Quote:

Jim Jackson said:
I am not blaming Ruth. How any of you get that from what I said just mystifies me. I never said that Ruth kept Blacks or Latins out of the game. I have no clue what Ruth's feelings on racial segregation were.

Nor did I say that, without a doubt, Ruth would never had made his accomplishments. However, it is UNDENIABLE FACT that Ruth did not play in an MLB that was integrated.



I know that's not what you're saying. My point was only that your word choice gave a somewhat harsh, overcritical impression of Ruth. Saying stuff like "he never faced the truly best players", and that his accomplishments would forever be "tainted". Those aren't facts, they're opinions, and fairly negative ones.

I think the only way a player's accomplishments can or should be tainted(and again, I think that's a poor choice of words) is if they broke the rules to achieve them. Ruth didn't do that. Now, obviously, historical context should affect how they're viewed....but that's true for everyone, in every sport. There isn't an athlete out there that's accomplishments can't be over or underrated based on certain factors.

Some players get benefit of calls(Michael Jordan's famous pushoffs, Barry Bonds having borderline strikes called as balls, etc), others the benefit of the place they play in(any Colorado Rockie will undoubtedly have their stats undervalued due to the thin air; Mike Piazza's homer record should be considered an amazing stat, given the pitchers parks he's played in throughout his career).

Rule changes, international scouting, emphasis on weight training, the list goes on.

MisterJLA is RACKing awesome.