May 28, 1917 Ruth Great Pitcher, But Not Equal of Waddell Eccentric George Was King of All Portsiders— Boston Star Developing CHICAGO, May 28—A contemporary a day or so ago referred to Babe Ruth, the Red Sox star, as “one of the greatest, if not the greatest, left-hander of all time—either now or in the making.” The latter phrase referred to Ruth. Ruth is a great pitcher—a mighty purveyor of the baffling pill. He was the best left-hander in the game last year—and apparently the best left-hander extant this season. But the time is not yet ripe to enlist him as the greatest—or even one of the greatest—of the southpaw flock. For no such standing in the baseball community is built up in on, two or three years. Nor yet in five years. The Leader The greatest left-hander ever see in action was Rube Waddell, erratic, eccentric, a nut, a bug, but one of the hardest men to hit that ever faced the plate. Waddell had three things—baffling, blinding speed, fine control and a wicked curve. He may not have been the smartest pitcher in the world, but with these three things he was too well stocked to require anything else. He had full as much smoke as Babe Ruth, a better curve and equal or better control. Ruth, in the main, depends upon his speed. Waddell had the speed, but with this he interpolated a curve that came over fast and that broke with a sheer descent straight down. And in the box Rube was a canny, cunning workman and no part of a boob. Nearly a decade later, at the height of Babe Ruth’s popularity, he and Waddell were again compared. The Sporting News, November 1926 Most colorful of all players, of course, was the eccentric Rube Waddell. No player that ever lived, not even Babe Ruth, has so captured the affections of the fans of his day as did Waddell. Wholly irresponsible and childlike in his mental functions, yet possessed of such great natural physical ability and mechanical pitching skill that he compiled pitching records that never before or since have been equaled in spite of the abuse that he accorded himself, Waddell presents the most unique personal picture baseball history has known.
Posted on: Wed, 28 May 2014 16:14:25 +0000
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