Evening star., 1921-11-01
Editorial Digest
The Rules Of the Game.

When some Of our papers, notably
the Grand Rapids Herald and the
Birmingham Sun. lift the veil that
should hide family rows from the
public and confess to serious disa-
greement between the sporting edi-
tors and the editorial writer's over
the Landis-Ruth controversy, they
disclose fairly we'll the line Of ar
gument on which that affair Is being
thrashed out in the press. The
sporting column" of the Herald
Seems to think that Babe Ruth, the
king of swat, is knightly hero be-
cause he dares to ding defiance Into
the teeth Of Judge Lands. umpire
supreme" The Editorial column"
thinks that Ruth has made a fool
Of himself" by his attitude that 'the
bat is mightier that the law" and his
evident purpose to break whatever
rules he doesn't like"
Babe Ruth is an "institution," the
Philadelphia Record asserts. and the
Augusta Herald regards it as i'm
probable "that the public will quibble
on a questionable infraction of a
base ball law where q favorite "of
the first magnitude" is involved. The
rule in question, which forbids "a
participant in a world series from
playing in exhibition games" the
into the innocuous desuetude Of nom
observance" and in any case the
New York World thinks that Judge
Lands ought to be "the last man
who should question the propriety of
picking up little extra coin after
hours on the SIDE" since "he has a
transforming job Of his own" AS
the Savannah News fails to see "such
a great choice in the dispute, for
while Ruth may be suffering from
an attack of megalomania," only a
| 'hairsplitter" would affect to see
"anything more terrible in his work.
than in Judge Lands drawing
down $42,50O a year on the side,
while his regular job is that of sit
ting on the bench Of a United States
court"
Furthermore, in the opinion Of the
Waterbury (Conn.) Republican. there
is room to question the wisdom of
the rule that forbids transforming"
since many feel that 1t is unjust and
tends to discourage proficiency and
encourage mediocrity." The Sioux
City Journal finds no other reason
able explanation for such a rule than
"a sort of dog-in-the-man atti-
tude on the part of the club owners,
who evidently prefer that since they
cannot make use of the players
earning power no one else should"
Ruth's position involves "a vital prin-
ciple affecting freedom of action out
| of season by a player of organized
base ball" says the Cincinnati Com
mercial Tribune, making it fight
IN yEh yoh fo al 1ia1
against professional ethics.
But while the Binghamton Sun con-
cedes that there is no disputing the
argument that player should be re-
garded as free agent after the
close of the season." Ruth neverthe-
any attempt ito secure a moditica-
tion of the ruling" Judge Landis did
not make the rule, the Des Moines
Capital points out, but ''it is on the
books and the judge has supreme
power to enforce it." Ruth's "schol-
works great injustice" prompts
| the Capital to ask him if he thinks
men should violate all the laws they
do not like" If this law lis obnoN-
ious or unreasonable the Day City
(Mich.) Times-Tribune contends that
as it obtains lit should be enforced
against Ruth and everybody else;
there are no two ways about it"
Young Louis XIV" the Baltimore
American recalls, ''confided to the
doubtful that he was the state; now
Babe the First has picked up the
same idea at the spot where Louis
dropped it," declaring in effect. Il
am it," and while the Babes English
may not approximate the excellence
| of the Kings French, his meaning
loses nothing of clarity thereby" But
great as he is" the Roanoke Times
declares, Ruth is not greater than
the game" Base ball made Ruth, and
not Ruth base ball. as the Knoxville
Sentinel has it. and the Rock Island
Argus holds that there Is mo excuse"
i for his "disregarding the rule of the
sport that made him famous and
wealthy" for he should realize, the
! Asbury Park Press thinks. that his
violation Of the rules works to the
detriment of base ball as an institu-
tion in the public esteem