The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1961-10-27
of TIMES
Babe Ruth
His Exploits
BY LOU FABR0
Times Sports Editor
Second of two arfieIes)

lSecond OF fWo afftclesI
Baseball has produced many s%uperstars over the
wears. Nap LaJoie, Walter Johnson, Honus Wagner,
Rogers Hornsby. Grover Alexander, Lou Gehrig, Mel
OFT. Cy Young, Joe DiMaggio, Jimmy Foxx, Ted Will
liams and Stan Musial are just a few who blazed bril-
liant records.
BUT If YOU A TO PICK the greatest of them
all, you first would have to narrow your selections
down to Ty Cobb, who died several months ago, and
Babe Ruth. While Cobb was a super-superstar, ne
still couldn't match the baseball greatness of the
mighty Babe Ruth.
Ruth simply is in a class by himself.
THE BIG FELLOW, WHOSE NATURAL ATH-
LETlc talent was developed by Xavierian Brother Mat
thias of St. Mary's Industrial School in Baltimore, Md,
was the finest baseball player who ever lived.
His big, booming bat and his magnetic personality
pumped new life into baseball when 1t tottered on the
brink of disaster because of the 1919 "Black Sox"
scandal. Some 90 so far as to credit Ruth in saving
baseball.
Ruth. who was 10 when he made the Boston Red
Sox team in 1914, set or tied Sd major league records
during his Il years in the majors. More than half OF
them still stand.
THE 81, 2l5-pound, happy-solueky Babe began
his career as a pitcher - and was an excellent one.
His major league total shows 90 wins and "a losses
and a sparkling earned-run average OF 226- He won
% games for Boston in both 1916 and 1917.
One of his most spectacular pitching feats was
hurting 20 consecutive World Series innings without
allowing a run. That, of course, was broken by Whltey
Ford aginst the feeble-hitting Cincinnati Reds in the
recent Series. Ruth's record, however, stood for 43
years.
Even as he starred on the mound, Ruth also played
the outfield and first base. In 1919, the Red Sox made
him a regular o%utfielder. He responded by cracking
out 30 home runs to set a new record. lie also posted
a fine 1922 batting average and won eight games as a
pitcher.
RUTH THEN WAS SOLD FOR THE BARGAIN
price of $125, 900 to the New York Yankees - a club
that never had won pennant and didn't even have a
ballpark. leaning up with Lou Gehrig, Ruth immedi'
ately helped transform the Yankees into mighty champ
ions. During his Is years with the club, the YankS won
seven pennantS and came in second five times.
Babe Ruth astounded the sports world by cloutins
81 home runs in his first year with the Yanks. He
knocked SO out of sight in 1921 to prove that 1920 was
no fluke. The Babe became the sensation of the sports
world and Yankee Stadium was built for the throngs
that came to see him play.
In 1927, Ruth hit his record so homers. Witness
ing the final big blow was Ford Frlck, then a young
sports writer and now the commissioner of baseball.
IT was he who decreed that Roger MariS had to hit 90 IN
154 games to break RuthS record. IL was a wise decree
RUTH, WHO BECAME KNOWN AS THE Sultan
of Swat, stood like a giant among players of his
time. No team in the majors, outside of the YankS,
hit as many homers as did Ruth himself in 1927. No
player except teammate Lou Gehrig, who Smacked AZ,
hit as many as 20 that year. The total homer pro-
duction for the American League was 439 - and Ruth
had one of every seven.
That's a far cry from the past season when home
runs we're as common as hot dogs at the ballparE.
American League DdtteIS aidPpeu OUT l,oof hoIlclo
1903 by the two new teams) in the 1861 campaign. With
his 81 lin a ~162-game SCHEDULED Maris had one for
every 25 hit in the league.
When he hung up his spikes in 1885, Ruth had
forged a sparkling .342 lifetime batting average; had
cracked out a record TIA homers plus 500 doubles and
1856 triples for a record total of / 1856 extra base hits.
He also had 1904 singles. Among his stillstanding
records:
HIGHEST sLUccINe PERCENTAGE, SEASON
(340, 1920; led league in smuggling l3 years; lifetime
smuggling average $500; most home runs in con-
secutive seasons Q14) most years leading league in
homers Q2G most times two or more homerS in
a game (72l most bases on balls, lifetime
(2,056; most years leading league in bases on balls,
Q1e most bases on balls in a season Q70; most runs
in a season Q77L 1921; most years leading league in
runs 49, most total bases in a season (450, 1921.
IL ~ q fnnl-