Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong has floated an MLB conspiracy theory that would require erasing one of the most thoroughly documented figures in baseball history: Babe Ruth.
Appearing with podcaster Kristin Cavallari, Crow-Armstrong explained that he had encountered the idea through Seattle Mariners pitcher Tayler Saucedo.
“This is gonna be crazy,” Crow-Armstrong said. “Babe Ruth never existed … I heard some pitcher with the Mariners, Tayler Saucedo, he did some podcast on Zoom when he was like going down the rabbit hole on how Babe Ruth never existed, and I was like ‘wow!’”
It is certainly a theory capable of getting someone’s attention. The problem is that Ruth left behind considerably more than a few grainy photographs.
Babe Ruth Left Behind Plenty of Evidence
George Herman “Babe” Ruth lived from 1895 until 1948 and became one of the most famous athletes in American history. His celebrity extended well beyond the United States. During a 1934 baseball tour of Japan, Ruth was greeted by enormous crowds of fans, providing another very public chapter in a life that was extensively photographed, reported on and witnessed.
Ruth’s last surviving teammate lived until 2009, and generations of players, journalists and spectators gave firsthand accounts of watching him play.
Crow-Armstrong, however, appeared amused by the possibility that the available evidence could somehow be questioned. His reasoning also touched on the enormous differences between baseball in Ruth’s era and the modern game.
“It’s like, we always talk about how the game’s evolving,” Crow-Armstrong said. “And people might as well have been like underhanding the ball to that guy, and he’s regarded still as one of the best players ever. You might as well dive further into it and be like ‘well, maybe he just never existed.’”
Whatever one makes of the joke or theory, Ruth’s actual baseball record provides plenty of numbers to examine.
Ruth Was Dominant Before Becoming a Home Run King
Ruth arrived with the Boston Red Sox in 1914 and initially established himself as an exceptional pitcher. He led the American League in earned-run average in 1916 and once pitched 29 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings in World Series competition, a record that remained intact until 1961.
Then came the transformation that helped make his name synonymous with the home run.
Before Ruth emerged as a power hitter, Ned Williamson’s 27 home runs for the Chicago White Stockings in 1884 had remained the single-season record for 35 years. Ruth hit 29 in 1919.
That was merely the beginning. After the Red Sox sold him to the New York Yankees, Ruth blasted 54 home runs in 1920. He followed that with 59 in 1921. In 1927, he reached 60, establishing a single-season record that survived for 34 years.
By the time Ruth retired, he had accumulated 714 career home runs. Nearly a century after his playing days, that total still ranks third in Major League Baseball history, trailing only Hank Aaron’s 755 and Barry Bonds’ 762.
Ruth was not baseball’s first major star. Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner were already celebrated figures before Ruth reached the majors. But Ruth’s combination of pitching accomplishments, unprecedented home-run production and extraordinary celebrity made him particularly difficult to miss.
Crow-Armstrong Joins a Curious MLB Sports Tradition
Crow-Armstrong, the son of actors Matthew John Armstrong and Ashley Crow, has now added himself to the curious list of professional athletes willing to entertain unconventional historical theories publicly. Kyrie Irving famously discussed his belief in a flat Earth before later apologizing, while former Boston Red Sox slugger Carl Everett became known for comments questioning the existence of dinosaurs.
Crow-Armstrong’s entry may be even harder to sustain. To make Babe Ruth disappear, someone would have to account not only for the photographs and statistics, but also newspaper archives, teammates, opponents, spectators, international appearances and decades of firsthand testimony.
Question how Ruth would fare against today’s pitching if you like. Baseball fans have been arguing about players from different eras for generations.
Question whether Babe Ruth was ever here at all, though, and there is an awfully large historical record standing in the way.
