The Washington times., 1921-12-07


homerun king could train with the
In condition until his suspension W,
By outlawing the Babe entirely unt!l
hate in May. Judge Lands probably
J will drive him into an alliance with
independent promoters and thus pre-
! maturely end q great career. Ruth
has many offers and will require
great tact and persuasion on the part
Of the Yankee colonels to keep him
! "hitched" until he can free himself
In the manner suggested by the Off
cia! verdict.
Bum Business for Babe.
Ruth's ill-advised transforming tour
last fall netted him less than $1,000.
!. The interest on this, as charged by
Judge Lands, can easily amount to
'Sten times the principal.
Aside from what Ruth is worth as q
box office attraction on spring train
ing trip and the first month Of a
, championship season. the strong pos
sibility Of his quitting organized bose
ball abruptly now looms up. Babe can
undoubtedly make big money on In
dependent bookings next season. but
after that he may not do so well.
H0me-run records off bush pitchers
DO not greatly interest baseball fans.
Once Ruth breaks away he will be
Zone e. . Yankee. He will soon be
twenty eight years old and he is get
ting heavy. He might trade on his
. reputation in q third major league II
he could find promoters to start one.
However, the costly Federal league
failure 10 still fresh in the memories
Of the promoters and money Is tight
now.
Halts Record Making.
In any event Ruth is not going to be
the heroic figure he was in 1920 and
last season. II he quits he will be
total loss to the club, and II he sticks,
but does not 90 into training until late
In May, he may not regain his form
until midsummer.
. And with q month sliced off his sea-
son he has practically no chance to
equal or even approach his home-run
records of the past two seasons.
It Ia possible, of course, that Judge
Lands may relent to the extent Of per-
mitting Ruth to train with the Yam
KEGS next spring and to continue the
conditioning process through April
and May provided he plays. In no
games where an admission is charged,
but 1t is extremely doubtful whether
the high-strung Babe, with wildcat
promoters tempting him, can be held
in line that long, even IL the New York
club guarantees him against financial
loss.
All the officials of the Yankee club
were in Buffalo yesterday attending
the minor league meeting. Ruth Is
playing a vaudeville engagement In
washington. Hence the opinion of
those most vitality concerned in the
Landis decision could not be obtained
first hand. Neither of the Yankee
colonels nor Ruth would comment
frankly on the verdict. They wisely
refrained from talking until they can
get together and see what can be done.
Lands Stern Judge.
II was generally thought that Judge
LAndis would not announce his de-
. cision until after the major league
meetings here next week. The judge,
however. took no one into his conf
dence and finally committed himself
without any last-minute conference
with the defendant and those inter-
ested in his welfare.
Baseball men are generally agreed
that the decision virtually ruins
Ruth's career as baseball's superman.
They predict he will operate inde-
pendently next season, but, lacking
the major league surroundings and the
Polo Grounds setting he will soon dis
cover that his popularity is waning.
TnOSe WHO hnOW JuuBe LanulS 10
not believe he can be induced to mod
lily the sentence, and those who know
the Yankee colonels are sure they will
aocept the verdict as sportsmen and
uphold the judge, even though II
means the wrecking Of a great base
ball asset.
Meusel and Piercy.
Ruth probably feels home regret
ever the plights of Meusel and Piercy
than he does for himself. He is that
kind of chap. Both of these players
arc his close friends and he induced
them to stand with him in defiance
q the commissioner. No doubt Meusel
snd Piercy depended on Ruth's promi-
nence to pull them through.
For this arror of Judgment both
have already forfeited their worlds
series shares-amounting to more
than 1000 each-and their futures
In baseball are as uncertain as Ruth's
and much less promising.
The New York club, 1t is believed,
had planned to dispose of Piercy this
winter, inasmuch as he was of little
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