Ruth was "an out of shape lop who drank excessively and smoked" . . . and still has more home runs than Bonds and also has a career 2.28 ERA (11th all-time among 20th Century pitchers with 1,000 or more innings pitched) and only 7.18 hits allowed per 9 innings (12th all-time among pitchers with 1,000 or more IP.
Ruth's juice was alcohol and cigarettes, Bonds is steroids and HGH and God-knows what else, and Ruth was STILL a better player. LOL
Bonds is so good he needs steroids and HGH and so forth just to catch up to only the batting exploits--but not the pitching greatness--of "an out-of-shape drunken smoking lop."
ROTFLOL
Bonds did'nt get "caught" for anything.
All we've heard is rumor and innuendo - no positive drug test.
Ruth and Bonds were/are both pretty close in height and weight, yet you look at pics of Ruth and Bonds, and the differences are dramatic.
I don't think Ruth ever lifted a weight in his life.
At least not one that weighed more than 12 oz.
Again, Ruth played in a different era - only against white players, mostly from the East Coast, while Bonds plays against the best competitors from all over the world.
Ruth faced the same handful of Pitchers, game after game, year after year, who had dead arms from pitching so many innings, while in this day and age, Bonds has to face relief specialist like 100 MPH flame throwers like Greg Gagne, who's job is to pitch just 1 inning, not to mention starters who only go 6 innings, middle releivers, set-up men, closers etc...
Babe Ruth faced one guy all game, same delivery with just a couple of pitches. Ruth faced a ton of tired Pitchers in the later innings, who were struggling just to finish games.
Ruth played in a Stadium with a short porch designed for him to succeed, while Bonds played at cold, windy, cavernous Candlestick park, and SBC park, statistically one of the toughest parks to HR in, not to mention "Death Valley" which is Right-Center Field at SBC, where HR's go to die, especially for Left-handed hitters like Bonds.
And, if Willie Mays didn't spend a majority of his career at Candlestick, especially before it was enclosed, he might have hit another 100 or so HR's.
Ruth also played much of his career when a ball going over the fence on a bounce was credited as a HR, and wasn't a Ground Rule double until the mid-1920's
And who does Barry Bonds have protecting him by batting behind him?
The only couple of years he had a good bat hitting behind him, he hit 73 HR's in one season.
Conversely, Ruth was on a team of All-Stars and didn't get pitched around as much as Bonds, who was walked over 220 times last season.
And again, Ruth had good bats behind him, so he saw a lot more hittable pitches.
One of the main reasons why Ruth has more RBI's, HR's and hits.
Bottom line is, athletes from Ruth's era would be average at best by today's standards.
Diet, Nutrition, Training, Exercise are a big part of the reason.