Babe Ruth

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Bill Werber steered his motorized wheelchair to the end of the table. The waitress pointed to the lunch menu, but the oldest living ex-major leaguer had no use for it. Days shy of his 100th birthday, Werber knew what he wanted: a hot dog -- with onions and a little ketchup. After his first bite, the link to baseball's golden era began his storytelling. "Babe Ruth hit a home run and I wanted to show them how fast I could run," Werber said of being driven in by Ruth after drawing a walk in his first major league plate appearance in 1930 with the New York Yankees.

Careful examination of an old photograph and a street map determined this had to be the spot -- or at least near the spot. It's all tract homes now, the memories buried beneath cul-de-sacs just downslope from the intersection of Brea Boulevard and Lambert Road, but something special happened here a long time ago. Did anyone know? A man, on a Saturday, was washing his car on St. Crispen Avenue when a reporter approached and posed the question, half expecting a "what-the-?" response.

CINCINNATI -- Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 599th home run, leaving him one shy of a seldom-reached mark, and Jay Bruce extended his amazing weeklong debut with a 10th-inning homer that lifted the Cincinnati Reds to an 8-7 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday. With his next homer, Griffey will join Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Sammy Sosa at 600. Bruce's first big league homer off Manny Acosta (3-2) dealt another crushing road defeat to the Braves, who couldn't hold a one-run lead entering the ninth.

OK, now it's all right to mention Greg Oden and Sam Bowie in the same sentence. Since action shots of Oden are going to be in short supply with the No. 1 NBA pick likely to be sidelined for the entire season after knee surgery, we recommend some of the video posted on his blog at www.yardbarker.com. It takes a little time around Oden to figure out the guy has a droll but deadly sense of humor. He filmed his buddies bringing him a cache of cold medicine before the draft.

Former St. Louis Brown Rollie Stiles, 100, believed to be the oldest former major leaguer, died Sunday at a nursing home in St. Louis County, Mo., a nursing home spokesman said. A cause of death was not given. Born Nov. 17, 1906, in Ratcliff, Ark., Stiles pitched for the Browns in 1930, 1931 and 1933, compiling a 9-14 record with a 5.92 ERA. Babe Ruth was among the hitters he faced. "I had a great game against him," Stiles recalled in a 2006 interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Re "Mayor not unlike other men in power," column, July 16 I don't care if L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is acting like a normal politician. I think that having an affair is disgusting behavior, and it's too often explained that "we" have to go along with it. The things that separate us from animals are the ability to discern the difference between right and wrong and to make decisions not according to our desires and "feelings." We are to rise above all that smut.

Jim Shoulders, 79, who built his name as a rodeo cowboy and achieved added fame as a beer pitchman, died Wednesday at his ranch near Henryetta, Okla. He had a longtime heart ailment, his son Marvin Paul Shoulders said. Often called the Babe Ruth of rodeo, Jim Shoulders won 16 world championships, the most of any rodeo cowboy, and was a charter member of the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame.

Re "Jackie can't sub for Barry," Opinion, April 14 Zev Chafets unfortunately tries to characterize the animosity that most baseball fans have toward Barry Bonds in racial terms. What Chafets conveniently ignores is that Bonds is by no means the only recipient of these harsh attitudes. There is no question that Mark McGwire has Hall of Fame credentials, but he received votes on only 23.5% of the ballots. It is also apparent that Sammy Sosa, a Latino, will receive similar treatment when he comes up for Hall of Fame consideration.