Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong sparked a heated Baseball debate after joking that Babe Ruth may have never existed, prompting an angry response from longtime Sports commentator Chris "Mad Dog" Russo.
According to Fox News, Crow-Armstrong, who has emerged as one of the Cubs' biggest young stars, recently discussed a conspiracy theory questioning whether Ruth was a real person.
Rather than dismissing the idea, he said he found it entertaining.
"I was like dude, that's awesome," Crow-Armstrong said. "We always talk about how the game is evolving, and people may as well have been under handing the ball to that guy, and he's still regarded as one of the best players ever."
"You might as well dive further into it and be like, well maybe he just never existed," he added.
The comment did not sit well with Russo, who used an appearance on ESPN's "First Take" to defend one of Baseball's most iconic figures.
"Nobody hit home runs like Babe Ruth," Russo said. "Say what you want about [Shohei] Ohtani, we understand that he's a unicorn. Babe Ruth is so good it's mind boggling."
Russo pointed to Ruth's enormous power numbers while pushing back against the idea that playing conditions in the 1920s diminished his accomplishments.
"Did you know, Peter Crow-Armstrong, that Babe Ruth hit 27 home runs over 500 feet?" Russo said. He argued that the legendary slugger's dominance could not simply be explained by the style of pitching used during his era.
Russo also objected to the broader idea that players from Baseball's early decades were inherently inferior to modern athletes.
"It drives me crazy when people think the Baseball player in 1927 is not nearly as good as the Baseball player today," Russo said. "Are you crazy?"
Ruth's career numbers help explain why his legacy remains so difficult to dismiss. He finished his career with 714 home runs, a record that stood until Hank Aaron passed him in 1974.
In 1920, Ruth hit 54 home runs, more than the combined total of seven of the eight MLB teams at the time. Seven years later, he hit 60, another remarkable mark for the era.
Ruth also remains MLB's career leader in slugging percentage at .690 and OPS at 1.164.
Before becoming a full-time Yankees slugger, he established himself as an elite pitcher with the Boston Red Sox, posting a 2.19 ERA.
"There's only one Babe Ruth," Russo said. "He hit anywhere, any place, any time. He's that good."