't do anything for floundering offense...

Then again, there are a few seasons from Ruth's Boston years where he could do both!

*I did something like this with a basketball sim many, many years ago in an attempt to see who improved a team the most - Magic, Jordan, or Bird. Don't remember the deets but it was really close. I tested multiple seasons of each player (not just their one peak season) and I think there was one season of Jordan that stood out above the others, but Bird has the most impact over his peak years... Also did some sims to see if Dominique - the ring-less highlight machine - and Worthy - talented 3rd fiddle on a title team - had switched draft spots, how it would've affected both the Lakers & Hawks. As I recall & as expected, Wilkins' scoring went down and Worthy's went up, but both teams performed about as they did in RL... Another one was to see what McHale - who was about as dominant as could be in his peak/pre-injury years, but didn't get the touches he might've gotten had he been the #1 option on a lesser team - would've done as a star on poor team. So I placed him on the mid-80's Pacers teams and he put up pretty decent (higher than RL) scoring numbers and turned them from a league-worst or near-league-worst team to a marginal playoff team - a significant improvement... Fun stuff

[jpeters1734]

this is a pretty cool idea! You should put Ruth on the 2004 Yankees team and give the Red Sox a double curse of the Bambino!

[maximus33]

Remember though, Lebron would win zero titles with any team unless he has 3 additional all stars. Also he could never play Nowitzki either.

[The Game]

What if you clone Ruth to be on each team that season?

[Rosco Peabody]

Originally Posted by jpeters1734

this is a pretty cool idea! You should put Ruth on the 2004 Yankees team and give the Red Sox a double curse of the Bambino!

Boo!!!!

[alkeiper]

Originally Posted by Michael Xavier

I saw this article last night, which detailed what would happen if LeBron James was on every team in the NBA. That got me to thinking, the greatest single season in baseball is Babe Ruth's 1923 season, a 14.1 WAR. What would happen if he was placed on every team in history? How much would that team improve? How many would make the playoffs?

If you placed him on EVERY team, they would all cancel out


I'd get a kick out of watching him in the Baker Bowl though.

[SxSnts9]

This is an awesome idea. When is the next update?