The Cordova daily times., 1921-07-27
DOC OLD-TIMER SAYSBASEBALL
 CONvALESCINC
CBy International News service)

| anCe IS lalllnS OlI, thdt tue Dall IS too lively, home runs too scarce and games too long.
 So we started out to secure some | reliable testimony on decline of q season that opened with indications of prosperity on every side.
 We put the question to an old timer.
 over exploitation of hitting and the Dempsey Carpentier fight" he answered without hesitation.
 And then he unfolded his theories.
 Baseball touched the high.water mark last season." he said. There were several reasons why all clubs made money. One was the raise in prices. To my way of thinking, though the Babe Ruth ballyhoo was the greatest contributing factor Ruth alone drew hundreds of thousands through the gates in the American league He made countless new base ball fans and all other leagues prof ited by the renewal of interest in l the game.
 The industrial depression had not ] begun to be felt acutely when the baseball season opened last spring. But it is apparent now in baseball, which was the last of our amuse- ments to feel it.
 "In the early part of the season i the ascendancy of the batter was eN- | plained by the backwardness of spring pitching. But when the weather turned warm and the heavy hitting continued, with it's attendant 1 evils of large scores, long games and processions of pitchers, the public began to tire.
 Personally I do not believe the 1 lively ball is altogether to blame. i Of course, l think the ball is faster now-you can tell that by the way or | dinary hitters drive it past infielders and the distances they get on slams 1 to the outfield
 Tt is my impression, however, that this is the poorest season we have ever had for pitching. Possibly l the passing of the spitball is partly responsible. have seen a lot of games in both leagues this season and only oNce did I see first-class pitching on both sides. The good | pitchers do exist, though, because occasionally we hear of shutouts.
 q know that the lively ball has been a subject of deepest concern to owners of ball clubs and that l they have discussed 1t seriously in the last few weeks. Most of them are convinced that the man in the grandstand is fed up on hitting
 "I heard story not long ago
 which I don't believe, but I'll pass it along to you for what 1t is worth
 Certain club owners. 1t is said, pointed last winter to Ruth as an example of how home runs could be Commercialized and insisted that the
 ball be made livelier. so that there
 would be a dozen Ruins instead of one.
 'If these men did this they are l guilty of gross stupidity. Ruths value lies in his ability to hit a ball farther than any other man. The
 value of a home run lies in it's occa. sional delivery In other days they were rare enough to deserve special | distinction. It was a real treat to see a ball knocked over the fence. 1 But now. when everybody Is doing 1t, the glamor is fading away from Ruth's accomplishments He still may | be able to hit ball farther than the others. but the others are hitting them over the fence and Babes long wallops no longer thrill the bugs as 1 they once did
 50 much for the theory that home runs can sustain interest.
 Another drawback this season is the lack of great teams. In the Ma | tional league. Pittsburg seems to outclass the field. There are no really great teams in the American | league At the most there are no more than three teams in each league capable of running the champion ship form.
 The others are just dragging along. No wonder business is bad. Why, read only the other day where the management of the Phillies per mitted one pitcher to remain in the box for nine innings though he was l slammed fnr twenty hIta parh na