Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-07-24

IT'S RUTH,S CONTROL
THAT MAKES HIM HIT
Champion Home-Run Bifer Is Master of His Nerve
and Muscles Fulton Still No. Among Heavies.
Wills Bout Will Tell
BY GRANTLAND RICE
A Few Lines to Ping Bodie

A Few Lines to Ping Bodie
Though some,ohat opershadoioed By
trife greater Batting Eye
| W one toho hofds the record sD1y
Of bdsebdHs driDen far aDdy-
Though scmephat topped BY one chose
stoin1
Has Just triae on you, Ping,
The ohiie upon a daily lark ..
He Ufs the missile from the park
Unddunfed yet you take your stand
win flashing eye and steady hand,
As toifh an eUer- -gr0ioin1 thrill
You crash the grand old apple still.
PY THE time Fred Fulton and Harry
- Wills have concluded their coming
entertainment we shall know something
about the manner Of Dempsey's next
suitable opponent. Fulton's campaign.
which included more fighting than any
other heavyweight has known in two
years, leaves him tidy choice over
Wills, unless another upset is per-
sonally conducted into camp, Fulton is
still Mum ber Two among the leading
heavyweights, outranked only by
Dempsey.
Ted Rays Pipe
TNED RAY is not only a fine golfer.
l. The big Englishman has still an
other marvellous knack He can carry
lighted pipe, and keep it lighted, in
rain too heavy for any one but an
expert to carry an umbrella.
Back in 1913 we followed him for
the better part of thirty six holes at
shawnee. A combination cloudburst
ana deigge was in the act of swashing
the landscape into a foam.
No one else could smoke, even under
tree. Every cigar, cigarette and
miles was soaked.
But all the while, slogginp along
through the downpour, Rays pine cor,
tinued to emit smoke, which circled up
through the rain after the manner OF
a cabin chimney. 1t was a great ex
hibition and elected as much admira
tion from the gallery as Rays mighty
niblick swipes called forth.
Not Quite All
" A FTER ALL" writes a correspond
"A cnt. isn't Ruth's ability to hit
these home runs merely a matter OF
his tremendous physical bulk? Just
what else fguresT
by no means. Here-is an example.
When Ruth had made twenty nine home
runs he was naturally more than keen
to beat his old record and establish a
new mark. Opposing pitchers were
just as keen not to be the selected goats
whose name or names might be carried
down In the records as the victim.
So for two days no pitcher would
give Ruth a chance. He was either
walked or forced to hit at bad balls.
Finally he came up in the second
game of White Sox double header with
Pipp on first. 1t was poor strategy
here to walk Ruth with one out and
the Sox leading by a run.
After getting the big slugger at 3 and
2. Kerr was forced to lay one over.
The ordinary human would have been
overanxious-keen to peel the cover off.
The normal tendency under these con-
ditions would have been to hit too
soon, one Of the most common faults in
baseball, golf or tennis. But Ruth,
with extreme deliberation, stepped Into
the pitch, took only his normal swing
and deposited the bail into the right
field bleachers.
The answer Is. that with all his tre-
mendous physical force. ne also has
his nervous system and his muscular
system under perfect control.
He isn't one of these wild swingers
who overreaches himself. He delivers
tremendous punch, but not sufficiently
hard to throw himself off balance. In