In 1919, Babe Ruth set a new record by hitting 29 home runs in a season. This year, he demolished his own record by hitting 54. He hit more home runs than any other team in the league; the St Louis Browns were second, with 50. It was arguably the Babe's best season, and thus one of the best seasons ever by anyone.

         Ruth's .847 slugging percentage from this year was a major league record; he was the only player to post a slugging percentage over .800, until his record was broken by Barry Bonds in 2001.
        Baseball in 1920 was shifting from the dead-ball era to the lively-ball era, from a game of speed to a game of power. For 40 years, the rules of the dead-ball era had been simple. Pitchers would often throw the ball at slow speeds in order to save their arm strength; that's why they could throw 400 innings a year. There was no danger of getting hit hard, because the ball was "dead", and wouldn't go very far. It was nearly impossible to hit a home run, so every hitter concentrated on hitting ground balls and line drives.
        But in 1920, the lively ball was introduced. It could be hit a long way, and the home run was soon to become the most important offensive event in the game. Slowly, the older players from the dead-ball era were phased out, and by 1930 the new sluggers dominated the game.
        But Ruth beat them by a decade, and was already swinging for the fences when the new ball was introduced. Now, when those older pitchers threw a slow-speed pitch to Babe Ruth....WHAMMOW! It left the park in a hurry. So while the rest of the league was hitting ground balls and line drives as usual, Babe Ruth was taking advantage of the new conditions and belting home runs like no one had before.
        So Babe Ruth was human, but he was also an extraordinary player. He is the best candidate for the title as the greatest player in baseball history. He might not hit 300 home runs in a season today, but he would hit at least 50 a year, and challenge Barry Bonds for the record. It should also be pointed out that without Ruth, the lively-ball era may never have happened. Many people within baseball were opposed to the new changes, but the previous year's gambling scandals had hurt the game's image. Ruth's tremendous popularity rescued baseball's public image, and the lively-ball was introduced.
        George Sisler had a great year, too. His 257 hits are the all-time major league record. He could easily have had 4000 hits in his career, but in a couple of years his optic nerve became infected, permanently damaging his sight. Though he came back to play for several years, he was never again the same dominant player.
        Tris Speaker was one of the best players in the league, and was also the manager of the Cleveland Indians. Under his leadership, the Indians won the pennant and the World Series, the first in franchise history.
        This was Joe Jackson's last season. He was banished for life after the season for his role in fixing the 1919 World Series. He had a great year, one of the best of his career. Ruth, Sisler and Speaker all benefitted tremendously from the arrival of the lively ball; Jackson's power surge this year indicates that he too could have been one of the best players of the decade. But I guess we'll never know. Jackson could be considered an MVP candidate this year, except that I normally don't give preference to players who are about to be turfed out of the league.
        The other "Babe" in the AL at this time was William Jacobson, whose popular nickname was "Baby Doll". Jacobson was a good hitter in his prime, and smacked out over 1700 career hits despite a short eleven-year career. But somehow, "Baby Doll" just doesn't sound as impressive as "Babe" does.
        Ray Chapman was killed near the end of the season by a fastball that struck him in the head (he wasn't wearing a helmet, of course). He is the only player to have been killed during a major league game, though others have died in the minors. It was a very controversial situation, which I guess shouldn't be surprising. The pitcher, Carl Mays, was accused of throwing at Chapman's head; maybe he was, but this wouldn't make him any different from most of the other pitchers in the league.
        Chapman was checked by a doctor on the field; he got up and walked away, then collapsed again and died of internal bleeding. The doctor took a lot of criticism; I don't know, what would you do if a guy got hit on the head, then wanted to walk away? How did they treat internal head injuries in 1920, anyway?
         Observers felt that Chapman never saw the pitch coming; the ball by that time, after having been in the muck and spit upon and slobbered on and scuffed up and more, had turned a shade of brown. In the aftermath of Chapman's death, the practice of replacing every scuffed ball with a fresh one was introduced. This change helped make it even easier for sluggers like Ruth to hit mammoth home runs.