The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-09-12
BABE RUTH FACES BETTER
 PITCHING THAN OLD TIMERS
Manager Jimmy Burke of St Louis Browns Says Boston
 Sluggcr Is Hardest Hitter All Time.

Bostona, Sept, -2-Now that Clark Griffith ct al, have come across with their tribute to B.g Babe Euth, home run king, the crafty Jimmy Burke. whose clever management of a dis credited team converted tuc seeming ly hopeless Browns into a contender for thTee-ouarters of thc big league season, asserts that no batter that ever lived could hit the ball as hard as Ruth. And furthermore he quotes a few facts that even moro cIoqueutIy explain why Babes feat in setting d new worlds record ts all the more exceptional
 Burke states that the talk about the short fences surrounding the parks in which Freeman made his old record were a contributory factor to FHeeman's 25-circutt record He states that old Buck hit the ball hard and is entitled to all the credit that should be given 10 a man who made a. record that st ood for 20 long years. And he adds that Freeman, in spite of his possession of a healthy wal lop, is by no means to be considered in the same class with Babe as a sluEEer, Ldoe Griffith and some of the others. he has played against Freeman, Brouthers and Dclehanty- and Jimmie Burke knows.
 eff Big Babe played in the same parks that Freeman used to appear in and if he faced the same crowd of pitchers under the saule sort of con dftions, Ruth would undoubtedly by this time have doubled his present worlds record mark" says Burke.
 They've all enlarged on this short fence of the old days in comparing Ra1th with Freeman, but they seem to have lost sight of another big fac tor in hitting.
 -'For one reason alone, Ruth has been up against the stfffcSt sort Of proposition in even attempting to come near FTceman's old mark, And this Is the plan made by the Opposi- ton club every day, to stop the other team from hittinC. Eowa days every ball club has 9 meeting before the game, and from pitcher right down the line the weakness of every bat ter ts discussed. Each man talks over the way that every player Of the opposition hitss and plans arc all laid as to how every man is to be pitched to and played for, Consequently, when the teams take tho field tho tn- aeIders and outfteldc1-s shift on near lv every batter. This makes it cN- ceedtnglv diftcu1r to drop the ball safely in there.
 "'Tn TsucK Freemau's day there was no morning meeting and no prear- ranged shift Tho pitching was gen era11y of the slam, bang, straight away order and any tiu1o a man shifted he did it Of his own voutiOn or stcp from his pitcher, The pitch CT was the only one expected 10 be aware of tho batrer's weaknesses
 linen, coo Inc pitchers of the old days had no such things in thetr pertDires as the shine ball the spit ter and inc emery ball These are far harder to hit than any curve. And whereas there was one good pitcher in tho old days there are just about five times that number now Any man who can knock out 2G home runs in these tremendously big parks, and aEai1st such wonderful twirlers as tlpere are in the American leaEue today, is nothing short of a human marvel That to my mind Is what Ruth Is.
 ~TTe has overcome the shorter sea son. the splitter. the shine bah and the emery ban. he has discounted the defensive plans of all his opponents, h~ has had 10 walk to base four times