Show TWENTY years ago go babe kuth ruth turned in his home run in a ingle season here is a mark that that thousands ot ol all players have been swinging at ever since but three have se challenged rhese were hank arhenberg ot of the r i g e r s jimmy foxx of the athlea cs with 58 53 each and hack wilson of of he cubs w with th 56 f what the three ion aon t know Is that they were halted by the jinx plas pias babe ruth alered on their robust frames by several million kids 0 whom that number SIXTY has been a shining star in baseball baseballs s sky because the babe put it there just when it began to look as if doth greenberg and foxx were ain to beat it star dust thrown mysteriously by all these kids got in their batting eyes and they were forced to halt abruptly now big john mize of the giants Is the latest ruth challenger tor for a record season big john of the moon face and the mighty swing will be facing the same jinx many thousands of kids would like to see the maulin mauling mize reach 59 but not 50 60 especially not 61 this mysterious kids jinx won wont t begin to affect jolting john until he passes the 50 or perhaps the 55 point then he will feel mysterious forces at work that will turn the baseball into the size of a golf ball he will find star dust in his batting eye just as greenberg and foxx did big john won t quite under stand what has happened but some ten million kids will MIL untouchable record those 60 babe ruth home runs delivered twenty years ago as part of a total cargo of which is be yond anybody s reach unless they use rubber balls and move the fences in back of the infield is now a classic number in american sport it belongs to the greatest power hitter of all time who was only halted by the to bases on balls bans handed him each year the babe picked out his stance from joe jackson this position is known in golf as the closed stance which in babe s left handed batting posture meant that his right too foot was well in advance of his left however babe s stance was not as pronounced as shoeless joe s was and his feet were planted closer together to give his tremendous body a better chance to work with his hands and arms added to his power was almost perfect coordination between mind and muscle including amazing re flexes if ruth had started out as an outfielder in 1914 or 1915 where he h was a winning pitcher his home run mark today would have been beer around 1 1000 mize and the modern ball no one one can question the tact fact thai that the ball babe swung at was tar livelier than the pellet home run baker ty cobb joe jackson tris speaker and other hitters had to face before the first war on the other hand band taking nothing from johnny mize the 1947 national league ball looks to be the liveliest ammunition yet thrown at swinging bats in certain places the fences have also been moved in to decrease the home run range but this isn t johnny mize s fault he fie is swinging at the ball that is 0 K d by the national league he ile has always been a great power hitter the war came along just when big john was at his prime prinie and after his injury last season few thought he would ever be the same old lots of power hitters it isn t so much that mize is now up in the home run it is more that so many others are close on his trail As I 1 recall the far off details home run baker another stout swinger led both leagues around 1911 with either 9 or 11 home runs I 1 can t recall a ball club that had such power hitter hitters as mize marshall cooper and thomson at this stage of the race rac enot not even bath ruth gehrig and the giant are now after the old yankee mark and are quite likely to break it today any power bitter hitter who chasn t collected 20 home runs in the national league especially is on the puny side ted williams rated the hardest modern modem hitter Is close to the giant trio ted has a good chance to lead the american league but only an epidemic of home runs down the stretch can put him in front of mize club owners have decided that the home run is something the crowd wants and apparently the 1947 attendance Is backing up their judgment any number of teams will pass the million mark this sea son including pittsburgh which has been just above the cellar line the baseball tan fan is a rabid animal and if he thought too many home runs were being hit he would lose little time in staying away |