The Growing Boys

In the ninth inning of a game with the Phillies one night last week, three Brooklyn Dodgers strode to the plate, one after the other hit home runs to win the game, 6-5. The feat, staged by Duke Snider, Randy Jackson and Gil Hodges, was only the latest record of a baseball season in which the steady drumfire of home runs has made bleacher-sitting pleasantly hazardous and baseball fans doggedly argumentative.

Some blame the fusillade on the "lively" ball, a contention disputed by Ball-makers A. G. Spalding & Bros., which has ordered a resiliency test to settle the matter once and for all. Craftier amateur physicists attribute the fence-busting to the fact that sluggers have shifted from the 52-oz. sledge hammer Babe Ruth once wielded to lighter. 30-to 32-oz. bats that whip the ball like a golf driver. Last week Dave Grote, National League pressagent who has been thinking about it. offered still another theory: today's hitters hit more homers because they are bigger, stronger men.

Grote computed the average heights and weights of National Leaguers of 1956 and those of 1936. He found that the composite first baseman today is 6 ft. 2 1/2 in. tall and weighs 203 Ibs., 3 in. taller and 24 Ibs. heavier than the oldtimers. Third basemen are 2 in. taller and 18 Ibs. heavier than those of 20 years ago. Outfielders average 20 Ibs. heavier. Scientists have long known that each generation of Americans is larger than its predecessor, but the trend to larger, stronger ballplayers is not merely the result of genetics and good diet. Choke batters like Outfielder Richie Ashburn of the Phillies and small, rabbit-quick infielders like the Yankee's Phil Rizzuto are going out of vogue. Said National League President Warren Giles: "Every scout is now looking for the power hitter. The primary question today is: How far can he hit the ball?"

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