Why didn’t anyone else of his era come close to doing the same thing? Why was Ruth singlehandedly hitting more homers than entire teams? Why was he the only person to be both an elite hitter and elite pitcher in his era? You say the game was so much easier then, but nobody came close to doing what Ruth was doing at the advent of the Live Ball Era. The difference between Ruth and the average player of his day was far greater than the difference between any other athlete and the average player of their day, in any era, in any sport.