Norwich bulletin., 1909-12-23
TY coss's SLIDE.
Georgian is a Master, But Wallace Could Show Him Up-Evans Thinks Spiking Was Accidental.

Tyrus Cobb. the great outfielder of 1 the Detroit taem, perhaps spiked more i players last season than any other | three men in the league. said Umpire
 Billy Evans, in a discussion of the I year just passed. The campaign just
 closed was filled with mishaps of more 1 or less serious nature, due to the use
 of the long, sharp spikes baseball play l CTS use on their shoes. While many of the accidents were of very unfortun- | ate nature, and many stories were | printed that in same cases the spiking
 was intentional. I feel perfectly safe
 in stating that practically every injury 1 was unavoidable.
 Because of Cobb's well known abil- 1 fty, because of the high position oc- 1 cupied by the Detroit club in the race because of the fact that in several
 cases the men spiked by Cobb were
 members of teams regarded us De- troits's most dangerous rivals. it was
 openly stated that Cobb had intention ally spiked these men in order to weak en the Tigers strongest opponents. While it may often lock from the stand as if Cobb was deliberate in his attempts to injure. yet I believe there
 are few players if really asked for an honest opinion during the off season
 when they are not excited over the pennant race would swear that Cobb !! tried to put different players out of the running by the use of the steel spurs.
 Cobb's Slide is All His Own.
 Cobb has slide peculiarly his own. Unlike most others, Cobb doesn't slow down before starting his slide, but hits the turf at almost full speed. One of ! his legs is thrown in the direction of
 the bag, the other leg is usually high in the air, while his body is thrown in the opposite direction from the base Tn other xrnr1d xVhan Cnhh 0n into base feet first about the only thing the runner has to touch is the spikes on one of his shoes. Thus the feat of touching Cobb is a-rather diffi- cult as well as a dangerous task. Then again there are many baseball meH who don't fancy touching Cobb any too well, and quite often in trying to safely position themselves they get in the very spot that makes the play | dangerous.
 Cobb's fade away slide is the work of an artist It takes an artist :n the art [ of touching the runner to show up Cobb's slide, just as Cobb's slide shows up basemen who rather fear touching ' him in order to avoid possible injury.
 It was always a treat for me to watch Cobb try to steal third with Bobby Wallace of the St. Louis Browns play ing the bag or see him attempt to pil- | fer second with Wallace as shortstop taking the throw from the catcher. Wallace Could Get Tyrus. There are any number of American 1 league infielders who are clever at | touching a base runner, but to my humble way of thinking no one has
 anything on Bobby Wallace. He is an adept at handling a thrown ball with 1 one hand, and unless the catcher hap pens to make a throw that is right on 1 the runner there isn't a chance for | Wallace to be spiked. I have often seen Cobb go into Wallace with ter | rife speed. Taking the throw in his gloved hand, Wallace would hook the off in some direction other than the
 bag. I have often seen Cobb miss the
 bag at least foot after being touched out by Wallace
 One day. after game in which Wal lace had thrice thwarted Cobb in his efforts to steal without the slightest
 injury to himself I said to him:
 Its funny how Cobb seldom hurts you, Bobby; you seem to have no more
 trouble touching him than any other
 base runner. I hear lots of players
 complain but never hear you say any
 thing, no matter how hard he comes
 into the bag"
 Its just the same touching Cobb as
 any other runner to me, Billy" replied
 Wallace, 'In fact: l would much pre-
 fer touching Cobb with his finished
 slide than some awkward fellow who
 jumped into the bag in any old fash-
 ion.'
 Such a statement coming from Wal
 lace always interested me. Never did
 Cobb go into bag with Wallace cov- ering that I didn't watch just how
 Wallace got the ball on him. It was always battle of artists, with honors about even.