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Friday, May 5, 2006
Ruth’s 714 dabbed by white-out
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Thanks to Barry Bonds’ prolific ways as a slugger through his artificially inflated arms, legs and everything else, George Herman Ruth lives. Thus the question: Upon further review after all of these decades, should some of the Babe’s legacy die?
Well, yes. No question that Ruth used his Louisville Slugger to resuscitate baseball during the 1920s when it nearly expired after the Black Sox Scandal. He turned the game into our national pastime with much help from the magic in his wink and his smile. Even so, watching Bonds along his way to eclipsing “714” on the all-time home run list is worthy of a yawn, and the reasons go beyond the fact that Hank Aaron’s “755” is the real number to chase.
For one, when it comes to somebody reaching “715,” it’s been done. For another, Ruth’s “714” was a significantly flawed record from the start.
Consider this: While Ruth’s standing as baseball’s greatest ambassador is indisputable, his designation as baseball’s greatest player deserves an asterisk faster than you can say “segregation.” He only played against the best competition that wasn’t darker than the ball, and for that reason alone, Bonds’ ability to reach “715” means nothing. Listen to James “Red” Moore (no relation), among the gifted hundreds from the old Negro leagues who lacked the chance to reach the majors to determine whether Ruth was The Sultan of Swat among all or just some.
“He sure enough wasn’t playing against our boys when they were in their prime, and I really don’t believe he would have hit that many home runs with them out there,” said Moore, the smooth first baseman of the Atlanta Black Crackers and other Negro league teams in a career that spanned from 1935 to 1948. He is an Atlanta native who still lives on the northwest side. He has spent six decades as a Sunday school teacher at Springfield Missionary Baptist Church, and he has become a fixture in classrooms to inspire youngsters as a walking and talking history book.
At nearly 90-years-young, Moore’s mind remains as sharp as the line drives that he used to zip into the alleys. He said of those Negro league days that earned him entry this year into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, “On bus rides, we used to talk about Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, all of them guys, wishing we would get a chance to compete against them [in the big leagues].”
So much for dreams. Jackie Robinson didn’t break the color barrier until April 1947, which was a dozen years after Ruth retired with outrageously large career numbers for RBIs, walks, extra-base hits and homers. He also was the undisputed record holder in all of those categories for a single season. Said Moore, chuckling, “No, sir, Babe Ruth wouldn’t have done as well [with integration], because we had a whale of a number of great pitchers, and they went beyond just Satchel Paige.
“Then I believe that if Josh Gibson would have had an opportunity to play during that time — and if he could have started out as a young boy like [Ruth] — no telling how many home runs Josh would have had. He really could pop ‘em. Oooh, I’ve seen him hit some tape-measure shots. If Josh Gibson was in the major leagues, he might have hit 10 hundred home runs.”
The way this steroid generation was going, somebody was threatening to hit that many in a season. Mark McGwire. Sammy Sosa. Jose Canseco. Rafael Palmeiro. They are among those who kept doing the impossible through means other than eating all of their vegetables. Still, they continue to drop farther behind Bond’s shadow. “I just don’t see how [the public] can just pick [Bonds] out and ignore the rest,” said Moore, who confessed to not knowing enough to judge whether Bonds is guilty or innocent.
This is what Moore does know: “If Barry would have come up with the rest of us, then he would have been right there with Buck Leonard, Josh and the rest. [Bonds] could do it all. We know he can hit, but he had that good throwing arm. He could run and always was in good shape.”
What about Ruth when he was off the sauce compared to Bonds when he was off the juice? “Oh, I’d take Barry,” Moore said laughing, before adding, “Just observing Babe, he’d down a beer and take a shot [of booze], and that’s how he trained. He’d still go up there and hit it out for you. I think that anybody who has that many home runs should get some praise.”
Yeah, but how much?
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Payne values customs, traditions
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
Well, it wasn’t the smoothest of tours in office, but after eight years as chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, and the Masters Tournament, William W. (Call Me Hootie) Johnson is vacating the position, and his succesor will be Billy Payne, who moves up from the chairmanship of the media committee. If this comes as a surprise, it shouldn’t, considering that Payne was the driving force behind bringing the Olympic Games to Atlanta in 1996, thereby establishing his leadership qualities.
