1) Gehrig hits flat-footed. Ruth stands with feet together, poised, before stepping into the ball. 2) Gehrig doesn't start his swing until the ball is almost on top of him. Ruth starts his swing almost with the wind-up. 3) Gehrig, taking a shorter swing, is more consistent and harder to outguess. Ruth, with his longer swing, hits a harder, longer ball and is more likely to connect with a fast one.

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "1) Gehrig hits flat-footed. Ruth stands with feet together, poised, before stepping into the ball. 2) Gehrig doesn't start his swing until the ball is almost on top of him. Ruth starts his swing almost with the wind-up. 3) Gehrig, taking a shorter swing, is more consistent and harder to outguess. Ruth, with his longer swing, hits a harder, longer ball and is more likely to connect with a fast one." in the context of "Miller Huggins, as quoted in "Colorful Batting Duel Between Gehrig and Babe Ruth Gets Ball Fans Excited" by Alan J. Gould (Associated Press), in The San Pedro Daily News (July 5, 1927)." to mean that wisdom is timeless.