Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1948-08-17

many winters thereafter. He was sole
to the Yankees for a record $4,000
and $35, 600 worth of players. There
was talk of a weak knee, but there
was more talk of INSTRUMENTATION
But no amount Of talk appeased the
Boston fans who saw a new idol
taken from them.
President Harry Frazee OF the
Red Sox tried to console them.
with Ruth on the club, the mo-
rale of other players was in danger
ne apologized. They did not have
the fight to win, with him thinking
of nothing else but home runs, and
it was impossible for some Of the
players who have won world cham
pionships to continue playing base
ball In such a way.
Ruth would not do what he was
told on the playing field. He would
60 to the plate and If he hit out a
homer he was satisfied. When Ruth
announced he was not going to play
for the figures on his contract, I
lost all respect for him as player
or man"
Made Singing Paramount.
That was probably the most for
tuitous of Babes many holdouts.
AS a full-f1edged outfielder in 1920,
he smashed out 81 homeruns and
batted .376. In one season he vir-
tually revolutionized the game from
one Of intense pitching, fielding and
base running to one in which slug
ging was paramount.
Raseballs popularity, dimmed by
the Black Sox scandal and the &C
cidental "bean-ball' death Of Ray
Chapman in 1920, began rising to
new peaks and everywhere baseball
was played, Babe Ruth was a magic
name.
The next year Ruth blasted 50
homers and was rewarded with a
$4,000 salary for 1922. Any tenden-
cies toward insubordination and
riotous living he had shown before
that lucrative year, were overshad-
owed by 1922.
His recalcitrance drew a suspen-
sion from Manager Miller Higgins
that was backed up by Commissioner
Lands. He found himself embroiled
with civil courts and traffic courts.
AS his fortune melted away and his
baseball skill fell off (35 homers and
.3l5 batting average> the tales Of
high living grew. Writers said he was
demoralizing the Yankee ball club,
and Higgins tossed in a $1,000 fine.
Gave Away Automobile.
One story credited him with hav-
ing nine automobiles. When one of
them stalled one day, he abandoned
it, bought another and told the
dealer: My old bus is a coupla miles
down the highway. If you can make
it run, it's yours"
A roommate reported that during
a hot spell in st. Louis Ruth wore
twenty-five $50 silk shirts In three
days-and left them for the cham
bermaid.
With an idol lettering on the
brink, 1t all came so close to Ma
tional scandal that official action
was taken. Ruth was invited to a
dinner where James j. Walker, then
a New York State Senator, was a
speaker. Mr.. Walker bounced on the
Babe with both feet, shaming him
in the name of American boyhood.
Babe he said, "a kid Just
stopped me on the street and asked
for dime. He wanted to make up a
quarter to buy q Babe Ruth cap.
Don't you think you owe something
to that kid-and others like him?"
There was nothing maudlin about
the tears that rolled down the big,
ugly face of the Babe. That was a
turning point in his career. He had
survived his first crisis.
Writers Are Seuelched.
The next year the writer's put
away their obituary notices when
Ruth bounced back with Al home
runs and his fanciest batting aver
age-.393.
But if he had tapered off in other
excuses, the Babe had done little
about conquering his king-size ap-
petite. The Ruthian breakfast was
a legend-three orders of hash, six
fried eggs, a stack of toast, six cups
of coffee at the rate of swallow
a cup. And the hot dogs were still
being slowed away at dozen day.
1T wasn't the dogs. it was the
skins I couldn't digest" he recalled
in later years.
Whatever 1t was, it caught up
with him in 1925. Riding back
from the Florida training camp, he
was stricken near Asheville, N. G.
He had a tremendous stomachache
"a rumble heard round the world.
Rushed to st. Vincent's Hospital
in New York, he was a national
topic for many days. A London
newspaper announced in a streamer
headline that the big Babe was laid
low by acute Indigestion. Ameri-
can newspapers reserved prominent
front page space for every hospital
bulletin.
Batting Average Slumped.
The big fellow recovered in time
to play in SO games and hit Is home
runs. but his batting average
slumped to comparatively pale
.2e0. And he had another run-in
with the front office. Fined 5000
by Higgins, he swore he would never
play another game for that mild
manager. But as ever, he apologized
in the end, and was restored to
good graces.
Came 1926 and q comeback good
for Al home runs during the sea-
son and four IN the World Series
three Of them on one day. In