Wilbert Robinson on Babe Ruth

“He can hit a ball twice as hard as any of the oldtimers. Delahanty? Pooh, don't make me laugh! Two of his best wouldn't equal one of Ruth's long hits. It's his stance. Do you notice the way he stands at the plate and gets the full play of his body into the swing? There never was one of the oldtimers that stood that way. There is a scientific reason for it. I was reading what Grantland Rice had to say about stance. [...] And, anyhow, you can tell the world that Babe Ruth is the hardest hitter of them all. You won't have to prove it, either. The old Orioles admit it, and when the old Orioles speak from their hearts 'tis the last word in baseball.”

“I wonder if there are any more Ruths hanging around loose in the sticks. There might be. I always have maintained that many a good one never got the chance to crash into the big leagues. I wonder. Here was Ruth down in Baltimore growing up to be the greatest attraction in baseball right in our backyard, as it were, and busting home runs right in our very faces. Did we know it? I'll tell you the first time that Ruth was called to my attention. It was when the Robins were playing the Baltimore team. I heard that they had a hitter by the name of Ruth, and I told Casey Stengel, our right fielder, to lay back for him. Casey did lay back, but Ruth sent the ball a mile over his head. The next time Ruth came to bat Casey said: "I'll lay back so far this time that the sucker can't get the ball by me." And he did lay back till it looked ridiculous. But again came Ruth, and he shot the ball over Stengel's head for another homer. Yet in spite of this Ruth was farmed out with the minors before he got into the Red Sox line-up regularly.”