I seem to recall once hearing a theory, that the Lords of Baseball juiced the ball, following the Black Sox Scandal of 1919, in order to save the game. If that were true, it still wouldn't diminish the Babe, since although home run hitting did explode, no one consistently gave the Sultan a run for his money. (The closest contenders were Lou Gehrig and later, Jimmie Foxx, but they were far behind the Bambino.)
BTW, fantastic web site! You may be named some day as "respondent," if my 'net widow wife ever files for divorce.
I've heard the 1919 theory as well. Look at Rogers Hornsby's numbers over in the National League during the 20s. Pretty eye-popping in their own right.
If you liked that site, check out theseWeird Baseball Statistics, etc.