Babe Ruth Swing Mechanics...Could He Hit In Today's Game? 

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His swing was what what worked in his era. I'd assume he'd adjust to today's pitching. He was naturally gifted to do anything on the diamond

The thing that always impressed me about him is how effortlessly he swings that massive bat while looking like a middle aged dad. Guy was a beast with no training or needles.

For me two things stand out at the point of contact Ruth is always is the same position. Ruth is consistent at the point of contact. Secondly Ruth generates so much power when he strides into the swing and gets incredible hip rotation! It’s awesome how much torque Ruth generates with hi# swing! You can read his uniform number on his back on the 3rd base side when Ruth swings!

To paraphrase that joke: Person one: "How would Ruth hit today?" Person two: "He'd average about .290 with twenty-five home runs." Person one: "You're kidding!" Person two: "Remember he's over a hundred years old!"

Another interesting question...Would a modern-day player have been able to hit back in the 1920's? No batting helmet, no batting gloves, no shin guard, no elbow armor, and pitchers willing to throw at the batters' heads. My guess is that most 2020 era players would not have lasted two games against the normal 1925 era pitcher.

In 1921, Babe had 59 home runs, scored 177 runs and batted in 168 in a 154 game season, and he had an OPS of 1.359. And you're asking if he could hit in today's game? The only thing any athlete can do is dominate everybody in his or her own era, and Ruth did that like nobody else who has ever played baseball. The only other player in a major sport I can think of who might compare for dominating in his era was Don Hutson. He retired with 488 receptions, 7991 receiving yards and 99 receiving touchdowns. The next closest at the time (a guy who retired 2 years later than Hutson) had 288 receptions for 4801 yards and 45 touchdowns. Hutson also won 4 NFL championships in 11 seasons and led the league in interceptions one season. Hutson was a great player on both sides of the ball, and Ruth was on track to make the Hall of Fame as a pitcher when he converted to a full time outfielder because they couldn't keep his bat out of the lineup. They were both basically playing a different game than everybody else of their eras.

I got to hold and take two abbreviated swings with a Ruth bat. The Babe Ruth Museum toured around 15 to 20 years ago. They made a stop at PNG field for a AA Curve game (Pirate's AA team). It was after the game and I engaged with the curator of the display. No one was around. It was an interesting conversation. He sensed I've knocked a few balls around as he was telling me the weight distribution in Ruth's 42oz bat. The majority of weight near the end. He pulled one out and I was BLESSED to have held and taken those 2 easy swings. The bat indeed felt its weight. What was stunning is during the first swing, itgave immediate feedback that the bat felt much lighter with motion. More like a 32 or 33 oz bat. The second swing was more like a 1/3 to 1/2 swing. I had never felt anything like it, nor will I ever. As the swing approached my rear hip, the bat felt incredibly light. The feedback was clear that the more you accelerated with this bat, you are able to drive because of the distribution making the bat feel lighter with motion. Most surreal sensation of countless times taking cuts through my life.

The Babe Ruth stat that I have always loved is in 1920 season; he led the league with 54 home runs, the next closest player was George Sisler with 19.

Even in slow mo the Babe gets the bat through the hitting zone (hip to hip) at an almost indecipherable speed. Amazing. Some people are just meant to do certain things. He was meant to hit a baseball hard and far.

Totally agree with your analysis. Anyone who's read THE ART OF HITTING .300 by Charlie Lau knows that when the Babe finished his stride his feet, hips, shoulders, head, and hands are exactly where they should be. He hit .342 lifetime and played much of his career when the spitball was legal so he would be able to handle today's pitching although, as you said, perhaps not as well.

I read a couple of articles stating that the Babe ordered SHORTER bats as he aged, as opposed to merely lighter ones. Better leverage. If you look at the Babe's swing, it evolved as he got older. He was more than just a big guy who swung as hard as he could. The Babe adapted with the times!

He hit against some of the best pitching ever including scuffing, cutting and using foreign substances on the balls.

