Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-01-18
COLLINS RATHER
STEAL BASES
THAN SWAT
BY Sam Crane.

n s rule, a bah player would
~ rather excel at batting than
any other branch of the
sport. Every one of them dearly
loves the ringing sound of the base
hit. II a player can bat well his
Job is usually secure, even IL he is
deficient IN other respects
Eddie Collins is an exception to
this rule, in that he takes greater
pride in his base stealing record
than he does in hiF batting, Eddie
IS some demon clouter, of course,
as a batting average OF .S4S for the
past season will attest
But. then. he likewise is a whirl-
ing cyclone on the paths, and If you
want TO be convinced OF II further
you may look up his record and
learn that he pilfered SO bases
while accommodating the classy bat
ting percentage. Clyde Milan was
the only player in either league TO
beat him out for top honors.
Athletics Fastest Man.
But Collins has the distinction of
being the champion base pilferer
under the wing Of Connie Mack,
He is far away the best Of any
speed merchant on the Athletic
roster He's the man they rely on
for their base running.
When Collins Joined the Mack
men IN 1905 he did not loom up Ike
g good base runner. He stole
mighty few sacks during the first
few seasons spent with the Quaker
team. He had plenty of speed, but
speed is not the only thing needed
10 shine on the paths. There are
any number OF fast men in the big
leagues who do not know how to
use their speed.
Bert Shoten. Of the St Louis
Browns, is an example. He Is re-
puted TO be as fast as Cobb, but
is only an ordinary base runner
because he has not yet learned the
fine art of stealing as practiced by
Collins and the renowned Georgian.
Made Study of Game.
When Eddie Collins ceased to be
student of Columbia university
he became one of the national
pastime. Eddie had played the
game at college and was star.
There were lots OF things about the
game he did not know when he
took IT up as a profession, however.
and so he set about to find them
out
When he got through studying
the game ne made a study of the
players and found out this was as
important as learning TO throw and
bat. Among other things he dis
covered that it was mighty impor-
tant to use the head as well as the
feet in stealing bases Not to slide
on, though.
Every second counts in speeding
between the sacks II a player
knows the proper instant TO start
for the bag ahead he gains a big
advantage. 1t requires little short
OF intuition at times to do this. but
tOillllS NttAilS u iftSHtSN lildla ne
sizes up the pitcher and the base
man looks for seE.e characteristic
S=sTU or sign that signal what he
IS about to do next to take advan-
tage of the tip. You may call it
outguessing the other fellow if you
wish, but Collins says It is less
than that You don't have to guess
IF you are blessed with a keen
vision, you can look and see
BY studying the pitchers Collins
is able TO tell just when to be on
mis- guard, II the ball is TO he deliv-
cred to the batter or the baseman,
and so knows when to start his
dash for second Nearly every
b player shows by some sign or other
what he intends TO do next This.
Of course. in the majority Of cases.
is observable to the trained or
practiced eye.