Shortened Season of 1918: How the Great War Begat the Great Bambino
By Seth Carter
The Bambino Band-Aid
Babe Ruth was the team’s best pitcher. In 1916 he started a league-leading 40 games, winning 23 of them and posting a league-leading 1.75 ERA. His ERA+ registered at a 158. The Babe also allowed the fewest hits per nine in the league in 1916.
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His success continued in 1917 as he led all of baseball in complete games with 35, pitching in 326.1 innings and posting a 2.01 ERA.
In 1918, he still pitched to a 2.22 ERA but Barrow required his services in the outfield during his off days, due to the player shortage. Ruth hit .300 with 11 triples, 26 doubles, and blasted a league-leading 11 homers. He drove in 61 runs, stole six bases, and walked 58 times in just 382 plate appearances. This was all while still maintaining his starting pitching duties and competing in a war-shortened season.
The rest was history, as Babe Ruth would continue the transition to a full-time outfielder’s role the following year (also a shortened-season as players returned from war), registering 543 plate appearances, hitting 29 homers and posting a 1.114 OPS. He still pitched in 133.1 innings in 1919. Once the Yankees acquired Babe Ruth in 1920 he pitched in just 31 more innings over the remainder of his career.
Babe Ruth’s final pitching statistics stand at 1221.1 innings pitched, a 94-46 record, 2.28 ERA, with 107 complete games.
Ruth had never received more than 136 at-bats in a season prior to the1918 season. That means he played four full seasons before the world even began to realize what the man could do with a baseball bat.
Babe still holds the all-time record for career slugging percentage (.690) and OPS (1.164). He finished with 714 career home runs and led the American League in homers in 12 different seasons. He led the league in runs eight times, RBI leader in five campaigns, and led the league in walks eleven times.
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It almost sounds ridiculous to wonder “what could have been?” when talking about the Great Bambino. It’s incredible to think about what his numbers might have looked like had he been a full-time hitter from the get-go. Then again, converting from one of the top pitchers in the game to becoming the greatest power hitter in the game is all a part of the charm of the legend of Babe Ruth.