Show SW TWENTY WENTY years ago babe ruth turned in his horns home run in a single season hero here Is a mark that thousands ol of aall players have been swinging at ver over since but three have se 1 bously I ay challenged rhese were hank I 1 re enborg of the r ri 1 g gero e r s jimmy foxx of the athlea cs with 58 each andzack nd and hack wilson allson of he e cubs with 58 56 what the three bont know Is that they hey were halted ted by the jinx plas pins babe ruth bath alered on their robust frames by several million kids 0 0 whom that number SIXTY has keen been a shining chining star in baseballs oky iky because the babe put it there just when it began to look as if 0 oth greenberg and foxx were c certain er to beat it star dust thrown tho wn mysteriously by all these ii kids as got in their batting eyes and they were wera forced to halt abruptly now big john mize of the giants ts to the latest ruth challenger tor for a record season bis big john of the moon face and the mighty swing will defacing be facing the same jinx many thousands of kids would like to see the mauling mize reach 69 59 budnot but not BO 80 especially not 61 this mysterious kids jinx wont be begin ginto to affect jolting john until he h P pe passes e thu th the u 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 wont quite understand what has happened but some ten million kids will f untouchable record those 60 babe ruth home was runs delivered twenty years ago as part of a i total cargo of which is beyond anybody a reach unless inless they use rubber b balls ails and mode move the fences in back of the infield is now a classic cla i asic number in american sport it belongs to the grea greatest tesi power hitter of cfall ball time who was waa 0 only halted bythe by the to on balls handed him each year fear the babe picked out his stance from joe jackson this position Is a known in golf as the closed stance which in babes left handed bitting batting pos posture tuie meant that his right tool fool was well in advance of his left however babes stance kasnot waa not as ag pronounced as shoeless joes was waa andels and his feet were planted closer together to give hla his tremendous body a better chance to work with his hi handstand hands hand sand and arms added to his power was almost p perfect berfect between mind and muscle including amazing reflexes if ruth had started out as an all outfielder in 1914 or 1915 where he h was a winning pitcher his home run mark today would have been around 1000 mize and the modern ball noone no one can question the fact that the ball babe swung at was wag tar far livelier than the pellet home run uri baker ty cobb joe jaakson Jaik jackson son arih trl speaker and other hitters had to face before the first war on the tha other hand taking nothing from johnny mize the 1947 national league ball looks to beahe be the liveliest Om ammunition yet thrown ati swinging bats in certain places the fences have also been moved in toj decrease the home run range but this johnny dizes fault he ts 19 swinging at the ball that la Is OK DK ad d by the national league ile he has always been a great power hitter the war mar came along just when we big john was at his prime find and after hla his injury last season few thought he be would ever be the same old i 1 lots ol of power hitters it so much that mize la is now up in the home run SOs it is more that domany so many others are close on his trail As I 1 recall recall the far oil off details home run baker another stout swinger I 1 led ed b both oth leagues around 1911 1911 with either 9 or 11 home runs I 1 cant recall a ball club that had such power hitters as blize mar biar shall abaci cooper and thomson at this hla tago stage of the rabe rac enot not even ruth gehrig gehrls and the giant are Ro now after the old yankee mark and are arc quite likely to break it today any power hitter who collected 20 home runs in the national league especially is on the puny side ted williams rated the hardest modern modem hitter la is cloe to the giant trio ted has a good ch chance anceto to lead the american league but only an epidemic of home runs down the stretch can put him in front of lizec mize club owners have decided that the home run Is something the c crowd wants and apparently the 1947 attendance Is back backing ingup up their judgment any number of teams will pass the million mark this sea son including pittsburgh which has ha been bee just above the cellar line I 1 the baseball fan la Is a rabid animal and it if he thought too many hame I 1 runs were being hit he would lose lo 10 tittle little timi time in staying away |