Last Updated: August 13th, 2026 by Jake Cain
Alright. For decades, there have been people talking about how Babe Ruth played in a vastly different era. There has always been the question of whether, if he were to play in today's game, he wouldn't be able to last even two seconds.
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Let's dive into how the "Sultan of Swat" would react to today's game and maybe compare it to how he was already reacting to the game he was playing in his time.
A Century of Speed
Speed has always been a fascination for human beings. It has been a measure of greatness when you look at the Olympics. In baseball, there have been documented attempts to measure pitch velocity all the way back to 1912. Those readings came out to highs of 84 mph. However, other demonstrations and legends say that guys like Walter Johnson and Bob Feller were throwing at 99 and 98 mph, respectively.
Even as a modern baseball fan, I actually tend to believe that Johnson and Feller were throwing that hard. However, I still think there is a major difference between then and now.
The Radar Gun Revolution
The roots of radar gun technology go back to 1974, when Michigan State had a coach who used to play in the major leagues named Danny Litwhiler. He adapted police radar technology to measure his pitchers, which then led to the development of a system that ended up in the hands of the ever-innovative Orioles manager Earl Weaver.
Needless to say, it was adopted quickly by the rest of the league, and now you can walk to your local Little League game and probably spot a parent holding their own radar gun while their kid is on the mound.
Babe Ruth vs. Today’s Flamethrowers
Okay, Babe Ruth obviously never played with pitch-tracking technology. If you're wondering where the average fastball is in today's game, Baseball Savant has it clustered in the low to mid-90s. Some of you will say, well, if you think that Walter Johnson was throwing 99 mph, then you should think that Babe Ruth was hitting comparable pitching. To that, I say you're mistaken.
Guys like Walter Johnson and Bob Feller are mentioned here as two pitchers that could really bring it. But the number of years that separate the two is about three decades. That's how rare it was to find a pitcher throwing that hard. Today, you could even find a pitcher throwing that hard in high school.
If I had to guess, the average fastball was more in the low 80s back when Babe Ruth was playing. Yeah, he hit 714 home runs off of those pitches, so there is no doubt that he probably has the ability to adapt to faster speeds.
The Verdict
Of course, there is no real way of knowing unless someone invents a true time machine to bring him over. However, I will say that the true measure of the question is: could Babe Ruth succeed in today's game?
Actually would require Babe Ruth to have grown up in today's generation. He needs to have the same advantages and disadvantages as the players he's going against. And if I had to guess, I'd say he'd still find a way to mash some balls out of the park.
Babe Ruth was an extraordinary talented ball player and achieved what no player before him and very few after him were able to duplicate. There is no doubt given his size, strength and natural ability combined with today’s training and weight control techniques that he would be a dominant player in the present time.