Remarkable: one-season performances: here are some extraordinary accomplishments achieved by batters and pitchers that are among the greatest in baseball history

Baseball Digest, Sept, 2005 by George Vass

At bat, Ruth set a big league record with 29 home runs, 17 more than any other major league player that year, while driving in 114 runs, scoring 103, batting .322, slugging .657, and even ran out 12 triples. He led the league in home runs, RBI, and runs. finished second in walks, fifth in doubles, sixth in triples, and eighth in batting average, while still taking turns as a starting pitcher.

If that's not a remarkable season, what is? Yet, it's mostly overlooked, in part because of Ruth's subsequent towering feats, among them 54 home runs in his first year as a Yankee, and 59 in his second, 1921.

It may be understandable, however, that Red Sox manager Ed Barrow at first was reluctant to convert Ruth into a full-time position player.

"I would be the laughingstock of the league if I took the best pitcher in the league and put him in the outfield," Barrow declared in 1918 when first urged to do so.

Even when he agreed to take that radical step, he was unconvinced of its wisdom. "All right, to the outfield he will go. But mark my word, the first time he has a slump he will be down on his knees begging to pitch."

Ruth suffered slumps, like everybody else, but after 1919 his pitching days were at an end, even if he did appear occasionally on the mound during the rest of a long career (1914-1935).

Before leaving Ruth, something else might be noted, especially in the light of Barry Bonds' alleged comment that he will wipe the Babe from the record book--that is surpass his 714 career home runs, second only to Hank Aaron's 755.

Neither Bonds, nor probably anyone else, has remotely approached one of Ruth's greatest achievements, the total of 348 runs scored and RBI in 1921. Not only did Ruth bat .378 that season, but he scored 177 runs (still a big league mark) and drove in 171 while hitting 59 home runs.

If 59 is subtracted from 348 (removing the duplication in RBI and runs scored caused by home runs) that gives 289 runs produced by Ruth, or 30.5 percent of the total of 948 scored by the Yankees as a team in 1921. One player accounted for virtually one-third of the Yankees runs that year!

No other player, including Bonds, possibly has been involved in such a high proportion of his team's runs. When Bonds hit 73 home runs in 2001. he scored 129 runs and drove in 137, which adds up to 266. Subtract 73, and you've got 193, which is 24 percent of the Giants' team total of 799 runs that year.

Again, this is not intended to diminish anyone else, merely to point out another remarkable season, one by Ruth that is seldom noticed among so many others.

No pitcher since Denny McLain went 31-6 for the A.L. Detroit Tigers in 1968, almost four decades ago, has won 30 games in a season. The last National Leaguer to do it was Dizzy Dean with 30-7 for the Cardinals in 1934. Before the "Ruthian revolution" of the 1920s, it was not all that unusual to win 30. Grover Alexander, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson and others reached that total several times each.

Grove was the last to do so before Dean, going 31-4 for the Philadelphia A's in 1931, after he went 28-5 in 1930, giving him the staggering record of 599 over two campaigns. In winning 31 of 35 decisions, Grove set the record for highest percentage of games won season (34 or more decisions) at .886.