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I THE STANDARD MAGAZINE SECTION-OGDEN, UTAH, DECEMBER 13, 1913. ;
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'- RV BILLY M fit PHY.
HHb Parts, that handsome young soi.
r3l Of Priam and Hecuba, met with all
HH kindo of trouble Immediately after
HHJ he awarded the palm of beauty to
HHb Helen of Troy, instead of either of
HHb her two rivals.
HHb Profiting by past experience, al-
"'M though in this instance we deal only
with members of the masculine fam -
HHY ily, we will In this article of our
HHb baseball series, name tho three
HL greatest baseball players, but v. ill
HHHJ not select the greatest.
We will let you weigh the stars
HHH on the scales of baseball.
J Thus wo gracefully escape the
HI consequences of the wrath of any
' 'H' of tho trio who may feel slighted In
fm the presentation of his attributes
tM and prowess.
Ball players of the wondrous kind.
jH a length of age survey and by breed
jJS Increase not. The glory Is not
ephemeral and lasts for a decade at
H Hans Wagner of tho Pittsburg
'jgjj Pirates Is a man who has grown to
HHHj wondrous heights In baseball. No
fleet arrow from a twanging bow
M Hies 6traightrr than the pellet from
$M his hand. His bat is dreaded by
HHHJ boxmen; in the Held he e as sure
HHJ death to the whizzing horsehlde as
HHHJ scadogs of the ocean to their prey.
H Ty Cobb of the Detroit Tigers is
fl , the eecond of our trinity of baseball
HI Immortals Tho gods were In a
HHM propitious mood when this young
' '19 man was molded. It Is Impossible
HHI to curl) him on the bases, his stabs
HftHJ of the ball in Its flight border on
HL the sensational. No pitcher seems
: 29 fo bo able to torment him when at
.'-jfB bat or deny him his meed In the
HHHj batting averages.
HL Eddie Collins of the Philadelphia
HftHj Athletics is a deathless pest to all
HHHJ ambitious masters of the pitching
'jfl felab. He possesses tho philosopher's
9 stone of the art of hitting and
H J9 blngles are his food. Tho wild
' I 'jH Winds do not whistle over the- main
HHH faster than Collins scampers about
HHH the sacks, and (he way he sheds his
HHHJ bright beams of wisdom and guld-
HBHJ anco on tho Athletics club have
HJ HJ made him as valuable to Connie
JH Mack as his own right arm.
HHHj There you have the great baseball
HftHfl stars who will bo weighed in this
HHHfl article of our weekly baseball series.
p.'iHi 11 ls for - ou 10 select the greatest
HHHI the
' jf'-wJi " agner Is a National Leaguer and
iflB en P811 il'lrjW US to say ht: Is tho
jygHj only star in that organization.
lpi-jM Jako Daubert, the clever first
CwHI baseman of the Brooklyn club, was
HBHj the man wc plclced to win the Chal-
ffiS&jaHl mors' trophy and ho landed It.
gStifHj He looks to be the most promls-
HeHJ Ing man in tho senior major league
BBoHV ' and may develop into a real star
HHH In another year or so.
jaHJHJ Wagner is not so fleet as he used
HflnHE Co be, nor his eye so keen, but
HwHH here never was a greater than the
HHHM mighty Corsair.
jHHHa Wagner was a great fellow for
E9HHM doing something "in the pinch," the
H real test of a ball player.
H i lie was a remarkablo man on the
I ""nTrrniiw nu
HANS WAGNLR.
bases and ne could hit the ball as
no other could. Of the slugging
type, he pounded that pill In the old
days until it fairly howled for
mercy. Any time Hani laid th
woid on the ball, It was sure to
make time.
Neither Cobb nor Collins will last
as long as W agner.
The big Dutchman has a phe
nomenal physique, which Is respon
sible for his being In the game to
day. Only once have T ever heard of
him being troubled with a sore
arm.
That was during a training sea
son some years ago, but when
the season atarled, the Fllng
Dutchman was on the job and ap
parently that wing was faster than
ever in getting the ball away.
The big Putsburger is an odd tj pe.
He Is of a powerful build and awk
ward He is much faster than he
appears, and possessed of one of
the best throwing arms of any man
In the game. I believe he throws
as wpII today as he ever did
Any man that ran po along and
bat above a .315 cllpp for more
than, fifteen years must be a won
der. There are but few In the game
that can maintain a 300 clip for
ten years.
Here are the figures on Wnarner.
showing his work In the National
Teague They are well worth
study.
