If Babe Ruth had access to steroids and used them his entire career would he have reached 1000 Home Runs?

Question

Barry Bonds is of course NO WHERE NEAR the NATURAL Home run hitter Babe Ruth was. In 7 years in Pittsburgh he would typically hit 24 or 25. If Ruth went his entire career using Barry Bonds drugs would the Babe have reached 1000 HR?

Answer 1

no unless he did it the last couple of years

Answer 2

No, all his fat would have absorbed the roids, thus having no effect.

Answer 3

Possibly, he would've only needed an extra 10-15 a season and he hit 75 in one season, I wouldn't say its out of the realm of possibility.

Just imagine if Ruth would've applied himself, if the greatestplayer ever had only applied himself....

Answer 4

Give the Babe the same ball, the same bat, the same ballparks, the same rules, and the same training regimen/diet as Bonds; but Ruth has to quit drinking and smoking and he plays against his own contemporaries and give him back the years he spent pitching:  Bonds would be chasing 1500 home runs hit by a jacked up Ruth.

Answer 5

maybe, maybe not

Answer 6

I feel like this question taints the memory of Babe Ruth just a little.

But steroids wouldn't have been the difference maker. In my mind, smaller ballparks would be the biggest factor.

Answer 7

Steriods aren't some magical drug that automatically makes you hit taters all day long. It actually deteriorates your muscles over time. It's really all about the mechanics. So no, I don't think it would have made a difference for Ruth.

Answer 8

Well, if he didn't pitch for the first few years, and some of the rules were different, sure, he could have reached 1000.

Think of all the homeruns he lost that curved around the foul pole (in his day, the ball was called where it landed, not where it cleared the fence).

The ball wasn't made for flying out like it was today, and fields weren't made for homeruns like they are today.

But, as I always say...you can't really compare eras....but it would be interesting to see what could have been if Ruth has access to all the advancements of today.

As for steroids...if he used them, but kept the same routine he did then, it wouldn't help. You actually have to exercise and work out for the steroids to have the impact we've seen.  

Answer 9

Do you mean if he and no one else used steroids? No pitchers? No set-up men? No closers? And if he had continued to play day games only? And if he continued to play only against white players? And if baseball were such an unstable career that some of the best white players in the country would not have been playing?? No, he still would not have hit 1000.

Answer 10

Babe was just a natural homerun hitter.  Had he done steroids later in his career as Bonds did, had it been available, yeah he probably would have blasted more homeruns of course. On the other hand, it could have had an adverse affect much like it did to Mark McGwire and shortened his career too.  Seriously, if Babe not been a pitcher earlier in his career, he would have probably hit at least 100 more homeruns than he did.

Answer 11

That's something we will never know.

Answer 12

Just imagine if babe ruth had the work out routine and or a personal trainer like today's athletes.

Answer 13

I have a 100% anti-steroid stance, but that being said:

Steroids don't give you a better eye.  You don't have better aim or better timing.  If he was already able to hit out of the park, steroids wouldn't help him hit MORE.  The difference between a homer and a bloop to the outfield is more often timing than power.  

Bonds hit 762 in 22 seasons.  Ruth hit 714, also in 22 seasons.  I think 1000 is pretty unreasonable for anyone.  

Answer 14

hmmmmm... thats a great question.. babe did it all naturally. no training, or supplements... id say he woulda reached 900-1000 thats a great point u make

Answer 15

If he used steriods his whole career he would have succombed to injury in his 30s. If he did it like Bonds in his mid 30s to 40s then he may have been able, but I don't think it would have gone to 1,000, maybe 900.

Answer 16

nah hotdogs and beer is all you need

Answer 17

You might want to check out "The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs" by Bill Jenkinson, a book that came out last year.  It argues that Ruth would have hit over 1000 HR if he'd played in modern ballparks - the parks he did play in often had longer outfield walls and more unusual shapes than modern fields.  Add in better training and some other hitter-friendly changes in the game since his time, it's reasonable to think he would have easily ended his career a couple hundred HR ahead of where he did.