Ruth’s Pace Puts These Upstarts in Proper Place

There’s much talk about the home run paces of Matt Williams, Ken Griffey Jr. and Frank Thomas.

But none is on a pace to achieve what Babe Ruth did in the 1920 and ’21 seasons. Although Ruth hit 60 in 1927, most baseball historians are more impressed by Ruth’s feats in consecutive seasons at the start of that decade.

Ruth hit 54 and 59 homers those two years, drove in 137 and 171 runs and batted .376 and .378. But even more impressive: His slugging averages were .847 and .846, by far the two highest in history.

Trivia time: Name the only time in major league history when every player on a team had the same batting average--both before and after the same game.

Oh, Canada . . . Lounge singer Dennis Park sang a stirring rendition of the Canadian national anthem recently, before a CFL game between Ottawa and Hamilton. Park received a rousing ovation from an enthusiastic crowd of about 11,000 at Hamilton.

So What? So finally, Park had gotten it right.

On July 16 Park, from Los Angeles, butchered the Canadian anthem in a CFL game at Las Vegas, singing the wrong words to the wrong melody to a national Canadian television audience.

“I feel relieved it’s over and done with,” Park said. “I haven’t slept. It became a personal thing with me, professional pride.”

Sign of the times: The Marlboro Man is going to benefit the American Cancer Society.

A sign depicting the tobacco-loving cowboy that towered over left-center field at Syracuse’s MacArthur Stadium for 13 years was auctioned Sunday for $500 during a doubleheader. The money will go to the society.

John Simone of the minor league Syracuse Chiefs said that when the sign was removed before opening day, so many people asked to keep it that he decided he might as well sell it.

The big cut: At baseball’s Hall of Fame induction ceremonies Sunday, Al Lopez, 85, was discussing his 1935 holdout, after he hit .273 and caught 140 games for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

“They tried to cut me back by $3,000, from $8,000,” he said. “(But) I got most of it back.”

Lopez, who earned his Hall of Fame status later as a manager, said the most he ever made as a player in his 19 major league seasons was $16,500 with Pittsburgh in the 1940s.

Trivia answer: April 16, 1940, when Bob Feller of Cleveland pitched an opening day no-hitter against Chicago.

Quotebook: Phil Rizzuto, at his Hall of Fame induction, talking about his role with the New York Yankees: “The Yankees, all they needed was someone to catch the ball, make a double play, get hit by a pitch and not get hurt.”