Originally posted by Red Tail 444
With all due respect, as a high-profile athlete, Babe Ruth would have been suspended multiple times and eventually thrown out of baseball for violating the substance abuse policy if he were playing today. Not to mention countless fines for missing practice, missing curfew (See TO,Shockey, Rodman, Darryl Strayberry, Dwight Gooden...)
Or, would you look the other way and give him a pass, because you know he'd fill seats when the Yankees came to town?
Cant argue a single point with you there cept the substances he abused wouldnt have inhanced his performance but rather hindered it.
And performance enhancing substance abuse is what we are talking about here. Not being a lush at the plate
In spite of all his abuses he still managed to swat the ball and it is possible there are about 70 some odd homeruns he didnt get and should have because of the "when last seen" rule that was in efect at the time.
Back in those days not only did the ball have to cross over the fence in fair territory. but also had to ramain in fair territory once it did
"Prior to 1931, a ball that bounced over an outfield fence during a major league game was considered a home run. The rule was changed to require the ball to clear the fence on the fly, and balls that reached the seats on a bounce became ground rule doubles in most parks.
Also, until approximately that time, the ball had to not only go over the fence in fair territory, but to land in the bleachers in fair territory or to still be visibly fair when disappearing behind a wall. The rule stipulated "fair when last seen" by the umpires. Photos from that era in ballparks, such as the Polo Grounds and Yankee Stadium, show ropes strung from the foul poles to the back of the bleachers, or a second "foul pole" at the back of the bleachers, in a straight line with the foul line, as a visual aid for the umpire. Ballparks still use a visual aid much like the ropes; a net or screen attached to the foul poles on the fair side has replaced ropes. As with American football, where a touchdown once required a literal "touch down" of the ball in the end zone but now only requires the "breaking of the [vertical] plane" of the goal line, in baseball the ball need only "break the plane" of the fence in fair territory.
Babe Ruth's 60th home run in 1927 was somewhat controversial, because it landed barely in fair territory in the stands down the right field line. Ruth lost a number of home runs in his career due to the when-last-seen rule. Bill Jenkinson, in The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs, estimates that Ruth lost at least 50 and as many as 78 in his career due to this rule.
Further, the rules once stipulated that an over-the-fence home run in a sudden-victory situation would only count for as many bases as was necessary to "force" the winning run home. For example, if a team trailed by two runs with the bases loaded, and the batter hit a fair ball over the fence, it only counted as a triple, because the runner immediately ahead of him had technically already scored the game-winning run. That rule was changed in the 1920s as home runs became increasingly frequent and popular. Babe Ruth's career total of 714 would have been one higher had that rule not been in effect in the early part of his career."