All of this was announced at the members’ closing party Thursday night, at which time the new chairman said he would “maintain the customs and traditions of our club as established by Clifford and Bobby Jones,” which should quell all the controversies, such as women membership and any others, real or imagined. That was the most disruptive issue that arose during Johnson’s eight years in the chair, when he was challenged by Martha Burk. She loudly and actively made her presence felt in 2003, when she staged a rally nearby during the tournament. It was poorly attended, and afterward Ms. Burk went quietly after other targets.
Chairman Johnson also drew some bullets when he suggested to some of the older former champions that, though they were always invited to be guests, should leave their games at home. The tempest subsided as he endured in office, and it was during the past Masters that he said, “Jack Stephens was chairman for seven years. I’m been in the chair eight years, and I think it’s time to move on.” He’ll remain as chairman emeritus, which is the custom established by the club. He was the fifth in the chain of command, following Clifford Roberts, Bill Lane, Hord Hardin and Jack Stephens.
It is, of course, pure coincidence that one former college football star follows another. Johnson was a high school sensation in Greenwood, S.C., who first chose to go to Georgia until he learned that then coach Wally Butts did not allow married players, and he and his sweetheart planned to be wed. He then switched to South Carolina, but unluckily fell in behind one of the greatest runners the Gamecocks ever had, Steve Wadiak. “I then decided to become the best blocking back I could be,” Hootie said, and pretty well succeeded at it. In 1952 he won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy for the Gamecocks.
Payne’s ascension follows in Augusta National’s swing toward the younger set. Johnson is 75, Payne is 58. Just two weeks ago, Will Nicholson, 77, resigned as Chairman of the Competition Committees, and was replaced by Fred Ridley, 53, a former U.S. Amateur champion.
William Porter Payne Jr. has advanced swiftly since he became a member of the club in 1997. He wasn’t even a member of the media committee when he was appointed to be chairman in 2000, succeeding Charlie Yates, a popular fellow who once won the British Amateur. Yates was seriously ill at the time and has since passed on. So, it’s from new member in 1997 to chairman nine years later.
“It’s overwhelming,” he said, ” but I know what’s expected of me and I hope to follow through as I should.”
At Georgia, he was an outstanding end, first on offense, later converted to defense, an All-Southeastern Conference selection — as well as academic — in 1968. “I was switched after coach (Vince) Dooley explained I had overcome my offensive deficiencies, mainly lack of speed. With stars like Bill Stanfill on one side and Jake Scott behind me, I was pretty well backed up.”
Golf came later. He now plays to a 6.8 handicap. His lowest score at Augusta National has been a 71. Hootie Johnson came into the club with an 8 handicap and leaves with a 14, which means that there is wear and tear in the chair. In business, Payne operates an investment properties company with his son, Porter, and serves on the board of three companies, Lincoln National Corporation, Cousins Properties and Anheuser-Busch.
“One thing I’m particularly proud of,” he said, “is that I’m the first lifetime Georgian to be so honored.” Johnson is a native Georgian, born in Augusta, where he lived until he was four, but reared in Greenwood, where his father proceeded to introduce him into the banking world. He was later the man credited with merging NCNB with Bankers Trust, leading to Bank of America, of which he was chairman of the executive committee at one time. By the way, “Hootie” has a brother called “Bubba.”
Johnson leaves with a golf course several yards longer than the one he inherited. Some of his changes were acclaimed, some were declaimed, especially this year when Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer were both quoted as taking a critical view of the changes made on the 4th, 7th and 11th holes. Later, though, Nicklaus disclaimed some of the harsh remarks charged to him in a golf magazine story. Whatever, after the championship, several players spoke rather warmly of the course revisions, including even Rocco Mediate, who had the misfortune to take a horrendous 10 on the par-3 12th hole.
So, William Porter (Billy) Payne mounts the stairs to the second floor of the administration building, and he takes his place in the chairman’s office, with a portrait of Bobby Jones on the wall. Whatever takes place here will be done with careful and gentle consideration of the history and the traditions that come with the post, and from the chair occupied by a man who considers himself the guardian of it all.
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