[dakine]

“The Babe was fueled with hot dogs, booze....”

Wasn’t booze illegal back then?....

[John W]

Babe Ruth
Debut July 11, 1914
Final Game May 30, 1935

Prohibition
Start January 16, 1920
End December 5, 1933

[Weeedley]

Only after prohibition was repealed in 1933. But there was never any notion that a snoot full of booze was a performance enhanser on the ball field; nor was it used for cheating purposes. Take Hank Wilson for instance:

Arguably, Wilson’s 1930 season was the best ever by a hitter. In addition to hitting 56 home runs, leading the league with 105 walks, and boasting a batting average of .356, he drove in 191 runs, a mark that remains one of the most untouchable MLB records. (For years, record books gave the total as 190, until research in 1999 showed that an RBI credited by an official scorer to Charlie Grimm actually belonged to Wilson.) He recorded that total without hitting a grand slam. For comparison, when Barry Bonds hit 73 home runs, he drove in 137 runs.

His excessive alcoholism led him to a premature death at the age of 48.