Three-time MLB All-Star David Justice is so impressed by Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani that he said something recently that might be viewed as sacrilegious by some.
In a recent interview discussing Ohtani, Justice talked about how "special" it is that the 27-year-old has thrived both as a slugger and starting pitcher at the major league level. When the interviewer said that Ohtani "might be better than Babe Ruth," Justice took things a step further.
"He was better than Babe Ruth," Justice said to TMZ Sports. "Babe Ruth played against farmers. They pitched the whole game back then. You see the gloves they played with back then? Not only that, they didn't have specialty players -- he didn't have no Mariano Riveras. There wasn't no Randy Johnsons back then.
"Oh, and by the way, you only played against one race. You didn't play against any of the Negro League players. You didn't play against any of the Asian players. You didn't play against any of the Latin players. So you only played against this population of players."
While there are unproven theories that Ruth himself may not have been entirely white, Justice is correct in saying that as far as we know, Ruth never played against non-white players in a career that spanned from 1914-1935. When you consider who the best players in the sport are today, clearly eliminating all demographics in the game other than white players was a dramatic advantage for Ruth, one that doesn't apply to Ohtani.
It's also true that Ruth played against many players who worked other jobs and didn't focus on baseball 365 days a year, as opposed to today's players. That said, this works both ways. Ruth didn't have the type of training and sports science available to him in the 1920s that players do 100 years later.
As far as comparing Ruth and Ohtani, there's not really one to be made. Ohtani has 40 home runs in 2021, and has also logged 100 innings as a pitcher. Ruth was primarily a pitcher in his six seasons with the Red Sox, and he was nasty on the mound, posting a 2.19 ERA in 158 games in Boston. But the 1919 season -- when Ruth slashed .322/.456/.657 and pitched 133 1/3 innings -- was the only year that the Sultan of Swat was really a full-time two-way player. Injuries limited Ohtani from reaching his full potential in 2019 and 2020, but seemingly he hopes to have an extensive career both hitting and pitching. Once Ruth became a superstar offensive player, he really didn't pitch anymore.
Anyway, Justice was careful to clarify that his statement wasn't meant to take aim at Ruth, but simply point out how impressed he is by Ohtani.
"Now to say all of that, you have to give Babe credit because he was dominating who he was playing against. And it ain't his fault that he played against them.
"I don't wanna sound like I'm hating on Babe, I'm just giving extra love to Ohtani."
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