> > Okay, the phrase "If he were a babe" has me slightly confused, and I'd like comments from people prominent in the English language on this.
> >
> > Is the use of "were" correct? More importantly, since what I really want is to get the whole picture right: What are the rules for when you use "was" and when you use "were"?

There's a great deal of grey (gray) area here. English is a gray (grey)language. Usually it's, I was, we were, but that's usually. Most scholars condider "If I were you..." to be correct.
Howard