19TH HOLE: THE READERS TAKE OVER

LIVELINESS
Sirs:
I'm not convinced! What you fellers forget is that you can't change pints into square feet—and you dang sure can't bounce a baseball on a "steel plate imbedded in concrete" and compare it with the swish of a bat (Yes, It's Livelier, Aug. 28).
TOM BACKES
Seattle

Sirs:
You did not compare a Ruthian baseball with a modern-day one, and until you do so there is still no definite proof that the baseball Ruth used was not even livelier than the one the M boys are using.
JEFFREY SILVER
Bristol, Conn.

Sirs:
What was the temperature, wind and humidity factor in 1953? Was it the same as in the 1961 test? What about the scales? Were they calibrated the same? Was the ball as dry in '61 as in '53? Being a science major myself, I doubt that the Ward test proves much of anything.
ROBERT C. WACHTER
Hagerstown, Md.

•Tester Ward—another science major who understands the technique of controlled experiment—disagrees.—ED.

Sirs:
Why keep up this nonsense about the hopped-up ball anyway? Mantle and Maris and the fans don't seem to be too concerned.
JOHN P. BADER
Pasadena, Calif.

Sirs:
This is the first conclusive story I have seen giving facts, reasons and figures on the subject.
BOTTS CROWLEY
Cincinnati

IRONY
Sirs:
In an editorial in your issue of August 29, 1960 entitled A Matter of Record, you quoted Roger Maris as saying, "Nobody's ever going to break [Ruth's] record, not me or anybody else."

Ironic?
LAWRENCE ROSENBLUTH
New York City

WATER
Sirs:
Congratulations on another fine article (The Way to Beat a Heavy Thinker, Aug. 28). So often a swimming meet like this one in Los Angeles has a hidden story of great sportsmanship. This was especially true of Murray Rose, who was suffering from intestinal trouble and insomnia for two weeks prior to the meet. Rather than disappoint his fine opponents and many supporters, Rose concealed his condition.
J. F. ROSCOE
New York City

Sirs:
Has anyone investigated the water used in the AAU outdoor swimming championships in Los Angeles? I have it on good authority that the 10 world records set there will not be allowed to stand because the official 1961 AAU water is 8% livelier than water previously issued by the Department of Water and Power.
BART PROM
Los Angeles

SILLY MID-ON
Sirs:
Jolly good show (This Is Cricket! Aug. 28). I can now refer my American friends to an authoritative local source when they fail to understand such perfectly obvious terms as yorker, silly mid-on and bowling maiden over.

I must say that we Australians were relieved of almost unbearable tension when we retained the Ashes.
B. A. SMITHURST, M.D.
Baltimore

Sirs:
It is outrageous to brand Bradman the Ty Cobb of cricket. Nobody, certainly not Sir Donald, played or plays cricket the way Cobb played baseball, and I, for one, hope nobody ever will. There are quite a few things that cricket could learn from baseball, but the Ty Cobb technique is most certainly not one of them.
PAUL M. GARDNER
New York City

Sirs:
The only thing I used to know about cricket was how to spell it. Now I feel I have enough knowledge to appreciate a match.
BOB PINKERTON
Watertown, N.Y.

SPIDER AND THE SOPHOMORES
Sirs:
Gerald Holland has written a very moving obituary of minor league baseball (How Come, Spider? Aug. 28). If Mr. Paul Frost should ever want any help in his front office I would be willing to pitch in. At 18 I have had no experience but I'm eager to learn.
LARRY LARONGE
Shaker Heights, Ohio

Sirs:
It's nice to find out how the other half lives.
JOE SLIGHTS
Dover, Del.

Sirs:
The Sophomore League has a team in Alpine, all right, Alpine, Texas. This is nowhere near New Mexico. The Alpine Cowboys play out of Kokernot Field here, and we have a great deal of pride in the team, Mr. Kokernot (who furnishes the finest ball park anyone could wish for) and the fine players who play here, plus a number of "grads" who have gone on to the majors: Norman Cash, Don Schwall, Charles Schilling, among others.
MRS. KING TERRY JR.
Alpine, Texas