The Washington herald., 1921-10-11
Ruth, Sick and LAME, Rises
To Heights of Greatness
BY WILLIAM SLAvENs M'NUTT.
Omitted News STAT Correspondent

pays as q result OF his reputation.
The man is Babe Ruth, who figured
in the fifth ball game of the world
series which the Yanks won, 3 to 1.
Babe Ruth is sick. He is lame.
He is suffering horribly from q
recently lanced abcess on his left
arm that would put any ordinary
man to bed. He is striking out
time and time again. Every time
he swings the big bat pain wracks
his huge frame until he feels like
one great big toothache. He tainted
on the bench today during the
fuorth inning and they had to
throw water on him before he could
limp out to his position in left
field. And in SPITE of it, all the
Babe has figured in the scoring in.
all five contests thus far.
He has been playing wonderful
ball. for which he gets little credit
because he is expected to hit a
home run every time he comes to
the plate and when he doesn't the
crowd rates him a failure. His
reputation has become so great
that he is compelled now to do
the impossible in order to main
tain it. If any man can do the
impossible Babe can and will.
Home Run Unappreciated.
He hit a home run in the fourth
game and got little applause for il.
1t came in the ninth inning with
two down and none on, not affect
liz the ultimate result. The crowd
cheered without enthusiasm. 1t did
not really mean anything to them.
They expect to see him hit a home
run with the bases loaded and the
Yanks three runs to the bad. II
he doesn't do that he is not living
up to his reputation and the crowd
fails to give him his just due.
And yet not a game has been
played in which the great Ruth
has failed to score or to bat in a
run. In the second game they
wouldn't let him hit. and so when
he was walked with two down he
stole second. got to his feet after
the. slide and stole third and was
on his way home when Bob Meusel
tapped one for the third out 1t
was an astounding performance for
a man who weighs over eco pounds,
looks more like a stalI-fed cart
horse than a racer, and who was
nursing a strained leg that would
have been sufficient excuse for
many a man to stay out Of the
game.
The stands did not give the Babe.
much on It, He was cheered. but
not wildly. He had not hit a home
run in the ninth inning. with the
bases loaded and his team behind.
So great is his reputation that he
must just about do that in order
to live up to it.
Ruth's Struggle Dramatic.
To me, Ruth's struggle to live up
to his reputation is the most dra-
matte feature of the series. He came
through in the fourth game with
his first homer. but 1t was not good
enough because 1t came too late.
1t did not win the ball game nor
tie the score. Today. in the fourth
inning. he was the first man up
The score was tied. The Giant out
fielders moved back in the general
direction of Connecticut. The in
field played deep for the great slug
ger. Ruth, his eyes dimmed with
pain. his game leg trembling under
him and his swollen left arm throb-
bing like an liberated tooth. out
thought them all. He shortened his
grip on his bat and tipped an alb
solutely perfect bunt down the third
base line.
Nehf was caught fiat-footed. He
came IN fast for the ball. but he
had not anticipated the play, and
Ruth numbered down the first-base
line, reaching the bag by a narrow
but sufficient margin. He had not
hit a home run, but he was the
head of the list in that inning. and
he had done what the ideal head-of-
the-list man should do. He had got
ten on base. Sick and sore and
weak. ne had played ideal baseball.
Meusel came up then and cracked
out a double, on which Ruth scored.
The big Babe came numbering home.
limping and wincing with pain, with
the winning run of the game. Re-
member that. 1t SO happened that
the Yanks gathered yet another tally
when Meusel scored on Wards fly
to Burns, but the run that Ruth
scored after bunting his way to first
was the run that won the game.
Rises to Real Greatness.
That, / think, is true greatness.
To be sick and weak and lame; TO
be walked when he might hit to
some purpose; to fail at his spe-
cialty Of hitting them out of the
lot when he has had the opportu-
nifty and then to come through in
spite Of all and figure consistently
in the run-getting by using meth
DDS that are supposed to belong to
fast. light men like frankie Frisch,
or speedy. tricky lead-off players like
George Burns.
The Babe cannot be erased, either
by sickness. iameness, inability to
hit or by being walked. He Is the
greatest all-around bail player and
the most coiorful star. of all time.
As, he limped over the plate IN
the fourth inning with what proved
to be the winning run Of the game
and hobbled to the bench. nursing
his bandaged arm and favoring his
game leg. someone in the press stand
said:
Poor old Babe. He can't hit; he
can't run; he can't throw. All he
can do Is to win ball games"
II he doesn't drop dead before
the series is over. he will do some
thing to, bring the crowd roaring
to Its feet with a demonstration
such as rever has been heard be-
af