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

~ live OF q Dubious man on
4 Il matchstick legs pointing in
eloquent gesture to Wrigley
Fields PARKWAY centerf1eld barrier
the jibes of $4,000 Chicago fans
soaring his ears.
There were two strikes on George
Herman Babe" Ruth that World
Series day of October !, 1882, like
there had been two strikes on him
many times during his career. The
score was 4 to 4 in the fifth inning
and Ruth's Yankees were cunning
for their third straight win.
Two called strikes and there
stood basebans greatest hitter in
the sunset of his career, majestically
drawing bead on a spot 400 feet
away. CONTEMPORARY. the Babe
held up two fingers. then pointed
to the centerfield flagpole.
Charley Root pitched. He shouldn't
have done 1t. Like a projectile the
ball left the Ruthian bat to scream
on line over the right centerfeld
wall.
LCStIlu VI DdctudIls
It was Babe Ruth's 18th and last
World Series home run and 1t was
as though he had written legend
father and son would keep alive
through the years to make him i'm
mortal One who saw the tremend-
Gus shot was Franklin D. Roosevelt,
who a month later was elected
President.
The story of Babe Ruth Is such
to tax the credulity OF an editor of
.Horatio Alger. It starts in Balti-
more training school, moves to
Boston where he was an overnight
success as q left-handed pitcher, |
then to New York where he en-
deared himself to millions all over
the world with an amazing batting
ability and the gift of shoWmanship. |
During the % years he played, |
Ruth rolled up 76 major league all
time records-so many the statsti-
clans reserved for him an entire |
section of the record books. The
record every one remembers is the
so home runs he blasted in 1927, and |
little less known are his all-time |
marks Of TIA homers and 2,209 runs
batted in.
Story Not in Record Books.
: What the record books don't tell
Is how this roistering, fun-loving
overgrown boy administered hypo
= to baseball that brought it unprece-
denied popularity at a time when
: IoJ
Z to dig its grave.
z Nor do they tell how the nAlti- |
tudes he attracted in New York laid
out the capital for the concrete bowl
of Yankee Stadium and how he
conquered an Unsuitable appetite for
food and good living to attain his
greatest successes, even after the
. writers were booming him to OBJ
Gvion in 1925.
The records do not tell how he
broke all rules with the greatest
of pleasure, bringing down on bis
round head the wrath of managers |
and some $4,000 In f1nes-one hit |
ting a record $1,000 They do not
reveal the famous stomachache of
1925. when he collapsed on a train
en- route home from training
camp and became a headline ques-
ton mark all over the world. Or
how prodigal spending cost him per-
haps quarter of million dollars. /
The story of the other Ruth
The good-natured fat man loved by
adults and idolized by kids-the
Ruth who spent countless hours at
children's hospitals giving many the
spark to live-that story is not told
IN the record books, either.
Deserves Highest Place.
Most sports writers are agreed
Ruth deserves higher pedestal in
Baseball's Hall of Fame than any
other man. Daniel M. Daniel, one
Of the experts, cites these points in
proof: +
Ruth had the greatest drawing
power at the gate. the greatest hit
ting power, compiled the top home
run record, had remarkable fielding
skill, had instructive ability in all
departments of the game, was a
leader in showmanship and COM
manded the highest salary ever paid
AS Ruth's success mounted, so did
his pay checks. He reached the A.
nancial Zenith in 1880 and 1881 when
his 100000 per annum shaded the
salary of the President of the United
States. Throughout his career the
Babe earned more than 81 200, 600
1896 900 in salaries, SAL ASH in cuts
from 10 World Series and the rest
from welter of transforming. writ
ing and movie contracts, and ad-
vertising Endorsements.
Made Records as Pitcher.
Babe Ruth's claim to immortality
was Staked in the golden era of the
20's when he was making America
home-run conscious Fewer fans re-
member him from 19l4-l9 when he
was hanging up pitching records for
the Boston Red SoX that still stand
He was 10 then, as green as they
come, but he had a stout heart and
limitless stamina wrapped in a g.
foot-2-inch, 185-pound frame. He
had fiat. broad nose. large ears
and mouth expandable to almost
any size when he felt like below
ing. This was before the days when
a bullying waistline caused national
concern.
Before that the Babe was a big, I.