That's not even a real game Babe Ruth swing. That looks like a pepper or some kind of fungo goofing around swing. Look at one of the Babe's real game swings. It's a mechanical thing of natural beauty. Babe had a great natural coil, going straight down with his first movement increasing the distance the bat has to travel so he'd gain as much speed/force as possible, then he was able to effortlessly fully uncoil quickly with full arm extension and powerful bat angle in his hands. Babe was swinging more with his core then his hands because of his arm extension and extreme bat angle. He was using launch angle 100 years ago. Flawlessly.

He would rake today as well. He’d figure it out and make tweets where needed. The bats are better and lighter, and the baseballs are harder. He’d still be great.

Ruth will rake in any era. I can't believe there could be any debate. I will concede if he hopped in a time machine and was entered into a contemporary game to pinch hit, he'd likely fair poorly. But he's the man who literally hanged baseball. He's a natural hitter. Giving him some time to work on his hitting, and it's GOAT again. But more to the point, were he born and raised in our era, his entire approach would be different. We can pretend pitching back then was a joke, but it wasn't. Babe faced oodles of cheese and today, he'd face far less cheese. Not to mention, were he to arrive in a time machine, pitchers would be in awe and intimidated, thus pitching accordingly. Simply put, he isn't just another player, or simply a great hitter of his era - he was the greatest hitter of his era and again, single-handedly changed the entire nature of the sport. The game has changed a lot, not only since his day, but it has changed a lot in a short time - which could lead someone to suggest Tony Gwynn couldn't hit today's pitchers. Of course Gwynn could. Same with the Babe.

He's catching the ball way in front of the plate and his torque gave him his amazing power.

The amount of homeruns he hit in that era would be like someone hitting 80 in a season and 1200 in their career. He was in a different world than everyone else. Oh and he hit .342

Great analysis and conclusions. I have had similar discussions with Smart Alec know-it-alls and I’ve never convinced anybody. I grew up watching Willie Mays in San Francisco and I’ve had people tell me that he would be just an average hitter today because of better pitchers today. But, just as you explain here, I have maintained that all great hitters have two things in common: the ability to choose the right pitch to hit and the ability to deliver the bat to the exact spot required to hit the ball squarely. This is not an easy thing to do. The science of pitching and the science of pitching from experts such as you have made each act very, very efficient and eliminated the idiosyncrasies of years gone by, but the ability to see the right pitch and explode in a controlled manner to deliver the bat to a spot no bigger than a 1/2 inch on a 95/hr moving ball is God given magic. All the great hitters have that in common and at the moment of impact, they all look the same. What they do before that moment is irrelevant because it can be adjusted and refined because that’s what you do.

The Bambino was said to have used a 54-ounce hickory bat during the early stages of his career. -Bleacher Report

I've always wondered if the Babe's stride came from his background as a pitcher. It is as though he is doing a one-for-one counter to the power generating stride of the pitcher.

What stands out to me is the amount of hip rotation he gets. At end of his swing his belly button is facing almost towards the dugout.

Babe has the greatest swing of all time. His movements are part of what made him the greatest. Give a young player a heavy wood bat and they will learn to swing with similar movements as they learn how to recruit their big muscles and get their body into the hit. Today they use lighter bats and never get these movements ingrained into their swing. Their position at launch and contact are also different. You don’t see players today getting as much hand depth and they’re not as connected at contact. Now everyone says pitching is too dominant for these mechanics and they wouldn’t work today. Those who believe this don’t understand those movements were also his timing mechanism.

The Babe Ruth Museum in Baltimore has a front view video of Babe Ruth's swing...extremely smooth and quick. Babe Ruth, like any elite player in any era, could play in today's game.

Your “running start “ analogy is I think spot on . It’s like the difference between pitching from a full windup vs the stretch. The thing that would make this difficult would be adjusting to off speed stuff but they say the game slows down for great players and it’s hard to argue that a man who’s name is synonymous with greatness wasn’t one of the greatest players!

Georgie would have access to today's sports science (no bottles of whiskey, 12 chili dogs, and 4 groupies during the seventh inning stretch) as well as hitting coaches to adjust to today's game. He may be Barry Bonds, but I think he would be great.

