The Bambino

65 years ago today the original Sultan of Swat, George Herman "Babe' Ruth, passed away at age 53.

No one played baseball with more joy and gusto than The Babe.

He was bigger than life, loved children, and was baseball's biggest star.

The debate about who the best of the best of big league ballplayers was, it seems to always come down to Ruth, Ty Cobb, Willie Mays, or Ted Williams.

To me there is no clear cut winner.

Cobb is the best hitter who ever grabbed a bat.

Ruth is the best power hitter ever, and he changed the way baseball was played,  from the station to station of the Deadball era to today's power game.

Williams was a great hitter who missed five years if his prime to two wars, a man who pioneered how batters approached the game.

Mays is, some argue, the best all-around player when the five tools, hitting, hitting for power, base running, defense, and speed are considered.

Then there's Henry Aaron, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Roberto Clemente, Honus Wagner, and Joe DiMaggio.

A case has been made over the years for all of the above players.

When it comes right down to it, hitting 714 home runs, batting .342, AND winning 94 ball games as one of the best pitchers in baseball, well, the Great Bambino is hard to beat.

Play Ball.