The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1928-08-29
SAYS YANK.
SLUMP IS .
OVER
By Babe Ruth

NEW YORK, Aug. 29.-
Nine times out Of ten when q
bah club goes into a long
slump you hear the experts
wailing about bad pitching
being the cause of the down
fall. And nine times out OF
ten that's all wrong.
Don't misunderstood me. Poor
pitching is the cause of lot OF
baseball woes-but here's the point.
IL team has poor pitching the
chances are that it never does get
started, and slumps here and there
don't mean anything. But when 2
>1critending team that has been IN
the thick of the fight all season
lOng, suddenly goes bl0oey, you can
bet your bottom dollar that Il ism
bSd pitching that il at fault so
rluch as it is a lack Of punch.
when a team suddenly starts a
winning squirt and climbs from
the als0.rans right into the thick q
the fight the chances are that Il
isn't good pitching so much as II
a hitting that brings them up.
IN other words the point /
want To make Is that pitching,
Ne il good sor bad, Is more
likely to be steady. But hitting
Is the most inconsistent thing
m the world. One day club
aFiaclSs the cover off the ball
and the next day they can t
Hit the broad side OF barn
with . scatter gun.
You've got good examples Of that
in both leagues this year. The
Yankees, away to a flying start,
suddenly pull up to a walk and the
Athletics almost catch them. 1t
wasn't had pitching that caused
that. We got some bad pitching
from time to time sure enough, bdS.
tnen We had got some bad pitching
from time to time all season long.
No sir, the thing that hurt us was
= hitting slump-and il we hadn
come out OF il when we did we
might have been hurt lot WORSE.
The Giants, running behind All
season long, suddenly battle their
way into first place. There again
II was the punch that did II. The
Giants pitching il about the same
now that 1t was q month or two
ago. The difference between games
won and lost has been base hits.
And the same goes for the Athletics
in their great squirt which turned
a runaway into great race IN
our league.
picked the Cardinals to win
the National League pennant. But
I've got TO hand it to the Giants.
They've made as game an uphill
fight as / ever saw in baseball
and IL they continue to hit they're
mighty likely to get into the world
series. MeGraw has a well-balanced
ball club. He has no great out
standing stars but he has q lot
ot men who perform. consistently
and well. He has a lot Of hitting
power-more, in fact, than he has
had in long. long time. But
more important than that he has
Q club that is never whipped. They
are fighters, those Giants. and they
are always at their best when the
going is toughest.
His pitching as zee It Is
only fair. Larry Benton u
really great-One OF the best
performers in either league. But
aside from Benton there are
no outstanding pitchers on the
Giant club. FitEsimmOns Is good.
SO Il Genewich-but they Ger.
tainly don't rate as great. All
of which makes the punch
even more important on the
club.
So far as the Yankees are con
cerned everyone knows that we
cah hit. And when we struck that
slump a few weeks ago it was
simply question Of whether we
could come back in time to head
off trouble. There was NO question
IS TO whether We would come back.
1t was merely question of when,
think we're back now. We've
started increasing our lead again
and barring accidents we ought
20 win out. After all. you know
lead of four or five or six
games at this time Of the year is
almost as sure. TO win az a lead
Of twice as long on July 4.
Copyright. 32S. BY The Christy
Walsh Syndicate)