What I see here, and impresses me, is that in the middle of all this stuff going on he adjusted to hit a ball that is inside. So he has a huge bat, he's moving before he knows where the pitch will be, yet he still manages tuck his arms in to get the bat closer to his body mid swing. I've never cared about his swing, but seeing that adjustment makes me think he'd be just fine in today's game because if the bat is where the ball is going to be then you'll hit it, no matter what era you're in.

He has the raw talent. Adjustment might be key.

I’m on the fence with this argument. No doubt today’s pitchers have a velocity advantage, however, they also have lower seams, mounds, stricter foreign substance policy and scrutiny ect. Cobb had to contend with the dead ball era, which provided a distinct advantage to the pitcher while simultaneously endangering the hitter. I mean, those dudes were swinging at black baseballs. it would be an unbelievable adjustment for any of today’s stars to step in the box against a cy young just as well as it would babe staring down Pedro Martinez. Fun to think about though, Thanks for the content Matt!

The Yankees started using numbers on their uniforms in 1929. So, assuming this fact Ruth had some great years from 1929 to 32. The youngest he would be in this film would be 34 years old. In 1932 Ruth hit 41 HR and batted .341 at 37 years old. Point being that his technique was honed by this time. It would be interesting to see his swing prior to 1929. Thanks, good work.

Any dude who hits .342 lifetime with 714 dingers could hit in any era.

He learned his swing from Father Mathias at the orphanage as a boy, so not from Joe Jackson. He had far superior eye sight, coordination, hand strength, wrist strength and forward weight shift. His follow through was legendary. He would smack the hell out of any pitcher in any era - with the heavy bat and without much adjustment.

yes his swing is so heavy and vulnerable because of the size of the bat he chose to swing. to get all that weight around, he had to make a big motion, as you said. at the time, he knew he could hit the speeds the pitchers were throwing with any size bat, so he chose the heaviest he could possibly get through the zone. but in today's game, i think he could downsize his bat, shorten up a little bit, and be just fine. he was a professional hitter, maybe the best ever, so i trust that he'd find a way to adapt.

Great analysis, Matt, thanks for this. I agree with many here that Ruth would have made adjustments. Like most great athletes, he was very smart about the game he played. When he got in a slump, he would even go behind the plate during batting practice-he had been a left-handed catcher at St. Mary's at times-just to get a better feel for the pitches. He spoke to sportswriters with great intelligence and in some detail-about his swing. And yes, he did use a 54-oz bat for some years, AND he bunted safely for hits as many as 10 times in one season. Would he have hit .340 over 21 years? Almost certainly not. Would have struck out over 100 times in a season? Almost certainly so. But he might also have hit over 1,000 home runs on his career. Most of the parks he played in had fences at greater distances than they do today. If there was an overflow crowd, they often put fans in the outfield, roped them off, and called anything hit over that rope a double. For a time there was even a rule that, if you hit the ball out of the park, the ump could whether it would have landed foul or not. Of course, this basically cost ONLY Babe Ruth home runs at the time.

Okay let's get one thing straight straight it comes to the Golden Age of Baseball. Babe Ruth was a professional baseball player. Baseball has about around since as early as 1847. The game as changed and players have adapted over the course of 180 years. The Babe adapted to his abilities as a pitcher to a hitter. Something people have struggled with doing since even before him. To say Ruth couldn't compete today is no different than saying today's ball players couldn't compete in those days either. People these days say this stuff like they think they know what they're talking about but they clesrly don't. Theh didn't play in the 20s n 30s. Anyways, Ruth is the greatest Baseball player of all time. There will never be another Babe Ruth, period. But the Babe could definitely have adapted to today's game. Today's players take care of their bodies much better and if Ruth went thru the training and health care of today's Baseball, he'd be even better than what he was. No, i do not believe the Babe Ruth we know n love would be successful in today's game, but an adaptive Babe Ruth would DOMINATE. Walter Johnson was throwing 100mph. So the Babe has a taste of thst anyways. But notice how the whole "everyone is throwing 100mph" arguments stop when you bring up a players abilities to adspt. Today's players had to adapt to it. Everyone today throwing 100mph only started AFTER Aroldis Chapman broke the record. He's still playing. People have adapted to him n everyone else throwing 100mph, so why can't Babe Ruth? He could have definitely adapted to today's game. You don't get called the GOAT for nothing.