Yoar. r. An Ft H SR Pet
1RT7 fil 211 U M 22 .141
IMs.. ns r.w ko in g .301
1W( 144 Mft 12-17 ,.W
inrrt .. . 1-1 R2S 201 sj -.i
ifU 111 RRfl ir,o to 43 R52
1 r02 117 PC, 177 4'' .120
i2T .M2 07 12 4fl 359
10fl US 40f, 07 171 SB 4.10
IftOB. 117 ;.-iq J 1 iwi :7 gf
ltVift HO MR 101 17.'. r,2 3S0
1 007 U2 Bin oq ISO r,i
uiok im BW 100 201 M 3R4
1000 117 40.', 02 ir-s saa
1010 vo 449 00 21 20
1011 130 47.1 7 1M 20 114
1012 . 141 M0I 91 1!1 2. ".24
1013 114 BU 51 124 2i r.0.1
Total . 2282 8047,1.2 30G1 092 .S42
"irar.'i axtrnrc for 17 yean.
McfiRAW CALLS COLLINS
THE GKEATrST PLAYER.
Wliemc r Cobb or Collins will ever
equal those figures, time alone will
tell.
Johnny McUraw, one of the most
famous mauagers that baseball has
known, says Eddie Collins of the
(Athletics Is the greatest player
But it must be remembered that
McGraw haa good reason to select
Collins.
He has seen only this wonderful
young ball player at his best and he
knows It v. as Collins who helped so
much In robbing hlrn of two world's
championships
The great littlo second baseman
of Connie Mack's team ls given more
credit than any other man on the
Athletics for winning the world's
championship this year. I guess
that it la coming to him.
He certainly was on hand in every
pinch, 6uv one, when he throw the
ball away in the second game and
ullowed tho Giants to register two
runs which ure not coming lo
them.
Collins Is a natural ball plaer.
He has the speed, the nerve, the
eye.
Besides, he carries about with him
one of the fastest working baseball
brains In the husln SS
So he Is possessed of baseball as
sets of some magnitude.
Just another thing about Collins
that Is worth noting and which Is a
big help to a baseball club. This
playnr ls not one whit tempera
mental He ! alwaya ready for
duty and ho works In harmony and
accord with his teammates and his
manager. According to the players of the
American League, It Is a question as
to which Is the greatest base stealer
In the game Ty Cubb of the De
troit Tigers or Collins.
This art of pilfering bases Is one
f the greatest in baseball.
I believe that a fan likes to see a
base stolen a hunt as well as any
other thrilling feature of the game.
More than half of the time Cobb
will take a catcher by surprise and
his speed Is so great that the moyt
pi riect throw In tho world woull
not catch him.
On the other hand Collins simply
tries lo outguess the backstop and
he does it on almost every trial.
Ho glides along the ground at a
fast clip and he slides so accurately
th.ii a perfect throw will miss him
20 per cent of the time. He uses
his head entirely, while Cobb de
pends upon his wonderful speed
COBB WON FAME
EARLY IN CAREER.
Cobb's fame camo to him early
on account of his Introduction of
new and original methods of baso
running, In shirp contradistinction
to the old Myle of advancing.
Most clubs still rely mainly on
signals between the manager, tho
batter and the bascrunner.
The runner must wait for his
signal and then works In combina
tion with the batter. This is the
modern scientific method and it ls
the llcet-tooted lad and frequently
the result ls a wild chuck.
Old Cy Young, one of the mas
ters of the box, once told me a story
of Cobb I will never forget.
COBB'S RUNNING PI TS
ALL IT IN THE AIR.
"It was when I was with the Bos
ton club," said the veteran pitcher,
"and we were playing Detroit.
"Cobb came to bat and bounced
one down In front of the plate. Ho
was oft like a shot for first base, but
should have been a comparatively
easy out at that. The pitcher, how
ever, hurried as a man always does
when Cobb is around, and threw
slightly wild.
"Tho first baseman reached out
for the ball and partial) stopped it,
but could not qulto hold it, It
caromed off his glove a few feet.
Cobb Just kept on going, making the
turn at full speed ami heading for
second. Again there were oceans of
time to nail him, but the first sack
er, In his haste, tossed high The
shortstop, who covered second, had
to Jump for the ball. It bounded
HHHHHl
Who is the World's I
Greatest Diamond I
Player, Tyrus Cobb, I
Hans Wagner or Eddie I
Collins? I
off his finger tips and rolled Into
left center field for three or four
yards.
"Cobb kept on goiiig. never slack
ing his speed and dashing for third
Imm; with all his might. Tho ball
was quickly recovered and once
again there was a certainty of put
ling him out with a good play.
