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John McGraw, reacting to Ruth's tape-measure HR and RBI single, contributing to Boston's pre-season victory over McGraw's Giants, in "McGraw Seems Strong for Babe Ruth," in The Baltimore Sun (April 7, 1919), p. 9
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That's the kind of hitter for me. The man who can lean against the ball and send it on a ride when there are men ahead of him is the only batter worth thinking about in baseball. There are many players with big batting averages who never advance a runner. Give me the man who meets the ball when a hit will do the most good. He will be a valuable man, no matter what the averages tell.

— John McGraw on Babe Ruth

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "That's the kind of hitter for me. The man who can lean against the ball and send it on a ride when there are men ahead of him is the only batter worth thinking about in baseball. There are many players with big batting averages who never advance a runner. Give me the man who meets the ball when a hit will do the most good. He will be a valuable man, no matter what the averages tell." in the context of "John McGraw, reacting to Ruth's tape-measure HR and RBI single, contributing to Boston's pre-season victory over McGraw's Giants, in "McGraw Seems Strong for Babe Ruth," in The Baltimore Sun (April 7, 1919), p. 9" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Babe Ruth" (Quotes about Ruth: Alphabetized by author ) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

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#John McGraw#man#averages#ball#thinking#baseball#valuable#against#players#batting#advance#hitter
John McGraw

About John McGraw

John Joseph McGraw (April 7, 1873 – February 25, 1934) is considered to be one of the greatest managers in baseball history. He started his baseball career in 1891 as a player with the Baltimore Orioles of the American Association. He took his first managing job in 1899 with the Orioles, but his greatest managerial success would come with the New York Giants, as he went on to manage that team for 30 years. When he retired from baseball in 1932, he had 2,763 managerial wins (second all-time behind Connie Mack) and had led his teams to 10 pennants.