If Babe Ruth was so good in his era powered almost entirely on booze and hot dogs, imagine what a monster he would have been in the nineties with steroids, booze and hot dogs.

Watching this the day after Shohei Ohtani hit 3 home runs while also pitching 6 scoreless innings in a closeout game to win the National League Pennant.

Update: Shohei Ohtani happened

It should be called the "GOTE" (Greatest Of Their Era), since they are only able to play against their contemporaries.

White mamba highlights in a goat video what a day to be alive

Seeing this after Ohtani’s game 4 NLCS performance is pretty funny

The great Barry Bonds irony. With PED's he's the "Greatest player ever", but will never sniff the Hall. Without PED's he's in the hall but not in the G.O.A.T. conversation.

Finally heard someone else point out the whole training and growing up thing. The question at its core is: what player had the most natural talent, since everything else has improved so much. Willie is definitely up there, if he had all the assets of the modern day he’s talent would truly be able to shine. But what about Ted Williams? He played both before and after integration, dominating in both eras, lost 5 years due to military service, and had dozen of injuries that were poorly treated. With modern medicine and training who knows. I’d say atleast in consideration for most talented of all time.

Anyone see the kid fall off the wall at 3:38

I think the rate at which leagues improve over time is largely overstated. Don’t get me wrong, leagues do improve, (with exceptions), but the success of players with long careers really dispels the accelerated growth that a lot of people assume. I’ve heard some young people say Barry Bonds wouldn’t make it through the minors if he played today, which is absurd. If a player can remain above average after 20 years, despite age, it shows a level of continuity between those two generations that the player bridges.

3 words: Hank Freaking Aaron. Honestly the most underrated player ever when it comes to goat debate. The highest clean HR total, played back before modern luxuries, and was a 5 tool player

This is how I think about these arguments. 8:57 what if those guys grew up with all the modern advantages. I hardly ever hear anybody bring up the hypothetical

The vs self transitions on this video are killing me haha

I think the much more productive/interesting discussion is about the great players that played the game their own way. Ichiro, Ryan, Williams, Ruth, Henderson, these guys each changed what we thought was possible and, through their own individual greatness, moved the sport forward.

One more little caveat with the WAR arguments:
WAR is a comparative stat, so the lack of competition during the Ruth era only adds to that total. I think there should be a stat like WAR+, which allowed for more comparison between what replacement level is in any era.
Also, looking at the level of success of a given team can't give as much insight as in other sports. A basketball GOAT can practically carry his team, football is the same way, and if you had Gretzky, you were the Stanley Cup favorite at the beginning of every year. Baseball is very different, and the example I'll use is Ohtani. He played on the Angels with another name that could have been on this list, and even Ohtani and Mike Trout couldn't pull the team to the postseason.

I think if anyone puts Willie, Babe, Ted Williams, Bonds, Ohtani, Hank Aaron, or Ty Cobb as the greatest of all time, there is 100% a way to back them up. My personal opinion is either Willie or Ted

Ruth 100% beneiftted from Segregation, but baseball was by far the biggest sport at the time, meaning top athletes weren't lost to Basketball/baseball/hockey, etc... like they are today

5:46 another interesting thing since we are talking pitching changes is the mounds were different heights throughout baseball history, which depending on how close the same level as the hitter made it more difficult for homeruns to be hit. Makes someone like Ruth’s hr numbers impressive since the mounds made it harder to hit homers then

Baseball fans tend to appreciate the past something I've noticed a lot of other sports don't do

love the vs self in the transitions