Show I j l I r While W Walter Palter Is h Au This Month Ills His Column Will pill il lie ul Conducted by Guest Columnists Nightlife Murders l Baseball Says Babe Ruth RuthBy RuthBy RuthBy By the Run Home King f Propped up on a cot col in a hospital for several weeks recently follow tallow ing lug an operation for the removal of ofa It Ita f fa a cartilage fro from my right knee I f i spent a lot of time considering the ye Ue future of baseball Lets Let's start with that nocturnal I nuisance night baseball Its It's murI mur mur- dering the sport with the help of the I robbing cradle magnates who are I killing the source and substance o ol 01 the game by neglect of the kids without whom it cannot exist Night baseball is strictly a business bust busi ness Dess proposition proposition-an an offshoot of war conditions One or two games a week to give the defense workers a break is OK But now both major leagues are planning four and five a week weck That will spell the end of the sport The magnates wont won't give up the regular weekend week gravy of Saturday and Sunday daylight games That will mean a layoff Monday and four night contests To the players this will be a drastic drastic dras dras- tic and unhealthy way of life lie Eye Eye trouble will develop Right now now night games are compelling some players who never had to use glasses S to wear em Babe Dahlgren is an example Irregular meals and sleep is another an a y other disadvantage An athlete cant can't get along without regular sleep and andl that will be impossible under a da day and night schedule of games j Danger of Catching Colds Cold 4 In Night ight 11 Games t i Imagine what will happen to the veterans pitchers In particular A pitcher perspires profusely durin during a a game In the daytime usually with AI the sun shining there is less danger i I of catching cold I know what I am talking about aboul I caught one of the worst colds of my career in a night game merely merely acting as a coach when I was with Brooklyn What it Is doing to tho those thane e I 1 two-Inning two pitchers can well be im im- im i j As for the fans Its It's a mistake to tt think the men of the family are going go- go ing lug to attend four night games regu regu- regu each week Mothers wives and andI I girl friends will soon stop that t Much publicity already has been given to the fact that night will take the game away aters Kids are the backbone o ol of t the game Smart baseball officials official I have done everything possible in the past to promote the interest of these these future audiences by admitting then them I free to week day daylight games Boy Boys s as prospective bi big leaguers lea lea- arc are not getting a square shake from Crom organized baseball The major clubs show no DO interest inter Inter- est cst in a boy until hes he's 16 and can get working working- papers Then if hes he's got the stuff stun they sen send d him out to a Class D league i where they squeeze what they ther can out of or him as a hired hand Softball and Baseball Just Dont Don't Mix There seems to be a growing apa spa apathy i thy toward baseball The village t town and former hot neighborhood neighborhood- t Thi This teams and rivalries are fading cannot be attributed to the war because be- be I be-I be cause the boys who made up those 1 teams were usually under draft age agar Il IlI I hate softball though I approve approve any game that gets kids out in th the I 11 sun but softball has bas ruined many a a. a potential big leaguer You canno cannot t t t play softball and excel at baseball Progress Is also pushing baseball aside Bit by bit we see the growth t h j I of cities and towns wipe out sand sand sand-j lots and semi-pro semi ballparks Even Eve la in small villages you will discover 10 W cornfields that once were baseball ly diamonds No efforts are made to save save the diamonds i t Where are the kids going to turn i to for aid lot The kids themselves tossed the an answer awer to me at one of my recent Sat Saturday 1 1 morning radio broadcasts on C th the e A. A G Spalding program Devise a plan whereby the big leagues vc would tt sponsor baseball schools throUghout tG the country using retired star play E ers as Instructors I r the game a at Boys start playing eight years and until they become 16 16 get little or bad schooling In n the a sport So they acquire unbreakable l i habits In batting throwing sliding and fielding unless they are natural natural- j born players like the Otts Cobbs Collins Speakers etc With professional pro pro- pro coaching the kids would be bt befit befit fit for tor league play anytime they were t needed i iI a I 1 played durin during during- the last war g gand and can vouch for the fact that few of the players who saw W ae- c- c J service ever reached top lop r b bad form again Some of the acts aceS ces like Capt Hank Greenberg and Bill Dickey who are along alon In ID It to the the return years pears may never game Chaps like Joe DIMs DIM f Ted William illiam I gio Bio Bob Feller FeUer PI and Terry Moore depend depending in o on td the type and length lenth of their 1 Ice may take as long as U Wee twee iI years or more to hit their former fonner p old stride again if they ever h hit J It jj lre again r G Gf Gj H j k f |