Great video. Thanks Matt!

Ted Williams said no one would hit .400 again because of the slider. All we can do is look at the raw mechanics. Excellent analysis.

Babe Ruth’s swing is the most fundamentally correct swing ever. Mainly from his front leg stride starting location (all the way back). That puts all the weight on his back hip and gives him the maximum distance and energy moving forward. Doesn’t get any better than that.

I watched a video of Ty Cobb's swing, as we know he help his hands apart, but once he stated his swing the top hand slid down and formed a regular grip. The rest of the swing looked "normal" and yes Cobb could hit it today's game. I agree they would need to make adjustments, but Cobb could still hit, 367 lifetime BA good no but still damn good.

Great analysis, Mr. A! With the modern tools that players have at their disposal today, The Babe would be every bit as good as he was in his own Era. He also was an awesome pitcher, which had to be a real advantage as a hitter. He would still have that today. Concerning an unusual stance, many of the greats, including Musial, Ichiro, Carew, Carl Yastremski, and so many others had their unique stance. The great ones make it work.

Great break down! Core principles are key!!

Very good analysis and conclusion Coach Matt….I would whole heartedly agree with this….look what subtle adjustments took Jose Batista from a mediocre player to a home run killing machine….👍🏻💪🏻 ⚾️ 🇺🇸

Great hitters are big, strong, and most importantly stay in hitting zone for a long time. Babe Ruth demonstrates all of this. Therefore, yes, his swing is an elite swing. Clearly has good front side mechanics allowing his knob to work up early and and create backward barrel bath or swivel. I think people are misled by the barrel tip because he does achieve good early connection at toe tap. He’s using mechanics that I see many great hitters in today’s game don’t realize they have. Like Trout and Arod thinking they are swinging down to the ball. No they are not swinging down to the ball.

He falls forward to set his momentum so as to not allow the ball to push him back or zap his strength thru the ball. The way he whips the bat forward and around, increasing velocity and angular momentum thru the zone, by pulling his lead elbow up and back. Great footage. Ichiro had a similar style actually, he leaned forward during the pitcher's wind up getting a head start.

Very good video quality.

Best player to ever step on a diamond

He loads the bat just as Dick Allen, Ted Williams and Barry Bonds did and others do. He builds bat speed and power by getting the bat going. He'd be more than fine in todays game as the level of coaching has been specialized AND the money has become at such a level that I suspect he'd behave quite a bit better on the dietary agenda. He'd have had to hit the weights a bit and do some conditioning. Modern day players seldom get fat or come to camp out of shape anymore. It used to be common for them to get to spring training fat and out of shape.

His footwork in this clip reminds me a lot of Wil Myers, the trail foot sliding forward at the end because of the weight transfer and the pure momentum of the swing.

The "negative move" or "loading" phase of his overall swing is his own, as it is with any good hitter. However, as his front foot touches and his hands begin to launch the bat toward the ball, the important rotation phase of his swing begins. This where biomechanics and physics kick in and he looks strikingly like every other good hitter. When critiquing a swing, one must isolate the loading phase from the actual swing itself. Hitters personalize what they do during their stance and loading in order to be comfortable and prepare for rotation. Once rotation begins, physics dictates what must happen to be able to effectively hit a ball. To be a superior hitter your body must figure out the physics. Most folks look at Babe's swing and just see the strange stuff he does prior to rotation. What counts is what he does during rotation. Babe would absolutely be able to hit well in today's environment.

Would love a break down of Hammering Hank's swing.

Very analogy Matt. I thought The Babe was a big strong guy , that can crutch the ball far.

Enjoy whenever you post I enjoy your content

I didn't play for long time, just some years during my youth, but my longest homerun was trying to emulate this swing, i used to open my legs and put my bat very back over my shoulders, i remember a pitcher throwing the ball very fast so i decided to put my legs next to each other and the bat almost in front of me, so i just went against the ball and the result was a monster homerun by the center field!!!.

These type of debates are one of the greatest thing about baseball, could 'all time great' play in todays game? Fun to debate.

