Evening star., 1932-03-15
NEW FORM At BAT
IS TESTED BY BABE
Keeps Feet Closer, Chokes
Club More in Effort to In
prove Swing.
BY GRANTLAND RICE.

' into its own last Fall in
the victory of the
Cardinals through better work
around the towpaths there still
will be the same old interest in
the battle for the home run
championship of 1882.
This interest will be built largely
around the old duel between Ruth and
Gehrig, with the possibility that one
or two outsiders may step into the pic
ture. Such long range hitters as Chuck
Klein and Earl Averill must always be
watched.
There is another angle to this mat
ter of home-run hitting. To the large
majority the home-run slugger de-
pends largely on sheer power. AS
matter of fact it takes a smoother style
Of swinging to pile up home runs than
it does to choke up the bat and go out
more for the lowly single or the double
WHEN Ruth or Gehrig takes his full
w cut at the ball he has to bank on
better coordination to face curve
ball pitching where the sharp break
is easier to follow and meet from
shorter swing. The hitter who takes a
fun, free wallop at the ball should be
easier to fool, for it is harder for MIN
to change the plane Of his swing.
Yet one afternoon recall Ruth start
ing a full swing as the curve broke
sharply in close to his hands. Only
keen reflexive action could have
changed the swing, after it had started
But Ruth in some way accomplished
this, clubbing the ball out of the bot
with much shorter punch that had
almost no home-run follow through.
Four of the best swings that ever
came into base ball, as far as full
lash at the ball is concerned, belonged
to Joe Jackson, Babe Ruth, Iris Speak
er and Wildfire Schultz. These are
the types of swings that might have
been used by a Bobby Jones or q Mac
Smith. They include combination OF
body turn, fine wrist action and full,
free lash. demanding unusual timing to
meet the ball squarely.
The Babe Still Experiments.
A FTER stringing along all these
caused dissatisfaction only to his
rivals, Babe Ruth has decided he can
make improvements. AS he swings
down there by the lake frcnt in st.
petersburg, he keeps his dainty feet
closer together and chokes the bat more
than he did.
ITS Just theory I've been work
ing on" says the Babe. And not
exactly new-I've been going to try 1t
out for long time"
inasmuch as Ruth uses a very close
stance in playing golf, it was reason
able to ask If the germ of the idea had
come from his golfng. Babes answer
was mo" But, he said, f.Hhe only dlf-
ference between the golf swing and the
batting swing Is the STEP" He tries
to get the same effortless unison be-
tween arms and body pivot In potn
games.
Ruth again answered in the mega
tive when asked II he nao toupiH ,f
keeping the "step" out OF the son
swing. Having developed such pow
erfui lunge forward to ram those pat-
ted halls over the far fences, II Is
reasonable to suppose the Babe wouIo
he anxious to lunge forward on Ihe
But the big Babe is a more controlleo
roeehanism than YOU would suspect,
idIv recalling his tremendous power.
Like all great athletes, the secret OF nus
art is relaxed muscular control ne Is
never knotted or restricted IN nus mo mo'e.
slow back swing in golf, and time
pitched ball perfectly.
WHEN 1t comes to differences De
w tween the golf stroke and the bat
ting swing. Ruth shows up more
In the wrist action. Despite his puiK
and muscled torso, the Babes drive Is
essentially a powerful writ snap, ano
because he doesn't make the mistake OF
thinking muscle makes a golf snot ne
plays the short shots much better tnan
you would expect him.
Habit is strong among athletes ano
it will be surprising If the Babe aoneres
to his new variation, with closer stance
and shorter grip. But this much can
be said. the Babe hasn't any intention
of tagging behind the times. He set an
entire era In base ball with his tre-
mendous circuit clouts, which broke up
base-running science and brought
misery to pitchers.
Now that the pendulum Is swinging
back. Ruth means to be more than a
back-number slugger in new age OF
smart base ball. His feat in tying Lou
Gehrig for the home run honors last
season. with As, proves that Ruth need
not worry over being displaced as home
run king. The grand old veteran wants
to be right in the thick CT this sure
hitting bee.
II Ruth does restrict his slugging, he
should cut down his strikeouts, but
there's a misconception about how
often he fans. He whitfield only 81
times In 1881, five strikeouts less than
Gehrig, one less than Joe Cronin CT
the Nationals and only five more than
AL Simmons, leading hitter OF the
league. Considering that the Babe
drew the most passes, l28, he's bet
ter bet to get on first than any man
in the league. Ruth got 1919 hits and 1913
passes Gehrig 211 hits and lit passes.
But Gehrig was ofhcially at bat 6ls
times TO Ruth's 534.
CIuuuiuw and GnAA1