The Washington times., 1923-10-20

SCSo d1tQp IL YOu D1GaSGy PIO41G
ikeable fellow has made.
I put him through every medica
test that I know, and to my sur
prise he came up to every standard
Some of these tests were severe. te
say the least, and the reaction oi
the. Babe was impressive. His heart
is perfect, no sign of enlargement
as is frequently found in athletes
who have indulged in strenuous ex
ercise. His pulse beat registered
72, which is what we consider ideal
his lungs, kidneys and liver are IN
fine condition.
His chest expansion is 8 inches
above normal and showing the re-
markable expansion of 6 inches.
He has the finest set of intercostal
muscles that is possible for hu-
man being to possess. OF course,
these and his chest expansion can
be readily. explained by the TACT OF
his continuous outdoor exercise,
which necessitates deep breathing
In the open air, thereby developing
the intercostal muscles and increas-
ing his chest expansion. His sys-
tolic blood pressure normally is 30
mm., which increased to 145 MN.
after 15- minutes vigorous exercise
with heavy dumb-bells, with his
pulse going up to 100 beats per
minute; after two minutes rest his
blood pressure returned to 135 MN.
and his pulse to "A per minute.
was especially interested IN
trying to find out why Babe Ruth
could hit the ball so much farther
and more often than his colleagues,
who apparently are as big ana
strong as he is.
/ had him go through the mo-
tions Of hitting, using a basebal
bat, and it only took glance to
see the perfect coordination or the
back muscles in operation, working
as smoothly as a machine from the
starting of the swing to the follow
through. and how this baseball idol
has trained the different groups oi
muscles used in this movement.
/ had him go through this move
no less than ten times for the pnr-
pose of ascertaining if the power OF
HIS hitting at the ball was natural
and if one swing varied from an.
other; but even though he was hit
ting at an imaginary ball, each
complete movement was similar.
Before Babe Ruth swings his bat
he SeeIns TO employ certain
grip. after which his entire express
sion changes.
He then seems to assure himself
of perfect balance by shuffling his
feet suntil he feels that he is stand
ing solidly, after which he turns his
head towards the direction in which
the ball is to come from; then he
starts his movement, slowly increas-
l. -
the top of the swing, at which
time his right shoulder seems to
come a little forward, starting the
bat around with great speed. which
is followed by the right shoulder to
q certain point, when the body
seems to stand still and the wrist
and the arms carry the bat through
20 the complete swing.
questioned Babe Ruth as to
Just how he knew when to start
20 swing, with the different kinds
Of speeds. pitchers use IN throwing
balls, and he informed me that MS
eyes are responsible for the TIM
ing and momentum OF the ball.
made a rather unusual eye test
that / thought would be interesting.
and l feel that I have discovered to
\ certain extent why Babe Ruth
connects with a ball so hard and
often. I threw $as ball out and l
asked him how far away the Dall
was, and he answered about twenty
eeven feet. When we measured we
found it to be exactly twenty-seven
feet four inches. I moved the ball
at different distances. and each time
ne would come within six inches of
- Nd farNy zin
he had the distance exact.
While Ruth has a splendid muscu-
lar physique, and his contracted
biceps, forearms and wrist muscles
are exceptionally large, his muscles
are entirely different than those
found in the average developed man.
in fact, his muscles are the kind
found mostly in women-long, sim
envy, supple and graceful-which ac-
counts for the easy working of these
organs.
1t would be impossible for the
thick muscle type to be as agile and
fast as Ruth.
As ii is very common for highly
trained athletes or racehOrses to
be high strung and extremely
nervous, this is not SO with Babe
Ruth. While he is highly trained
and i'm superb physical condition.
he is as placid and relaxed as If
he were carrying fifty pounds of
EuperfluOus flesh.
His nervous system is wonderful.
I made a test which very rarely
fails to cause a momentary contrac.
ton of the nerves and muscles, but
in this particular instance it had no
effect. Without Babe" Knowing il
had Prof. McGoVern stand behind
Ruth with a heaVv durnbbell and l
IN tSs. wins, ne q ssiISss! With
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