Good analysis

I think you did a great job dissecting his mechanics. I'm of the opinion that pitchers threw a lot harder back then than we give them credit for. Like today, most pitchers back then were good-sized men, most of whom stood over 6'. Walter Johnson is a good example of a big guy who Cobb and Ruth both said threw heat. He had a huge wind-up and used all of his momentum to whip the ball across the plate. Pro baseball started back about 1880 so by the 1920s it had evolved considerably, something baseball fans today seem to toss aside. I think Ruth, Fox, Gherig, Cobb and all those great hitters would've also crushed it today, maybe more than they did back then because of the easy access modern players have to trainers, weightlifting knowledge, and gym equipment.

re watch the first couple of swings and you can see him swinging his other bat. I cannot unsee this

Couldn’t help but notice the damn snake in his britches during that loop of his swing in the first minute of the video 😂 No surprise, the Babe was hung like a horse. Must have added some bonus momentum to his hips getting around/through the ball.

Love to see a breakdown of Paul Molitor's swing, probably the fastest most compact I ever saw in person

I started doing the same load up in Slowpitch softball. Its taken my power to another level

Don't forget Babe Ruth was incredibly strong,no doubt he would hit in todays game,just like Walter Johnson,Cy Young,Matheson could pitch today,all it takes is an adjustment in mechanics.

Also would like to point out that Ruth played a big part of his career during the dead ball era and hit homeruns despite this handicap.

Gary Sheffield crazy bat movement

Agree 1000%. I've been a huge Ruth fan for over 50 years, but he developed his "Happy Gilmore" swing to hit 1920s pitching that averaged < 3 k per 9 innnings pitched! (As Stengel would have said, "You can look it up!") No way they were throwing 95.

I find that in any clip from before like 1975, the swings look really slow. I assume it's just because the bat is heavy.

Great hitters are great hitters, regardless of their mechanics. A great hitter from yesteryear, Royals' legend George Brett, comes to mind. He became a disciple of a guy name Walt Hriniak, and developed a looping yet smooth swing that others tried but were unsuccessful. Hriniak's hitting theories were largely proven ineffective, but Brett was able to succeed with them (or in spite of them) simply because of great ability.

Awesome video!!! Would love to see you do a series of videos like this!! Now on to the Sultan of swat. IMO If he refused to change those mechanics and bat size he would struggle. Probably be someone like Joey Gallo, With proper adjustments he would rake just as he did in his era. Also he might get the Bonds treatment where we would get walked with bases loaded.

You know what stands out to me that SOUND 💥🔥⚾️

We are talking about the greatest hitter of all time. I think bat weight would be the only adjustment he would make in todays game. Ruth's eye was phenomenal has he walked over 700 more times that striking out. The only player comparable to him in 2022 would be Juan Soto.

The question is, could today's hitters hit back then? All day games, no specific batter's eye. Legal spitballs, dirty baseballs, unreal changeups, junkballers. Spiteful pitchers. Didn't need analytics, only 8 teams per league, all weaknesses were known. Thanks Matt for showing this and not crapping on the Babe. I have been watching MLB since 1967 and today's game is mostly unbearable to watch. Softball uppercut swings, 200 strikeouts, possible robo ump, replay, having to hear about the money endlessly, season way too long, playoffs unbearable and the worst of the worst...the DH... Matt, I rarely watch games anymore unless it's Bryce Harper, instead I just watch your channel when I need a fix!

Ruth apparently used a 42 inch bat early in his career but switched to a 36 or 38 inch. Because the wood was denser it weighed around 40 oz. What strikes me about Ruth's swing is it's compact coil and release of power, and the quickness yet velocity of his stroke. It's an incredibly coherent, yet powerful swing. Ruth would be an elite power hitter in today's game. The player he reminds me of is Bryce Harper in that same coil and Kyle Schwarber. Ruth had tremendous bat speed and upper body strength. His velocity off the bat topped off around 115 mph. I think he would consistently hit 40-50 HR because he had exceptional hand eye coordination but his BA would be lower, around .280-.310. Elite talents will thrive in any era.

