The Washington times., 1928-04-18
'IHB)NERS'
S('I)RNED
BY BABE:
BY Babe Ruth

oOP1O4Ns NAdSSsg APAA LO'
.1t looks ike another smuggling
year in big league baseball. It's
i funny thing how the early
season games in both leagues
have been won by slnggers
rather than by great pitching.
OF course, there 5 always the
explanation that the hitters
are ahead of the pitchers, and
no doubt about it, that has got
something to do with early
spring hitting.
But i've got q bunch that the
hitting will keep up pretty much
through the season, and that the
two clubs that come out on top
next October viii be the clubs that
slnacked that ball, rather than the
clubs that depended on alright
pitching. Bearing that in mind, the
outstanding thing in the first week
of the season, as see it. was the
stunt pulled by old Grover Cleye-
land Alexander when he shut out
the Pirates.
I'm this day and age Of base.
ball d shut-Out Ii quite an &C.
cOHnplisnment any time. It's
Sioubly tough In the springtime
when weather conditions are
tough for pitchers, and its just
three times harder when yOu
smear the WIliteWash on . hit.
ting club like the Pirates.
TO my mind old Alex Is the out
standing figure Of the week, I |
don't see how he does it. Up there /
for more years than most players /
viii ever know, and still going |
along Just as smooth and easy ~
aver.
Or course the answer Il that
Alex has two things that few
pitchers have. He has control and
he has b head. Every time he
ana everytime he faces q hitter he
do It.
There are mighty few pitchers
like that in baseball any more. Alex
and Adolf LuQue and Jess Petty IN /
the National League: Herbie Pen.
mock. and Waite Hoyt and George /
Uh1e in our league are good ex.
anlples. But most OF the modern
pitchers just go out there and throw
and let the other fellows do the /
work. They seem to take the at
titude that every game win be a
they hold the other team to five OF |
six runs they're doing their duty.
When Ii comes to alugging.
almost every club I'm the two
leagues have 3 lew men who
can pound that old apple and |
pound IL hard. Take clubs like
the Yankees, the Detroit Tigers,
the Pirates, the Giants and the
Athletics. These clubs are real
sIugging outfits - playing for
their runs in drOves and fI0clzs
and winning ball games simply
by overwhelming the other Eel.
low. III they get good pitching
its great. But if they get only
fair pitching they still can win
d lot Of ball games simply be-
cause they pound that ball all
over the lot.
Fans who watched the Athletic |
Yankee series in Philadelphia last
week, for instance. saw more hit. |
ting in three games than they used
to see in a dozen. Eddie Collins
was taking aOOuL InaL the uay We
left. Boy" Eddie said, what |
wouldn't an old-ti club have done |
with a few of these base hits that
the boys are dropping all over the
diamond now. Eddie Plank end
Jack Coombs. for instance"
The answer is. of course. thabl
those fellows played baseball in 2 |
different age. They played when
the whole game was run for the |
benefit of the pitcher and the hit.
ter got all the worst of 1t. / am
not taking anything away from
those pitchers. They were great |
enough. But I've got a bunch that |
If they were turned loose today, and |
pitched against modern hitting with |
all the present-day pitching rules, |
they wouldn't do any better than |
the fellows who are out there now |
In other words baseball. right |
now, is In the slam bang age. It's |
game made for hitters-and you |
don't have to go any further than |
the first weeks box scores to |
prove it.
Copyright 1929. by the Christy
Walsh Syndicate1