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IIIFrazee StatesTrade AnyWill;ePSox Playerbut HarryFigureDisturbing«oElement and Make ClubTeam3n-20. emp-madecon-*e of meets title-con-thatsaid)ffer9irouldelo\vbeen 5 Vila t Iits of ecial for of l the suchceives thefight,raneenight.xeblo, er ofany'orto-o ob-pro-theirYorkbe-infiite* tis pt a 'lay-y.London,at leftBY PAUL H. SHANNONTs T*It, Babe Ruth of the Reil Sox to he traded? Is this hardest hittin- pitcher of all time to be handed over to some other outnt mthC ^Neither SSL nor Manager Barrow has as yet con-! sented to be interviewed upon this particular point, and both of thes , sented to ocm . i carefully refrained from discussing the1!= -?slates. AH things are possible in baseball, and many a star has foundPH inhere of usefulness changed over night. , ,Onlv the other day, in discussing possible trades between theBoston and other clubs, President Frazee stated that he would sell o ! trade any ball player on his club with the single exception of Harry TIooper ' Sentiment and a realization that Hooper should end his big l-eague career in the city where it was first begun undoubtedly influenced the Red Sox president in making such a statement. _ .While Ruth, from his own viewpoint, feels that lie is justified indemanding that his salary be doubled, and probably has lor an argument that he drew heavily at the gate during the past season, it shou d he remembered likewise that only last winter he held the Boston club up for an increase, insisting upon a $10,000 salary, which he uasfinally given. , . . .At that time Babe signed a three-year contract at his own *eI™s*The club owners belief, as well as 90 out of every 100 fans is, that hashould abide by this contract. .....lust at the present time Ruth evidently believes that a baseballcontract is nothing hut “a scrap of paper.” Organized baseball and the courts rule otherwise. From the attitude of owner and fans alikeBabe’s position is untenable.RUTH’S VALUE A QUESTIONAs far as Ruth’s real worth to the club is concerned, opinions vary greatly. All basebaildom concedes that he is the most spectacular hitter in the business, and the most dangerous man in the country m a pinch. He is a fairly good outfielder and lie has his heart and soul in the game—if—the management will let him play it his own way. But there are times when one man becomes even too big for his owif club-—and a one-man club has never been supreme in baseball.When one comes to consider that last season Ruth broke all records by rapping out 29 home runs, that be broke up many a game, but that, at the same time the Red Sox finished in sixth place. Ruth 3 value as a winning ball player does not look so high upon paper.Fans will agree with the Red Sox management that three star players—-a pitcher, an infielder and an outfielder, all of whom could probably be secured for this one, would benefit the club immensely and undoubtedly strengthen the club s pennant chances for next sea-son. . . iflist cis long as Ruth was willing to go in and pitch ano help theclub out in its need for twirlers, Ruth was above price, and on sex era! occasions Frazee has turned down an offer of $100,000 for big Babe. But Babe is too indifferent an outfielder not to be disposed of if the chance to get three stars in exchange was presented. For this reason Frazee and Barrow may well he disposed to consider an offer from New York on this basis should one be given.RED SOX ONE-MAN TEAMThere is another angle which the club management is beginning to consider—that is the secret dissatisfaction that has existed in the*Red Sox fold over the feeling that the public have come to consider this a one-man team. Even when the brilliant Speaker was a member of the Red Sox outfit no such feeling existed, for Spoke shared the honors impartially with 1 looper, Lewis and his mates, and the organization was remarkable for its smoothness. There was nodissatisfaction in the dub.Last year the case was vastly different. 1 ry as hard as the menwould, the public lost interest in the outfit as a whole after the RedSox had dropped out of the running. During the last two months o£the season local interest centred wholly in the fact of Babe makinghis daily circuit swat.As one of the most intelligent and hardest working players on the club said to the writer in August: “What’s the use of working your head off to win? The fans don't seem to care much how the game comes out. I might win the battle this afternoon with a sacrifice fly or Hooper might drive in the deciding run tomorrow with a* two bagger, but the public don't seem to care about that All the^ do is to pick up the paper the next morning and see whether Bahd made a home run or not. No wonder some of the bunch are gettingdisheartened.” .RUTH’S POPULARITY| And this is a fact. Popular as Ruth is with his mates, aa ’f arted as the Babe really is, generous and open handed aa aa ao-! knowledge, the Red Sox have of late become really a one-man team I and this fact has hurt the morale considerably. Certain tried and t true players have reached the conclusion that the public are no lcmge* interested in their work. This is making them indifferent to tm| team’s success. ._____i
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