The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-01-12
COBB and WAGNER
DIFFERENT TYPES


According to the catchers Of the big
leagues 1t is a question as to which is
the greater basesteaIer the man who
can outguess a backstop or the man
tnat' can outspeed one. Hans Wagner
OF Pittsburg and Ty Cobb of Detroit
furnish examples of these two dis
tinct types of baserunners. They are
the masters of their respective STYLES.
More than half of the time Cobb will
take catcher by surprise, and his
speed is so great that the most perfect
throw In the world will not catch him.
on the other hand, Wagner simply tries
70 oVtguess the catcher and he does it
on nearly every trial. The big Detroit
man glides along the ground like a
freight train, and he slides so accurate
ly that a good throw will miss him
20 per cent of the time. He uses his
mead entirely, while Cobb depends on
his wonderful speed.
Cobb is of the nervous. fidgety va
r1ety of players anS he gallops away
like deer that has been Jumped from
brush pile. The youn:, Georgian pays
little attention to the catcher He
simply makes up his mind when he is
going to start, and he does not care
whether the catcher knows it or not.
He has absolute confidence in his speed
and that wonderful lightning like slide
that has put so many basemen out of
business.
wagner stands Oh the base and
watches a catcher inte-tly He waits
untF he thinks the catcher is of the
opinion, that he is not going to try to
steal. Then he starts.
Cobb stole a great many more bases
last season than did Wagner, but il
was because he took a eat many more
chances. He was also in great many
more games
Cobb Takes Chances.
But one thing you want to bear in
mind" says Catcher Archer of Chi
cago, Wagner stole the bases when
they counted. Unless it was impor-
tant to the game at the time, the
Dutchman would not START. Cobb will
start any time just for the pure dew
iltry of it. He likes to see il he can
beat the catcher's throw. He figures
that with good start he can beat any
body's throw to a bas. and he Il
pretty nearly right.
STILL" continued Archer, Il fear
wagner on base much more than !
would Cobb. I know Cobb's system
pretty thoroughly as ] was on the e.
troit team with him for a long time
though I never played against him. ]
had the time of my life, though, last
year trying to handle that fellow
Wagner.
Wagner Steady.
Wagner never makes any unneces-
sary motions while running the bases
He mas a sort of a crouch, with hands
spread away out, end the lower he
bends the better he is prepared to make
a sudden dash. The only other mar
in the league who has the same motions
is Hans Lobert of the Cincinnati Reds
He runs base5 much the same way, and
is fully as fast as the greater Hans
but does not use the same judgment
III ence his success IL not, as great.
Cobb, on the other hand the finest
basestealer of the American league, ii
q different 'yoe of basestealer. H,
! jumps up and odwn first motioning tt
the initial base, and then making
feint for second. Wher he really get
going he seems to go like a sprinter ii
a 100-yard dash, exerting every muscle
whereas wagner almost slides along
after the fashion of quarter miller
This art of basestealsng is one o
the greatest in baseball, ard is, witho-
a odIbt, the most spectacular feature
believe that fan likes to see baS
we'll stolen about as well as anything
else in the game. And the thrill whicl
spreads over you when you succeed il
advancing sack in that manner /
even greater than in lacing out two
Dagger. For it is outguessing the othe
team"