The Detroit times., 1913-04-05
Man Who Sets Precedents But
Never Follows Them Has
q New One
EARNS MUCH MONEY IN
SPRING TRAINING SEASON
Gets Coin and Publicity Out of
Holding Out and Playing
in Georgia

LOUISNiLI/E, NY, April o.-it NAB
remained for Tyrus Raymond Cobb
10 demonstrate the falsity again or
the. assertion that there Is nothing
new under the sun.
With all this demand for $4,000 a
year and that, with all this holding
out. with all this rumoring that he
would report at Gulfport, which he
tailed to do--through it all Cobb has
added to his fame throughout the
land.
Furthermore, while he was doing it.
he was adding to the gold in his cof.
fers by the very simple method OF
playing with club of his OWN down
through the south, where he Is very
popular and reaptng, according to re-
ports from Atlanta, no less than 81 400
Tor Ave games. He had contests
scheduled up to April 8, which were
expected to add still more to his
wealth.
Cobb Is the man who sets prece-
dents but never follows them. While
the fans were wondering at the mys-
teriousness that was surrounding his
moves In the south, he was calmly
playing baseball. both to get into
shape for the opening of the season
and TO make more money.
Never before In the history Of the
national game has a man actually
earned hundreds and perhaps thou
sands of dollars while preparing Tor
the opening Of the season when his
regular pay should begin.
There is probably no man in the
hn tha otn I'M
he has done. There are few men VINO
could draw crowds as he does and
those few are pitchers who couldn't
play in every game. Probably nobody
ever thought of this system Of get
ting into shape before, either
Cob bis not violating any Of the de-
..pspdss OF the club owners, who say
-thet they don't cara whether a player
reports to them or not before the sea-
son begins as long az he is in shape
when the bell rings for the opening
game. The players get no pay for
the time that they are In spring train
ing. Thus 1t can hardly be demanded
pf them that they take advantage OF
II unless they want 10.
Spring training has been estab-
lishea- as matter OF convenience for
the players themselves. The young
sters are requested to report early so
that they can be looked over by the
manager while getting into condition.
The veterans, II they go south early,
generally go at their own initiation as
did Mullin and Bush and Lake this
year, and sometimes they pay their
scwn expense.
Now as this expense mounts up to
IS, 900 or $4,000 the owners have re-
peatedly said that ir me baseball fra
ternity makes good in it's threat to
try to force them to pay salaries dur.
Ing the spring season, they will cut
out the preliminary work altogether
for the veterans at least, and force
them to report at the beginning OF
the season. ready to play ball.
Cobb fulfills the conditions Of this
demand II he Is In shape at st. Louis.
April 10. He has been playing right
along and says that he will be In
good condition.
The only question Is: Will Cobb
really be ready to face the curves and
shoots OF major league pitchers after
hitting the pitchers Of various col
leges and military academies IN the
south? II the pitchers that he has
been looking at are anything like
those whom the Tigers saw with the
Guh Coast Military academy and
other schools in the south, he Will re-
auire several days to get used to real
speed, curves and control.
Cobb would undoubtedly have
pulled in money for the Detroit club
on its way north at the various cities
at which they played exhibition
games. He would undoubtedly have
helped the Tigers win more games
than they did also. But he can hard
" be blamed for wanting to clean up
A few hundred or thousand dollars on
his own hook, even at the expense or
his club.
II would no doubt have been better
for the club In its team play, also,
had he Joined 1. when Crawford did.
so that Manager Jennings could have
started his regular batting order work
ing right away instead of having 10
/. wait until the day OF the first game
A far as Cobb's salary demands
are concerned, they have no doubt
been adjusted already II not by con-
tract, at least verbally. Cobb's fail
ure to report made 1t appear that he
snd Navin had failed to get together.
But Manager jennings confidence
that Cobb would be ready when the
season started dates back from the
time the Tigers were still at Gulfport,
go Il would not be surprising II Cobb
- 49, ~<xt ~ hnt ftvpn