I love this. Things I noticed: He starts in a softball stance He really slams the back elbow down near his side He comes no where near "squishing the bug" as I was erroneously taught as a teen And his head seems to smoothly go down just a few inches giving him a good look at what's coming..... and then where it goes! Haha! Good stuff buddy!

According to Baseball Reference, Babe Ruth has the highest W.A.R. in baseball history. Thereby, he is the best player in MLB's history.

The notion that great athletes would not 'adapt' to the modern game is ridiculous. Babe Ruth would be an All Star today as well.

Buck O’Neil used to talk about that special sound of ball hitting bat that he only heard three times in his life - Babe Ruth, Josh Gibson, Bo Jackson. That cant be faked. I think he would adjust his stance & timing. Still be special

I play ‘recreated’ baseball the way it was played in the 1800s. Bats were much bigger; as stated you need to do something to get it going. Pitching was also slower.

Babe Ruth was so far ahead of his time, he would hit 97 homers every year.

Swarber bats identical to Babe Ruth

Some years back I knew a gentleman named Luther "Red" Harvel. Red was a retired scout for the As and I believe one or two other teams. He also had a lengthy, mostly minor league career, as a player including one season with Cleveland in 1928 where he played against Ruth. He was very impressed with the man, and not just his hitting. He commented that he was faster afoot than some might think and that is was not a good idea to challenge his arm. He was of the opinion that Ruth could have starred in the game of the 1980s when I knew him. He was a lot of fun to talk to.

I helped several young batters by loading up on every pitch. Treat every pitch as hittable. That's a head start. When you see its hittable, continue your swing, if not, hold off. By doing that, you have time to better see the ball.

Agree with you completely. Not only the adjustments you mentioned, but give him video scouting, swing analytics, 100 years of coaching/technique refinements and all the advantages players have today he absolutely rakes. The raw skills are clearly there. If you simply pluck him of course he’ll struggle because he wouldn’t have the advantages players have today. Even the training/advancement field he’ll prove why he’s the goat.

The info is probably out there, but I wonder what velocity he was seeing back in the day and did they change much from his early career to mid and later years. Excellent analysis. Well done and entertaining idea/video. Thanks.

I remember an interview with Henry Aaron when he was closing in on Ruth's career HR record. Aaron was handed the bat Ruth used in 1927 which is too long and heavy under today's rules. He took a couple of swings with it and remarked about the strength of Ruth to get the bat around on pitches. He also pointed out that most of the bat was solid hitting area. Keep in mind, Ted Williams is the man who started the current trend of fat barreled, thin-handled bats and emphasis on bat speed instead of strength.

A key element no one mentioned is the simple fact players in Ruth's era, based on the pitching style and management of pitchers, had ability to bat against an individual pitcher many more times. He faced 7 other teams in the regular season in an era of smaller pitching staffs, and less pitching changes - 22 times! If you think about the total number of individually different pitchers one batter may bat against in one season in today's era this is why the overall ability of one player to excel is so much more difficult. As to Ruth's ability to hit in any era, everything is relative to the overall style of play. With his inherent skill set (hand eye coordination, power and ability to adapt and adjust his swing) along with adjustments to training for 'fitness' he would still excel. The total variance of pitchers one batter may see today, along with the variance in 'pitch types' makes the technology of observing film so much more important. Ruth in today's era, would likely bat about .310-320 with 45-50 hrs, 120 walks, have a slash line of 320 / 440 / 660 and lead in OPS, w 150 SO.

His swing is interesting because he gets so much weight moving toward the ball. It's a long swing and it looks like he makes contact with the ball fairly early which might take away any late movement. Ty Cobbs is also interesting because his method of getting the bat moving was to slide his hands together. I have always been impressed with Mark McGwire's swing because it was so compact and so quick.

There’s a lot of swing from different players I like from their own batting stances. My favorite batting stance of all time is Julio Franco, I love to imitate it for a long time and i’m also a switch hitter. I also tried to do Mickey Tettleton’s as well

Babe Ruth’s hands swing back into the launching pad (Charlie Lau). His hips slightly leads the shoulders. Looks like Ruth has good bat speed.

Beautiful upper cut swing!!!!

