The Babe played 6 years (1914-1919) in the Dead Ball era, and was primarily a pitcher in the first 5.
Yeah, he was. In those five years he had 678 at bats. He had 8398 in his career. Ruth hit 20 home runs in those 678 at bats. 8% of his at bats were in the years of 1914-1918.
7720/694 = 1 HR per 11.1 at bats.
678/20 = 1 HR per 33.9 at bats.
If you count 1919, then 1110 of his at bats were in the dead ball era. Over 13% of his at bats. 29 HR's in 1919.
7288/665 = 1 HR per 11 at bats.
1110/49 = 1 HR per 22.7 at bats.
Career: 8398/714 = 1 HR per 11.8 at bats.
Any way you look at it, the dead ball era hurt his HR total. If he would have hit 766 if it were not for the dead ball era, all things being equal. Of course, I am open to the argument that Ruth did not hit as well when he was a pitcher.