San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-08-19
BABE RUTH'S
NEW BAT MAY
CO TO COURT
Ban Johnson Decides New
Four-piece Stick Is
Illegal.
YANKEES GET RATE
MERELY an Improvement"
Says Higgins and
Owner Backs Him.
YANKEES GET IRATE

New York, Aug. 1S.-Another storm
is brewing in the American League
between President Ban johnson and
the New York Yankees.
1t promises to be as serious as the
Carl Mays dispute which was carried
into the courts and almost disrupted
the American League.
Babe Ruth is the central figure in
the impending row. His new bat,
BETSY Bingle," is the cause of the, dis
pute that may cause Owner Rupert
TO 20 as far as he did in the Mays
case in order to prevent President
Johnson's interference. johnson has
ruled that Ruth cannot use the bat.
On July . Ruth discarded his old
style bat and started to use new
type. sent him by Sam Crawford,
former star outfielder of the Detroit
Americans. Ruth had been in slump
at the time. With the new bat he
started on a batting spree that has
brought his kome-rur total away up
and his average to the 400 mark.
A 'Laminated' Bat.
Crawford's bat. which has been
named Betsy Bingle,' is constructed
of four sections of the very best Sc
lected wood, so that it is uniform
throughout and can be held in ans
manner BIZ the batsman without paying
ANY attention to the grain ct the wood.
'he four sections are glued together.
80 cleverly are the bats made that
y it Is impossible TO determine where
the sections are Joined.
Some idea of the care and expense
in the construction of the bat can be
cleaned from the fact that the new
bat retails for IS. while the ordinary
bat used by big league players costs
only 50. There is much more drive
to the new bat because of its I'M
usual construction.
Tells Umps to Stop 1t.
After permitting Ruth to use the
hat for six weeks, President johnson
has pronounced it Illegal. In letter
TO Manager Higgins of the New York
Yankees, Johnson says:
"The special bat George Ruth is
now using does not conform to the
regulations prescribed by the rules
and must be discarded at once. The
American League umpires have been
instructed to stop Ruth from using
it."
Owner Rupert, Manager Higgins
and Babe Ruth are up in the air
over the ruling. Manager Higgins
insists that Johnson is in error and
will be forced to reverse his ruling
when the facts in the case are prop
erly presented. Owner Rupert says
he is back of Higgins in any stand
his marager decides to take. Ruth is
sore and doesn't make any attempt to
conceal his feelings.
II can see no reason why John
son should bar the Crawford model
bat" SAYS Manager Huggirs.> II must
differ with President Johnson when he
saws II does not conform with the
rules.
"The rules simply state that the bat
must be round, entirely of hard wood
arusd conform 10 certain dimensions.
Sends Bat to johnson.
"The new bat used by Ruth is made
of hard wood and is perfectly round.
The rules do not state that the bat
must be made out Of one piece of wood.
Ruth's bat is not trick bat but
simply an improvement on the old type.
A four-piece bat is much stronger than
a one-piece affair and of course has
much more driving power.
81 have shipped bat to President
johnson for his inspection. also n
letter telling my reasons why | be-
lieve the Ruth bat i perfectly legal.
l am sure President johnson will re-
verse his ruling by the time we open in
the West
Owner Rupert backs Higgins up
in his stand, and says he feels that
Ruth Is being Disseminated against.
He has wired President johnson to
that effect in strong terms.