As a pitcher, forgetting his phenomenal hitting, he was marvelous, arguably the best lefty in baseball at one point, and certainly one of the best A.l. pitchers from 1915-1917. Held a Series scoreless innings record for a long time, and helped The Red Sox win three championships with his pitching.

I would rank Ruth even higher. Simply the greatest all around baseball player of all time. He would have easily been a 300 game winner if he remained a pitcher.

He was one of the top left-handers of his era, perhaps the best of them. A hard thrower and and fiery competitor, reading about his pitching reminds me of Roger Clemens. He loved to work inside, and was always willing to brush back a hitter or abuse an umpire. One story tells how Ty Cobb went 4 for 4 off him in the first game of a series. Ruth knocked him down the next 4 times Cobb came to the plate. And picked him off first afterwards three times. I took off a star because he gave up pitching for that outfielding gig.