The Washington times., 1932-03-19
SLUMPS PART
Of BASEBALL,
SAYSBABE
By BABE RUTH


ST. PETERSBURG, Fla, March
19.-I note that Pepper Martins
failure to break away this year
as q hitting star in the spring
series between the Cardinals and
the Mackmen has caused some
comment. It Is the same old
story Of too much being expected
of q player because he has been
able to climb so high and win all
the headlines.
That is one of the penalties OF
fame, and Pepper must not take
the demands of the fans too seri.
ously. 1 am quite sure that ne
is level-headed enough not to take
his world series success too serl.
ously, either. Both are part OF
baSeball-the ups as well as the
downs-and we all run into both.
Tough Days Ahead
Martin will find in the coming
year that it will not be as easy
to get through a bad day as it
has been in the past. Having
qualified as a hero in the biggest
series Of the year, he must expect
to get razZed more in failure than
he ever was in the past. Tue
cheers and the jeerS are as much
to be expected as the hits and
the errors, and the more success
q player has had the more he is
a target for the fans who are out
to see the other team win.
would say that Pepper is in a
tough spot right now, but not so
tough that he won't come through
it all right. He will be pressing,
as they sayNin golf, because he
knows that everybody is expecting
great things from him. No game
is improved by pressing and Mar.
tins is likely to suffer. MY advice
to him is to 60 into every game as
he did last year, forgetting what
happened in the world series, and
to hit naturally. The hits will
come often enough because Pet
per is a good hitter. All he has to
do is to remember that he has the
qualifications to succeed in MAJOR
league baseball and not try to do
too much.
Blood will Boil
No doubt Pepper read lot of
things about himself last year
that made his blood tingle. That
happens when one is riding on the
wave of success. This year he
probably will read now and then
some stories which will make his
blood boil. When the Slumps
come and he reads what a false
alarm somebody thinks ne is. it
will be a different feeling. have
read both types Of stories about
myself and some Of them used to
bother me a lot. Now a roast
does not burn ME up as it did
years ago.
So say to Pepper that he must
not take failure and jeers too
seriously when they come. Try
hard all the time and natural
ability will see you through sue.
cessfully. Forget those world
series hits because they don't
mean a thing in this years pen
nant race. Forget the harsh
jeers of the fans when the going
is tough and the base hits simply
won't come. have probably lis
tened to as many jeers as any
player in baseball, but I have no
kick coming. The fans have been
kind to me and the fellow who
roots the hardest against you and
bawls you out for failure is not al
ways pulling against you. He is
often disappointed over your fail
ure to come through.
Terrible SIumps
I have had Slumps when II
seemed impossible to hit a ball
beyond the iofield. I knew all
the time that the fans were ex
pecting me to hit home runs, and
some of them didn't hesitate tc
make me understand what a buSt
] was. can hear some OF the
bleacher boys now giving Martin
a merry ride this summer wnen q
ball slips through his fingers. Of
when he comes back to his posi-
tion after striking out in a pinch
They'll tell him how lucky ne wa;
and what false alarm he turned
out to be.
But there will be another side
to the story, and pleasing one
When Martin makes a great
catch or hits a homer this yeal
it will get more attention anc
more applause than a similar catch
or homer got a year ago. The
fans will he paying more atten
tion to Pepper. For after all they
like to sing your praises more
than they enjoy roasting a bal
player. I've struck out, and have
gone back to the bench feeling
that everybody in the park wa
against me, but a home run late
in the game would bring enough
applause to make me feel that
everybody in the grandstand anC
bleacherS was a friend.
So say to Pepper, forget tht
series, be natural, don't pres
and you are sure to succeed.