The Yankee winning streak came to an end on this afternoon at the hands of the Red Sox, 10-3. Once again, DiMaggio managed only a single, but the big story was Williams. He smashed three singles and a double, all four hits rifled between the first and second basemen, and raised his average to a league-leading .404. Though both men boasted eleven-game hitting streaks, Williams was clearly the hotter hitter. A quick trivia note: DiMaggio’s single came off veteran and future Hall of Famer Lefty Grove. Grove had also given up one of Babe Ruth’s record sixty homeruns in 1927, making him one of two pitchers to contribute to both historic accomplishments. Finally, young Johnny Sturm also managed to extend his streak, bring his total to nine.
Personally, I think Williams was the greatest player of all-time.
His 521 HRs would have been around 630, if not for losing 3 prime years to the military.
In 19 years, he OPS'ed under 1.000 only ONCE, and lead the league TEN times!
Most importantly, I think he played in a more competative era than the Babe, and played in a park difficult for LH batters.
Babe has better numbers, but considering Home Park, era, and those 3 lost years (at 23, Ted OPS'ed 1.147, and at 26 he OPS'ed 1.164), I give him the edge. Bath may have still hit more HRs, but all around, I think Ted was the best.
[1] I think you have it backwards. Argue if you want about who was the better hitter. As an all-around player, how can a poor defensive OF top a guy who was also a star pitcher?
Yeah, Babe was a great pitcher. Mr. Mays was also a great base runner and a great fielder too.