Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-11-07
WAGNER AND COBB
SQUARELY COMPARED
Totally Different in Every Way,
But Both Are Top
Liners.

LOUISVILLE. Ky. November 6.-The
following interesting comparison of Py
Cobb and Hans Wagner appears in one of
the local papers:
The two most widely different types in
base ball have achieved the same results.
In the American League there is one
man pre-eminent. Tyrus Cobb knows no
equal in the younger organization. He is
the most -talked-of man on Ban Johnson's
circuit.
In the National League there Is but one
mighty figure. So great is the fame of
Hans Wagner that the National League
magnates have honOred him with a BAN
quet.
Both men are wonderful hitters. won
derful base runners and wonderful field
ers For more than thirteen years Wag-
ner has kept up a dizzy pace. He has
played every position. and not only that.
has been a sensation at every position.
He has the speed of Cobb, the terrific hit
ting powers Of LajOie, the energy OF Jen-
nings and the disposition Of Willie Keller.
Cobb on the other hand. has been setting
the kingly pace for but four years, put,
as Jennings says:
las long as Cobb plays base ball he will
always be a wonderful player. He is not
of the type that fades. And his ability to
mind, unquestiOned."
4 :; i:
But how different they are: You point
to Cobb with pride as the ideal ball play
er. and then you watch Hans Wagner and
smile at the comparison. For all that
Cobb is, except In ability to get there,
Wagner isn't No more interesting COM
parison can be made in base ball.
In action Ty Cobb comes closer to the
athletic ideal than any other man I'm base
ball. Built like a greyhound. his won
derful. 1.-THE body Is always study. His
shoulders, his wiry limbs. 1.-THE. slight an
kles and wrists. and his we'll poised head
make one think of the idealized Grecian
youth who lives now only in the marble
of the museums and art schools.
Wagner is without precedent In the ath-
letic world. Ty Cobb wins admiration by
his grace. Wagner awes one by his bulk.
Wagner just bulges all over.
He has to have his shoes made to or
der he is cramped in an ordinary bed,
he eats a meal worthy Of three men. his
hands are as big as good-sized hams.
They say that the mark of determine
ton is the jaw. If this be SO. then Wag
ner could push the world of balance II
an ordinary mans face. He has the necl
Of Gotch. the chest and shoulders Of JET
fries and legs bigger and more powerful
than Harry Lindsay's. He has arms thai
drop to his knees. No uniform ever Mt.
him, for no maker Of clothes could fl
that jagged mass of muscle.
Patrick Murphy. George AIDES ia
nous character in THE College Widow.
was never as big nor as awkward a!
Wagner. He stands out as some mighty
piece of stone that a master sculptor ha!
been working on.
When Wagner wobbles to the plat,
swinging his great bat it looks as though
Gibraltar were topping over. When he l!
set to swing there IS action-wonderful &C
ton Before that 1t seems as though tn,
legs. arms and body belonged to thre,
different beings, but once the great slug
ger swings there is a concentration o.
energy that makes the most stout-heartet
Of pitchers vince.
But more marvellous is his running
Wagner can run the 100 yards In close tt
ten seconds any time during a season!
play. Rudyard Kipling. in one Of his
stories of India, describes an elephant
The exact lines are forgotten now. bu
the idea is that an elephant never gal
lops: land yet" says the writer. IF al
elephant wanted to catch an express trair
he wouldn't gallop. He would get there
but he wouldn't gallop."
Wagner doesn't sprint in the sense o.
the word. nor does he gallop. No on,
has been quite able to describe just wha
he does. but he gets there. His legs seen
to be going in one direction and his arm!
in another. but somehow or other he al
ways lands intact at the point he wishe.
to reach.
In fielding it is the same way. In Hans
great hands the ball assumes the size o.
a pea or close to it. The most terrifi,
tap when he reaches for 1t. His grea
shoulders seem to fall forward and al
arm that reminds one of great crane Il
a dredge scoop shoots out. Then. a.
though torn by quake" the mass wrig
giles and the ball crashes into the mitt o.
the first sacker.
Wagner hits 300 every year by force
of habit. He has no equal at short and
his ba e running is always the best He
is paid probably the biggest salary OF
no joys for him. Gladly would be qui,
1t all and stick to his one joy OF life
raising chickens. He stands alone ir
base ball as the one player who wants
to quit.
He is worth well over 100000. is a
bachelor and is responsible to no one
His tastes are simpler than the aver
age mans and the glamour OF the crowd:
means nothing to him. In the winter he
wants to hunt and in the summer he
wants to be out on his farm raising
chickens. Poultry books are followed by
him more closely than are the base ball
averages.
But every year DreyfusS comes to him
and pleads. The friends he thinks much
of>in Pittsburg come to him. He mus,
save them. Won't .he play just an
other year? And he is grateful? With
out conceit he realizes that he owes a
debt OF gratitude to the game. 1t gave
him his fortune and he should not leave
it when it needs him, and he gets in line
, again.
Travelling with the club he is almost
a recluse. A brilliant mind on the field
he displays only cold. prosaic common
sense off the diamond. He talks little
Amy night after a game he can be found
in his room at the hotel. The rest OF
the team can tell time by Hans actions.
he's SO methodical.
Hans is always the same. He never
got excited in his life. Years ago the
National League rivals gave up any idea
of kidding him into losing himself on
the field. No matter what they say
and, of course. they never do say a
whole lot unless at a safe distance-Hans
always grins.
They cannot make him fight. and he Is
SO big no one ever set out to deliberately
see Just how far he could trifie with
him, so Hans Is popular everywhere.
Some have said Wagner is swell-head-
ed because Of his walk. But he isn't.
Hans doesn't care enough about base
hall to get excited about it. He walks
that way-well, because that's the way
he's built.
Cobb is different in every respect. To
begin with. the Georgian plays ball be-
cause he loves the game. His whole
heart and soul is wrapped up in IT, Cobb
co,,ld make four hits and play a WON