"Babe Ruth would have hit 1,051 home runs if he had the same number of at-bats as Hank Aaron. Aaron hit 41 more homers than Ruth, but Ruth only had 8,399 at-bats, whereas Aaron had 12,364 at bats." The most serious flaw with this statistic is:
A) Ruth was also an excellent pitcher
B) They used differently-sized bats
C) The margin of error isn't stated
D) It is based on an erroneous extrapolation
E) Hank Aaron had to deal with racial prejudice, too

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The most serious flaw with this statistic is that it is based on an erroneous extrapolation. The idea that Babe Ruth would have hit 1,051 home runs if he had the same number of at-bats as Hank Aaron assumes that Ruth's home run rate would have remained constant over a significantly larger sample size. However, this is a dubious assumption, as the number of home runs a player hits is heavily dependent on factors such as their age, health, skill level, and the quality of the pitching they face, all of which can vary over time. Even if Ruth had had the same number of at-bats as Aaron, it is entirely possible that he would have hit significantly fewer home runs than he did over his actual career. Therefore, the claim that Ruth would have hit 1,051 home runs if he had more at-bats is unsupported and likely incorrect.

"Babe Ruth Would Have Hit 1,051 Home Runs If He