Who was a better hitter Ted Williams or Babe ruth?

Question

Who was a better hitter Ted Williams or Babe ruth?

Answer 1

There is no doubt that Williams was probably the most skilled hitter of all-time.

His stats probably would have showed that too, if he hadn't left the country (of his own will) to fight in two wars.  I believe he lost 5 years of baseball because of that.

Answer 2

i never witnessed either of them play, so its hard to analyze it just on stats (and ted williams also missed time while serving in the war)

i guess its easy to say ruth was the better power hitter but williams was the better contact hitter

there really is no "better" when you put the best guys head-to-head

Answer 3

I've said for a long time that I think that Ted Williams is the greatest baseball player of all time.  So my answer is Ted Williams.  Had this guy not given up 5 years of the prime of his career to fight in the war his stats would be so much better then they already currently are.  Babe Ruth is a very close second.

Answer 4

Babe Ruth

Williams would have been better then Ruth if he did not go to war :P

Answer 5

Its close but I would say Babe Ruth.

Career #'s Comparison

Ruth        -    Batting Avg.= .342   -   Slugging% = .690

Williams -    Batting Avg.= .344   -   Slugging% = .634

Williams was a more consistent hitter (batting average, on-base%), but Ruth's power made him a more productive hitter (homers, RBIs).

*Ruth played 22 seasons, Williams played 19 seasons.  While Ted Williams did miss multiple seasons to fight in 2 Wars.. Babe Ruth was primarily used as a pitcher during his 1st   4 seasons as a big leaguer.... so one could also easily argue that Ruth's #'s as a hitter would have been better if he had plate appearances everyday during those years.  I believe that Williams' years as a U.S. Soldier and Ruth's years as a pitcher cancel each other out.

Answer 6

Ted Williams

Answer 7

Relative to the rest of the league, Babe Ruth is by far the best hitter ever

If he was outclassing today's players by as much as he did during the 1920's, he'd be hitting hundreds of homeruns every year

If you compare their numbers side by side, Williams was better

Answer 8

Williams had career .344 BA, .482 OBP, .634 SLG, 521 HR, 1839 RBI, 1798 Runs, 24 SB, 191 OPS+, 4884 TB in 7706 ABs,

He had 40 HRs in a season 1x, and another 7x with 30 or more.  9 Seasons of 100+ RBIs, 9 with 100 runs.

He had 12 top 10 finishes on the MVP ballot, 9 of them top 5.

Ruth had .342 BA, .474 OBP, .690 SLG, 714 HRs, 2217 RBIs, 2174 Runs, 123 SB, 207 OPS+, 5793 TB in 8398 AB.

Ruth had 4 50 HRs seasons, 7 more 40+, 2 more 30+, 13 seasons of 100 RBIs, 12 seasons of 100+ runs

They really didn't have a lot of MVP awards, certainly not one in each league every year.

Realistically, he probably would have won them (or been top 5) in 1919, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 and may have been close (but due to pitching) in 15, 16, 17.

Batting average and OBP is very close, Slugging favours Ruth, OPS+ favours Ruth, SB favours Ruth, TB favours Ruth, Runs and RBIs favour Ruth (although, that may have as much to do with the team as the player)

Who did they walk Williams all those years to pitch to?

Because they walked Ruth so they 'get' to pitch to Gehrig.

The area that Williams excels in is the SO area.

I would pick Ruth as a better batter.

Answer 9

Williams was probably a bit more skilled, but Ruth put up better results.

If Ted hadn't lost a few seasons -- some in his prime -- to military service, we might not have this debate.

Answer 10

Ted Williams was by far the better hitter. However Ruth was the better slugger.

Keep in mind. Williams missed 4 years of baseball do to serving in World War II and still hit 521 home runs.

Answer 11

Ted Williams according to stats. But Babe Ruth was way ahead of his time. Babe Ruth is a God!