The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-01-29
Art Griggs Says Cobb Is Worlds
Greatest Ball Player.
Almost Impossible to Tag Hin
on the Bases.
HE'S LIKE A WILD CAT.
Doesn't Slide, He Just Leaps
Into the Air.
Man Who Hits in Big Leagues
Is Lucky.

Art Griggs says that Ty Cobb is the
greatest ball player in the world Tor
his years. and that he takes risks
which would put any other player out
of the game with permanent injuries.
1t is almost impossible, according to
Griggs, to tag the Detroit out1ielder.
''You don't see him slide" says
Griggs. "He jumps. And he Jumps
the epposite direction from which the
ball is coming. You simply can't get
Il on him The man who slides is cas-
lily put out. But Cobb runs to the
base and jumps. He is like a wild cat
One time they got him between third
and home and 1 covered home. He
came like a flash. and SO did the ball.
caught it and the umpire called him
out. l haven't touched him yet He
was q way out of reach and that toe
of his scraDed across the plate
"a man who hits in the majors is
pretty lucky" (Griggs smashed a few
safe ones himself last year, These
pitchers have good control. have
everything any pitcher has and can
guess as good as anyone. And you're
pretty lucky to hit 'em safe.
1.-The story that is sometimes told
about the pitcher being unable to tell
how his splitter is going to work is
all rot. 1t either breaks out or down.
There is no other way for it to break.
I've done some catching and I know
the ones I got always broke out or
down, and the ones 1 have hit at and
missed have done likewise"
Dad Roach. famous as the illus
tration of the effectiveness of saliva in
baseball, has been signed by Cooley
and will report along with the colts
this year. Cooley wants the old man
to help bolster up the southpaw side
of the pitching staff. Roach would
have come to Topeka last year, but
Cooley did not want him, thinking he
had all of the good pitchers IN the
world. Later he wanted Roach to
come, but the old timer had signed up
with a Michigan team and could not
splitter" in League park last year,
and visiting players missed many
shower bath thereby.
E. w. D;ckerson, in the Denver News:
From word which comes from all
around the circuit. is it apparent that
almost every team in the Western
League will be strengthened from 10
to so per cent over last year. None
OF the eight suffered to any great ex-
tent last year by the inroads of major
league drafts-in fact. the Western
turns out less players to select society
than many of the organizations which
do not rank nearly so highly. This
is que to the fact that in the smaller
leagues the teams are made UP OF
young players, while in the Western
it is a case of those starting on the
downward grade to a greater extent
than in any of the other class A
leagues.
The report comes from Chicago that
Bill Dryer, manager of the Des Moines
team, is holding out for q high salary.
Unless he and Owner John F. Higgins
can come to terms in the near future
it is said that Higgins will begin
search for a new manager to lead the
Des Moines team next season. Dwyer
got Il pretty good sized salary last
year, out not as high as some of the
managers in the Western League by a
good deal. But then Dwyer was young,
was managing team for the first time,
and could not very we'll demand the
highest price for his services. Now that
Dwyer has made good as manager,
has been ''purchased' a couple of times
by the White Sox and is getting along
IN years, he probably feels that he can
demand a higher salary. Dies Moines
fans would hate to lose Dwyer. He
made good with the fans last year not
only as a player. but as a manager as
Well His treatment of the visiting
layers and of the umpires pleased the
fans also.
The city council has set a good ex-
ample for the fans of Des Moines by
RENTING the taxes of the baseball
club Owner Higgins will doubtless
1Gcl nluCn DGLleI QlSDOSGQ lOWdEaS InS
city than he has in the past because
of the action of the city. If the at
tendance can be bettered next season
Des Moines can be assured of a great
ban team for years to come, for Owner
Higgins will stick to Des Moires as
long as the city shows that it desires
him.
Eddie Foy has the following to say
about baseball of today:
Give the baseball club owners time
and they will kill baseball.
They have succeeded in slowing up
the game now until there is nothing
to baseball save mechanical effort The
teams in the American and National
leagues do not play the game as did
the old champion Baltimore club back
in the sos
/ will admit that there is more team
work these days. but you do not see
the brilliant individual playing that
featured the days of McGraw. Jen-
nings Buck Ewing, Bill Lange and
PLAYERS of that stripe.
Those fellows were real baseball
players. Besides having the manual
ability to carry out plays they had
the brains to conceive them. They did
not wait until some fellow on the
bench signaied them what to DO. II
those days you saw real baseball play
ers, creating the plays that today are
part of the scheme of attack and de-
Tense.
There is nothing new in baseball in
the last twenty years, Jennings Keel
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