THE QUESTION: If Babe Ruth's home run record is broken because of the screen at Los Angeles, should the new mark be accepted?

FRANCIS T. HUNTER
President
Yankee Stadium Club
New York City
Yes, definitely. A home run is a home run in any accepted baseball park. If an exception should be made for the Los Angeles Coliseum, why allow the Dodgers to play there? And after all, there isn't too much difference between the Coliseum's short left field and that at the Polo Grounds.

TY COBB
Alltime baseball great
Palo Alto, Calif.
Of course. The games played there are regulation ball games and they go into the won-and-lost columns. Sure, some banjo hitters are going to benefit, but many line drives that would be home runs will be nothing more than singles when they hit that screen. Everything will average out.

FRANK LANE
General manager
Cleveland Indians
No, not unless there is a qualifying footnote. There should be some distinction because any records made at the Coliseum will be records made under easy conditions. The league could establish some additional rules right now to lessen this ridiculous condition and to insure the validity of baseball statistics.

FRANKIE FRISCH
Sportscaster
New Rochelle, N.Y.
Yes, but what's the difference? If money-hungry people are going to build ball parks any way they like, I see no reason why we should concern ourselves. Every baseball fan would know Babe's record was broken in a humpty-dumpty ball park. Even college players hit home runs over that screen.

J. G. TAYLOR SPINK
Publisher
The Sporting News
St. Louis, Mo.
Yes, it must go into the record books because the games are played under the rules of organized baseball. Personally, I think it is bad because the games there are played under makeshift conditions in a stadium which, as we know, was never meant for baseball. However, the money is rolling in.

JOE DIMAGGIO
Former Yankee center fielder
New York
Yes, because a home run is still a home run. It counts in the ball game so it should count in the record books. Can you give me any reason why it shouldn't? Personally, I have my doubts about Babe Ruth's record being broken this year as a result of the Coliseum's short fence. Who's that good?

BOB WOLF
Sportswriter
Milwaukee Journal
The situation does seem ridiculous but there will be no choice but to accept any Coliseum records. Babe Ruth had a fairly easy target in right field at Yankee Stadium the year he hit his 60 home runs. Why should his record be sacred?

TOOTS SHOR
Restaurateur
New York
Yes, but Babe's record won't be broken out there. Players tighten up when they get near it. Joe DiMaggio could have broken it with that short fence. So could Kiner, Foxx and Greenberg. Today, there are no NL right-handers in their class.

RALPH KINER
General manager
San Diego Padres
Yes. The rules say the foul lines need be only 250 feet long, and that is the length of the Coliseum's left field line. Other sluggers had short fences. Yankee Stadium, "The House That Ruth Built," was tailored for his power to right field.

MIKE GARCIA
Pitcher
Cleveland Indians
Sure. Some pop flies will go over that screen in short left, but there will be mighty few homers in other sections of the Coliseum. I lost games in Yankee Stadium when dinky flies just dropped in the seats in short right field.

LOU SMITH
Sports editor
Cincinnati Enquirer
No. I don't think it is a fair test of home run power. However, I don't think Babe Ruth's record will be bettered. If Snider hit right-handed instead of left-handed, he'd have a good chance because he's a great pull hitter.

TWELVE PHOTOS