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Show VVERDEN A Dm ITS BABE RUTH SWINGS HARDER Fans Yelled Because He Drove the Ball So Hard. Yankee Slugger's Big Assets Are His Swing and Weight No Excitement Excite-ment Over Werden's Record of 45 Home Run Drives. The old home-run klug takes off his bat to the uew oue. Perry Werdeti, burner king, who made his record of 45 drives in 1S95, admits that Babe Huth has a harder swing than he bad when be made his mark. "There is no doubt but that Babe has It on all of them modern and ancient," says Werden. "His swing and his weight are his biggest assets. "When I made my record, I was playing with the St. Louis Club of the old Western league. "There wasn't much talk about my 45 home runs. The truth la, some fans panned me because I swung too hard. "Fences were farther back then. 1 had to hit the ball hard to lift it out of the park. "I weighed ISO pounds if I had been heavier I might have hit them as far as Babe. "I batted right-handed. My average aver-age that year was .428." Werden is now calling balls and strikes in the Dakota league. He isn't as spry as be once was, but he runs the game like a czar. His record was almost forgotten un-i un-i til Ruth made 29 home runs in 1919. Then the dope on Werden was dug up for comparison. The best day at bat Werdeti ever had was on July 23, 1895, when he rapped out four home runs and a single in five times at. bat, giving the slugger a total of 17 bases for one game. Werden stood at the plate with hf3 feet close together, lifted himself back and met the ball with his whole weight behind the bat. He had a good eye and seldom struck out. His grip was like Babe's, students $G for athletic tax. |