The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-04-13
RUTH AND BAT OUT FOR NEW RECORD
 AND NEW CONTRACT
Babe Looked Good in Camp -Has Made S67O,0OO With Yanks in l2 Years
BY LEO II. PETERSEN fInifcd Press Stan COrrcSnOndlcn


 Yankee Stadium, W. r., April 13 --UP)-Babe Ruth came home to- day.
 '"The house that Ruth built"-re- ceived It's first glimpse of the home run king IS he went through brief batting drill in final preparation for tire seasons opener against the Bos- ton Red Sox tomorrow.
 Three Big Ideas
 Ruth had a triple objective in mind as he tuned up his home run range" The first was to regain the ls.urels he lost last season to Hack Wilson of the Chicago Cubs. An ether was to break his own record of 60 home runs in single season. The third. and perhaps most im- portant, was to win a renewal of his $80,000 a year contract.
 Ruth's two-year contract with the New York Yankees, calling for $1G0,00O. "uns out this year, And when Babe gets his last pay check of the 1881 season it will make q total of s67O,OO0 that he has drawn from Col Jake Rupperts coffers turing the 12 years he has been with the Yankees.
 Ready to Go
 "I feel fine and see no reason why 1 should not nave q good season in hitting" Ruth told the United Press today. T have been hitting more home runs this spring than usual during the training season. will not say I will break the record by hitting more than 60, but, barring accidents, 1 believe 1 should be up close to record figures when the season closes"
 Ruth appears in the best of con I I;- spN1; t,, I> has lost none of his speed. In fact in the two-game series with Brook lyn, Babe appeared much faster on the bases than he did last year.
 While he has much respect for Hack Wilson's long range hitting, Ruth believes he will be able to re- capture the major league home run crown. Wilson wrested the title from Ruth in 1890 when he hit 56 circuit blows, nine more than Babe.
 Ruth's record year was in 1927. Of the GO home runs, he made 27 at the Yankee Stadium and 33 on the road.
 Babe does not believe the new ball will effect his home run aim. In ex- hibition games this spring he has hit for the circuit six times. He also has some doubles and triples to his credit.
 Plenty of Records
 In his 17 years as a major leaguer . Ruth has hit 578 homers. That is the same total that Ty Cobb, Hans Wagner, Napoieon Lajoie and Rog- CTS Hornsby have hit among them. But it took the four men combined term of 82 years to equal the figure made by Ruth in IT seasons.
 That Is only one of the records Ruth holds. He holds dozens of others. So many, in fact, that many of the baseball guides and annals fail to list them all.
 Ruth, however, had won baseball fame long before he became home run king. As a pitcher for the Bos- ton Red Sox. he was ranked as one of the best hurlers in the American league. His big triumph was a 1 to D victory over the Chicago Cubs in the world series of 1918. It was that season that he established the rec ord for pitching the largest mum :. Ter of consecutive innings of shut out ball in world series competition.
 But his natural ability as a hitter took Ruth away from the mound And as proof for the wisdom of the move there stands to-day the Yan- kee StadiuIn---the biggest baseball structure in the world.