The Unnatural

“As soon as I got out there I felt a strange relationship with the pitcher's mound. It was as if I'd been born out there. Pitching just felt like the most natural thing in the world.” - George Ruth

It seems logical that the mortal man should have finite limits; however, there are cases where the individual is so powerful compared to other contemporary humans that the unquestioned belief in mortality must seriously be put to question.  Throughout our species’ history there have been spirits filled with a greatness that no logic can explain or put into a workable context.  These spirits have each redefined the limit of human potential and opened our minds as to what can be done.

The best athlete of the modern era was unquestionably Babe Ruth.  The man poses a dominating figure over American culture.  Even today, fifty-five years after his death, he is one of the most recognizable human beings throughout the world.  His face and features are virtually cartoonish, and it is fitting because the man could almost be a fictional myth, like Johnny Appleseed or Paul Bunyan.  Ruth came from the depths of society and emerged to dominate not only the American sport but America itself.  The story of his life is like an x-rated fairytale.  It’s unbelievable in its power as well as its disregard for everything that was sacred before.  The man managed with the swing of his bat to rewrite American culture, style, image, and capability.

In order to judge the aptitude of a human being, one must look at the human’s achievements in comparison to his or her contemporaries.  A lot of people know that Roger Maris beat out Mickey Mantle and broke Ruth’s single-season home run record in 1961 when he hit sixty-one out.  A few less people know that Hank Aaron broke Ruth’s all time home run record of 714 in 1974.  While it seems somewhat impressive that Ruth’s records stood until after his death, what people don’t realize is that Ruth played in a time when people just didn’t and/or couldn’t hit home runs.  In 1919 Ruth broke the previous single-season home run record of twenty-seven set by Ned Williamson.  The next season he hit 54 doubling Williamson’s record; the season after he hit 59.  Two years after Ruth beat out Ned Williamson in single-season home runs, he became the all time home run leader beating out Roger Connor’s 138 lifetime dingers.  By the time the Babe retired, he had amassed five times as many as the previous record holder.

That’s insane.

In 1920 Babe Ruth hit more home runs than every other team of twenty-five players, except for the Philadelphia Phillies.  That year Ruth also hit out twice as many as his former team, the Boston Red Sox.  That would be like a player today hitting about 200 home runs in one season.

That’s otherworldly.

Not to mention the fact that Ruth just didn’t hit home runs.  The guy had a lifetime .342 batting average, and once said, “If I'd just tried for them dinky singles I could've batted around .600.”

Not to mention the fact that the guy was not only the best hitter to step up to the plate, but also a hall of fame caliber pitcher with a lifetime 2.28 ERA (15th of all time).  That’s like the best quarterback ever to play the game leading the league in sacks, or the most dominating center ever to step onto the basketball court setting records for three pointers.  It just doesn’t happen.  And how many more home runs would Ruth have amassed if he didn’t spend the first six years of his career pitching and therefore only playing one in every four games?  A hell of a lot more than Hank Aaron’s current lifetime record of 755.

Not to mention the fact that the man was out of shape, overweight, had no discipline, and occasionally played under the influence of alcohol.

Because of Ruth, a new crop of players (Lou Gehrig, Jimmy Fox, Hank Greenberg) came into the league trying to hit home runs.  They began to train harder, keep their bodies healthier, and now looked at baseball as something more than a summer job.  The home run became the great spectacle, and all of a sudden baseball was a different game.  And yet, none of them could ever hit like Ruth.

Michael Jordan, the second best athlete of the modern era, with arguably the world’s most athletic physique in his prime, didn’t even come close to dominating his sport the way Babe Ruth did.  This is because Ruth didn’t adapt himself into the best baseball player the world had ever seen.  The game of baseball adapted to him, and the rest of the country followed.

There is an episode of the X-files called “The Unnatural.”  In the episode it is revealed to Mulder that all of the greatest baseball players, from Mantle to Koufax are aliens.  It’s tempting to believe that the only way to throw a baseball ninety-five miles an hour with pinpoint accuracy or to hit that same ball with a wooden bat 450 feet is to be something greater than human.  It’s tempting, but what is better is to realize the human’s unbelievable potential for all kinds of aptitudes, even ones so seemingly impractical as hitting a fast moving object really hard with a wooden stick.

I can’t help but hope the every person was born into this existence to be really good at one thing.  There is no question that Babe Ruth found his aptitude.  Another who found his calling once said, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation,” and I firmly believe that this same mass of men have not figured out where their minds and/or bodies excel.  The key is to search until you’ve found that aptitude that makes you a wonder.  I have to believe it’s in all of us, and only giving up will bring about the desperate life.  I’m trying my hardest to find my aptitude.  I want to reach the previously unreachable and become the new standard that is set, but it won’t fall into my lap like it did The Babe, and I think I’ll be searching my whole life.  And if I never find my place?  At least I’ll have the comfort of truly understanding the existentialist, and I’ll do what I can do to enjoy my surroundings…even if there is no purpose to my actions or thoughts.  Somehow, though I think I’ll come through and surprise myself.  I can almost feel it when I touch this keyboard.  Because there are new styles waiting to be discovered.

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