Babe Ruth Learns To Walk. Dan McLaughlin, aka The Baseball Crank, is reading my book -- uh, excuse me, my "marvelous book" -- "Babe Ruth and the 1918 Red Sox" and he has a few comments on Ruth's development from a part-timer who often hacked at the plate to an everyday player who walked an ungodly amount of times.

He divided Ruth's plate appearances into three sections: 1914-17, when he was a full-time pitcher who also pinch-hit from time to time; 1918, when he first began playing every day; and 1919-20, his first two years as a regular. ... The results?

(1) the rapid rise in Ruth's walk rate is a compelling testimony to how quickly fear of the Babe's power caused pitchers to work around him; and (2) the very quick improvement in both Ruth's BB and K rates shows what a quick study Ruth was. This wasn't a guy who gloried in waiting out the pitcher; Ruth learned to wait. And he learned that lesson in just a few years, while lesser players can take their whole careers to get the point.

Beginning in 1915 -- Ruth's rookie season with the Red Sox -- there were calls by the Boston sportswriters to have the young lefty play the outfield (he often played center field in spring training contests). His prowess as a slugger was immediately apparent to anyone who saw him. However, he did strike out a lot -- and that was one reason why Boston managers Rough Carrigan and Jack Barry did not give him any extra batting time.

From 1914-17, Ruth struck out 68 times in 368 at-bats, an average of one strikeout per 5.3 AB. By contrast, in 1917, Ty Cobb struck out once every 17.3 AB and Tris Speaker's rate was once every 37.4 AB. ... In 1918, despite having 100-175 fewer at-bats than most other regulars, Ruth still led the American League with 58 strikeouts. He also drew 58 walks; the St. Louis Browns walked him intentionally in five straight plate appearances over two days during the summer of 1918.

Ruth's patience also boosted his batting average. In 1923, he batted .393 and he won his only batting title the following season with a .378 mark. He hit over .370 six times and finished his career with a .342 batting average (tied for 8th all-time). ... Because there is absolutely nothing boring when it comes to Babe Ruth, let's look at his seasonal walk and strikeout totals:

Year  Gms   BB    K
1914    5    0    4
1915   42    9   23
1916   67   10   23
1917   52   12   18
1918   95   58   58
1919  130  101   58
1920  142  150   80  
1921  152  145   81
1922  110   84   80
1923  152  170   93
1924  153  142   81
1925   98   59   68
1926  152  144   76
1927  151  137   89
1928  154  137   87
1929  135   72   60
1930  145  136   61
1931  145  128   51
1932  133  130   62
1933  137  114   90
1934  125  104   63
1935   28   20   24
Tot  2503 2062 1330

From 1925 to 1934, Ruth had Lou Gehrig batting behind him, so I'm sure that didn't hurt. .. By the way, how in the hell did Gehrig get 175 RBI in 1927, 174 RBI in 1930 and 184 RBI in 1931 with Ruth hitting in front of him?