"But all the Inflelders were now
up In the air and none was sure of
his aim. The shortstop's throw to
third was low. ,
The ball bounced off the shins of
EDDIE COLLINS.
the third baseman and rolled Into
foul ground. Cobb kept right on go
Ing lie rounded third still at tho
limit of his speed and rushed along
for the plate.
"Eor the fourth time, he could
have been headed off, for the th'row
was short and there was plenty of
time to get him after the third base
man had recovered the ball. This
time the throw was fairly good, but
low, and Cobb, n coming into the
plate with one of his long feet first
slides, succeeded In kicking the ball
out of the catcher's mitts, slid over
the plate and scored his run.
"He had made tho complete cir
cuit and tallied on a slow roller to
the box, on which ho should have
been thrown out at first.
"Opportunities had been offered
to get him at every base, including
the plate., but his dash and daring
had rattled the team In the field to
such an extent that no one of the
fielders made the play perfectly, and
hb 'uok adv-mt .-.f the various -J
ind muffa ko'. a run Ctf
on the bases and explains why he
Invar'.. leads the league in tho HJ
art of scoring runs
11,. is simply in a !acs by himself HH
as a negotiator of th" distance from L
plate to p'ate.
Combining a kon eye at the bat ,HH
v. ;tb I' 1 f'il sp'-ed and intelll- HI
to take every MU
chance the Instant that it Is of- HJ
fered, lie shine, above tJ-.e averas- HJ
t aut ions and mechanical player Uk H
an arc light above a candle. a
CORB .noi FOR
MWY M IRS TO COME. .,
No ball player In the space of Hgj
the years Cobb has been In ina
same can attain such distinction HS
as he has without deserving it. 5
The a!most universal recognition HJ
of his supremo ability is one of the HJ
strongest arguments In his favor HB
when 11 comes to awarding tho HJ
palm to the world's greatest plaer. .jSS
Cobb has steadily improved with HJ
each year of his service. He Is HH
still a youn man and while It
seems Impossible for him to lm-
prove any more, he has so far prac HH
t
- i
'
S is
TV COBB.
the moot effective when dealing
with the average baserunncr who
needs help from the batter In mak
ing his way around the sacks. 1
Cobb is a rery fast man and a
remarkably quick starter More
Important still, he ls a iulck think
er and capable of outguessing tho
average opponent more than half
thf time.
The oposltion has little chance
to outguess him for when once he
(Tela on, he Is always ready to ad
vance and does not tip off what
move he is going to make.
Cobb takes a big lead off any base?
he may be occupying and is always
a source of great worry and annoy
ance to the opposing team, especial
ly the pitcher and catcher.
The Instant he gets on. Jimmy
Callahan once told me. Cobb has
everybody in the air.
Ty knows just when he Is going
to make a dash for tho next cush
ion. His tremendous speed Is always
In his favor and his boldness in ex
ecuting his moves is extraordinary.
He can slide in any style and he
goes Into a bac with a rush that Is
terrifying to the guardian of the
sack, "accompanied as It Is. by flash -Ing
r polished Bplkea in the air.
Cobb has been called a "dirty
player." but only by players who
have failed to head off his wild
dashes around the paths. There Is
nothing vicious or dirty In his play
ing. He simply gets out to win his
point and the oppqsltlon must make
way for htm or suffer tho conse
quences. He runs the bases with
out thought of Injury to himself
or others, and BO he draws llo
times the salary of the cautious
athleto who Is always getting out of
somebody's way.
Cobb ls the cause of more wild
throws than any other player In the
gamo today. He takes such a big
lead that it always looks as though
there was a chance to get hlrn rut
tho throw must be hurried to nail
1 thj-
tically accomplished thjjj xeat every 1 Ii
year up to date. S ftk
In the nature o'things ho should
have a lent: career of brilliant
a. hievemcnts stih1, beforo him.
In all the notoriety which has
been npc-.n Cobb, however,
there has always heen a very per-
ceptible undercurrent J sr,rt of
1, ,:f-besi.itin ' inference struggling jj?
for utterance- which, while admit-
ting he- may be greater than Cob
lins or Wagner, denies him pre
, ,,ii. . .. e ,, ti,., greatest ball player
in baseball history.
The Inference has been in so far HJB
as it has been expres.-ed that while l1
Cobb'.-- work H wonderful, he does 5
not yet .1. serve the title of the
greatest player of all time, as com-
pared with the work of the old-time V i
stars.
The feats of tho old-time stars in IS?
tho game will always be urged as .
against those of any modern player. "
This Is a trait of human -ature, 1
Pitting the past against the present. , T
and there is no lick' of ligurc-3 to Hj
prove pet theories.