I have adapted his swing and with his style for my own style. It allows you to swing a lot of weight very quickly, which is good for long ball hitting. The hardest part is getting the timing down, but once you get it, you can easily catch up to any pitching. I have been able to catch up to D1 fastpitch girls playing when i get the timing down

Awesome input. Your approach is great and you don’t push the bs that so many coaches clung to for so many years. Babe kinda looks like Soler’s bomb he hit out of the stadium on an inside pitch. Is every pitch an inside pitch when your swinging a telephone pole?

Ruth's belt buckle is tilted slightly down throughout the swing. His hip motion is perfectly balanced and provides great rotation and rib cage turn throughout the swing. His left elbow drops into the slot and his wrists are creating lag. It's the lag and the snap with rib cage turn that make the explosion happen in excellent balance. Ruth would have been able to drive a golf ball as far as anyone. We already know he could hit a baseball as far any one. He would be a world class hitter in today's baseball.

Pictures in his era we're up on it elevated Mound which allowed them to put the ball at greater angles

Haven't visited your site before. Excellent analysis. Are you related to Johnny Antonelli of the NYG &SFG. A favorite pitcher of mine back in the day!

Big guy for his era, not startlingly so back then and not big at all for today. His big belly and balance and center of gravity were distinctive and the way he tips the bat and starts the swing low and in front seem to use the low-down weight in that belly. What I mostly see is this: the narrow stance and bat almost in front of his belly mean he can watch the ball longer and better adjust his step forward to meet the ball where he thinks it is going to be. When you take a wide stance and have the bat well back there is more power there but it is harder to adapt the path of the swing. Ruth got his power from the heavy bat and weight from hips to sternum. Using a heavy bat Ruth would have had trouble hitting consistently with a wide stance and longer swing.

There is another video up showing Ruth in the NL at the end of his career hitting against Hubbell, and I thought it showed his swing much closer to dead level than the very moderate uppercut in this video. Agree? I got the idea from my reading that the power hitter swing goes back to Wagner and from there was improved by Jackson, Ruth, and Williams. Is there enough ancient film around to compare the swings of those four? Others who might be good studies for power swing technique might be Foxx, Greenberg, Kiner, Kingman and Pujols. I guess I'd like to see how the swings of good hitters who hit with power differed from the swings of hitters who successfully specialized in homers.

That bat tip probably helps load up some muscle to and increase the bat whip, maybe. I don't know that much about hitting... More about lifting weights. That little heave of the bat would stretch muscles and increase bat speed if the timing was right. I think he'd figure it out. Very interesting video.

Can you analyze Ty Cobb’s swing and unique separated hand grip sometime? He used a thick handled bat and I understand that Cobb used the same bat for almost 10 years. I also read where he was one of the first players to warm up in the on deck circle holding extra bats.

An interesting historical note is that Ruth wasn't "supposed" to be able to hit with that style according to the common wisdom of the 1910s either. Trying to swing for the fences was largely viewed as a sucker's game that would more often than not lead to a flyout. It was because Ruth was a pitcher that his experimental batting style was given leeway to happen (Pitchers even then weren't expected to hit much). This differentiated him from the "best" hitter at the time, Ty Cobb. I believe that it has been said that Ruth modeled his swing after Shoeless Joe Jackson, but I don't know how accurate that is.

Very cool. I noticed that Babe had a little hip turn in his load but virtually no backward load.

First I have to say that Babe Ruth was a great guy and the fans of all eras are gonna love him if they watch much footage of him speaking. With his closed swing, his stride forward causes his eye level to change. Thats why he had so many strike outs, that and that big bat. Mark McGuire had the perfect swing, he used a very wide stance and just lifted his front foot as a timing mechanism. Ruth didn't care about average and just getting a base hit. He swung for the Fassad, that is what the owner wanted him to do, because his homeruns is what brought the fans to the ballpark. Yea he could have hit todays pitchers but he would have adapted his swing and his bat and became a team player. He was a really good ball player. Its the footage from his last few years that causes us to think of him as an over weight guy that wouldn't fit in todays game. He may not have hit 714 but he'd have hit 600 in todays game.