New-York tribune., 1919-09-25


grandstand, the longest hit that wa
goats roamed Coogan's Bluff and ev'
Ruth's home run record one beyon
Williamson in 1884.
The blow came in the ninth inning,
with the Yanks leading by one run in
a tight pitching duel between young
Waite Hoyt and Bob Shawkey, of the
Yankees. Ruth had been making des-
perate efforts to break the record all
afternoon and had been swinging wild
ly in his eagerness. He was the first
man up, and his huge frame was
shaking with anxiety to swing his bat
on something tangible.
The first ball was high and wide,
and Ruth let it go by with a scowl
The second one was a slow curved ball,
and it drifted by the port side of the
young giant about waist high. Every
ounce OF the huge frame went into the
swing. He met the ball fairly, and it
shot toward the roof of the grandstand
its course. It cleared the roof, and
Ruth started to trot around the bases.
Ball Sails Out of Lot
lliSU Oh lnS corner OF InP ROOF
boy who had gone up to furi the flags,
waved his hands excitedly to indicate
that the ball had gone out of the sta
dunn into the lot next door. The an
nouncer ran down the field to verify
this by word Of mouth. Some years
back Shoeless Joe jackson held the
record for long hits at the Polo
Grounds. His hit landed in the space
between the left field stands and the
bleachers. Ruth's hit went fairly out
of the grounds, the first time that s.
ball has been driven out of the place
since it was built
There IS TO way of measuring the
exact distance of the hit, but the writer
is willing to believe that it is the long
est distance ever covered by batted
ball. Ruth once hit for 565 feet at
Tampa, Fla, during spring series.
Being cheated cut Of his record by
Quinn in the first game seemed to
make the Babe more furious. He
whaled Bob the Cob viciously all tho
way. In the sixth inning he drove tho
ball out to the center field fence for
a three bagger. He was travelling so
rapidly in his eagerness to turn it
into home run that he emulated the
storied boner of Fred Merkle, for
getting to touch second and was called
out.
pretty close to making another home
run. He got another of those slow
curves and~drove it out to far centre
field. Chick Fewster was leaning
against the centre field wall when he
caught the ball. 1t is not good to feed
the Babe slow curves.
What kind of a ball did you pitch
him." they demanded in the press box
after Ruth had crowned himself king
nd vol >f oil
kings.
at was slow curve" replied Robert
moodily.
Hoyt Makes Fine Showing
If Ruth had not taken all of the
limelight in that second game and for
the entire afternoon, there would have
been another Red Sox hero worthy of
considerable space. The other player
is young Waite Hoyt, the boy pitcher,
who was first discovered by McGraw.
Hoyt held the Yankees hitless for nine
innings after they scored their first
run. He not only held them hitless,
hut he did not let single one of them
reach first base, which is some achieve
ment for boy pitcher engaged in
pitchers duel with Bob Shawkey, one
of the best in the league.
Hoyt got his first pasting in the sec
ond inning. Wallie Pipp rolled one
down toward first and beat it to the
bag. Pratt drove q long nit to left field,
sending Pipp to third and taking sec
ond on the throw-in. Duffy Lewis drove
one to centre and scored Pipp. Then
the pitchers duel started in earnest
and it was the tightest sort of game
until the ninth, when, as the playwright
and Ring Larner have observed "Along
came Ruth"
Through the twelfth inning young
Waite Hoyt, with the nonchalance of a
veteran, continued to block the Yankees
off first base. The crash came in the
thirteenth. Walter Pipp came out of
batting slump and drove the ball al
most to the centrefield wall The off,
cial traffic cop of the Yanks pulled
him up at third base. Pratt lifted fly
to left field and Phipp came home. end
ing about as sensational 81 game as has
been seen in the lee Of Coogan's Bluff
for many a day.
Another sensational bit of work that
gets only mild notice in the dazzling
light of Ruth's achievement was a
throw made by Chick Fewster in the
tenth. Gilhooley with one out, drove
hit to deep centre. 1t certainly
looked good for q triple with man Of
Gllhooley's speed. But Fewster felded
the ball smoothly and threw it to
Baker, who got the ball on the first
bound and tagged Gilhooley at the bag.
Mclnnis at His Best
The work of StuNy McInnis at first
base too would have been more than
prominent on any other afternoon
Mclnnis made n couple of one-hand
scoops and stops that would have made
the reputation of any other first base
man.
Inc sartor'al sensation of the after
noon was high silk hat, about q four
quart hat, which made its way into the
press box after the start of the second
game. 1t adorned the head of Eddie
German, the old battler who formerly
was associated with the late John L.
Sullivan. The hat was attended by a
frock coat and white carnation. AT
first the crowd was somewhat puzzled
They did not know whether the wearer
was a rich rolling mill worker come to
buy the Ianks or an undertaken come