Pitching Wins Championships

There's an old saying in baseball, "Pitching wins championships." I've believed this to be true, but only because I've assumed it to be true. As I thought about this for the last week, I did some research on the top home run hitters in baseball history and stumbled across an amazing thing. It appears from what I found that pitching really does win championships.

I looked at the stats of the top 12 home run hitters of all time. One of those stats is how many rings each player has. Wow. Here's the list, ranking them in order of home runs, and including the number of seasons played and championships won:

Place	Player	HR	Seasons	Rings
1	Barry Bonds	762	22	0
2	Henry Aaron	755	23	1
3	Babe Ruth	714	22
4	Alex Rodriguez	687	21	1
5	Willie Mays	660	22	1
6	Ken Griffey Jr.	630	22	0
7	Jim Thome	612	22	0
8	Sammy Sosa	609	18	0
9	Frank Robinson	586	21	2
10	Mark McGwire	583	16	1
11	Harmon Killebrew	573	22	0
12	Rafael Palmeiro	569	20	0
Total		7740	251	6

You have quickly noticed that Babe Ruth's ring total is missing from the above chart. I will leave Ruth until last because it serves to prove my point. So, 11 of the top 12 home run hitters of all time have played 229 seasons, hit 7016 home runs, but won only 6 rings between them? Six of these players never won a single ring! Lotsa zeros up there. This is nearly unbelievable.

Now for Ruth. Ruth is the greatest sports star in American history. His 714 is the most recognized stat and record in sports history. He revolutionized baseball, saving it from the damaging Black Sox World Series gambling scandal of 1919. The very next year he hit an all-time record 29 home runs. Then he hit 54 and 59 in successive seasons. He played for the team recognized as the greatest in history, the 1927 Yankees. Ruth won "only" four rings with the Yankees, in 1923, 1927, 1928 and 1932. As much as this - Ruth winning four rings as a slugger with the "Murderer's Row" Yankees - goes counter to my point, something even more eye opening goes to prove it...

In his first five full seasons in the majors, Babe Ruth won three rings AS A PITCHER with the Boston Red Sox, in 1915, 1916 and 1918. Ruth's transition from Boston to New York and from pitcher to hitter only gave him a marginal increase in rings, from three in five seasons to four in sixteen additional seasons. This, my friends, is just one of the reasons why pitching wins championships. Or is it?

715...I Heard About It

Writing about something that you just saw is natural. But maybe not writing about something you didn't see is too. Well, when Bonds got to 712 I tried to catch every one of his at bats possible. From 712 to 715, which stretched out over about two weeks, I either attended, watched on TV or listened to the radio every one of his at bats. Except for about 5 or 6. Of those I missed included both 714 and 715. A combination of a sick baby, a nephew's birthday, missing church and a few other distractions, I tuned into the radio about 15 minutes after he hit the home run. I saw 716 on TV.

At least I saw the replays.

714...And Sloooowly Counting

Wouldn't ya know it. I missed Bonds' 714th homer because I was at my church's family camp and wasn't listening to the radio. But at the rate he's hitting them, Friday might come and go before he hits 715. Friday is the next day we have tickets. His 713th came in Philly, and I wanted to buy single bleacher tickets to every game of the next homestand, and we had tickets for the following Saturday. Well, the entire homestand came and went, so did the next series in Houston, and he didn't hit 714 until Saturday in Oakland.

When he finished 2004 with 703 homers, it seemed most likely that he'd hit #715 in May of 2005. Over a year later, he's not there yet. Now I doubt he'll catch Aaron at all, even if he plays in the AL.

No Celebration for Passing The Babe

Earlier today, Bud Selig announced that MLB would hold no official celebration for Barry Bonds' passing of Babe Ruth's home run mark of 714. This is as it should be. Babe Ruth doesn't hold the home run record. Although it is true that the number 714 is the greatest and most celebrated number in the history of baseball, and will probably be the record most admired for quite some time to come, it is no longer a record. Henry Aaron holds the record with 755.

When Bonds passes Ruth, he will take over second place on the all-time home run list. It will be a great cause for celebration to be sure, but not the ultimate celebration. I just hope I'm there.