The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1913-10-16
LEADS
ALL SAYS
HOWARD
By DEL HOWARD

Ianager OF the Seals and Forme
Big League Sfnr
ITO pick out the best ball
player you have seen means
to delve into q great army OF
men where the competition Is
keen. but still it is not q difiicult
task for me. as Ty Cobb has al
ways impressed me as being the
greatest. Some OF these younger
fellows I have not seen. but they
have not accomplished enough
to be compared with the Geor-
glan wonder.
seldom is there found . ball
player who has not weakness
OF some kind, and when : star
comes along you try to ind de-
fects in his. makeup. and natur-
ally you study him closely /
have watched Cobb play in many
a game, and / have studied his
style OF play to ascertain
whether he had any faults. and
IL he has, / confess. ! was not
keen enough to observe them.
To me he is the perfect ball
player. First of all. he looks the
part.
Every line of his physical
makeup Indicates that he is an
athlete, and on top OF this won
derful frame there Is a head that
has some brains. Speed COM
bined with brains and wonder
full eye are Cobb's greatest assets.
I can not say much of Collins.
as have not seen him play often
enough to criticise him. I will
say this. however. that he I'm
pressed me very much as being a
player of the Cobb type. and he
must be a great man when such
a good judge or ball player as
John McGraw has proclaimed him
the best Wagner is great
player and may have been the
equal of Cobb eight or ten years
ago.
Wagner is unlike Cobb In one
noticeable respect II the Dutch
man makes q boot or sonnet thing
goes wrong he is likely to go up
in the air q bit. On the other
hand. Cobb can pull OF a bad
play, smile at the crowd and play
along at the same even tenor as II
nothing had happened.
Cobb excels Jackson, to my way
OF thinking. because he has more
brains. Jackson. while undoubt-
eddy a great player, has not the
Intelligence of the Georgian.
Why, II Cobb were playing with
a team like New York we would
hear a great deal more OF him.
He gets away with stun that few
ball players would attempt. The
New Workers would fdoIixe him
and his great plays would be
given a great deal more pub
lcity than he gets now Detroit
is one of the poorest baseball
towns on the American league
circuit.
There is nothing the Georgian
can not do. In the field he plays
the game faultlessly- He is an
enthusiastic worker and he Is al
ways going at full speed for his
club. He Is ono Of the best field
ers in the game and he plays the
game intelligently from defen-
sive standpoint.
He naturally shines brightest
on the Offensive. At the bat and
on the bases Is where he catches
the eye, az this style OF play gives
him more opportunities to display
his remarkable playing abilities.
| tell you that any time he goes
to the bat the opposing pitcher
has no idea what he is going to
do. He is thinking all the time.
and one Of his strongest points IS
TO outthink the other fellow.
which he does successfully year
after year.
when he goes to the bat you
can not tell just what he Is going
to do. He has q great eye Any
time he swings at the ball he usu-
ally hits it squarely and the ball Is
sent out to the held on line. But
he can shove and push the ball
with wonderful skill. Let the
shortstop or any OF the infielders
make one false break on a ground
er and he Is almost sure to reach
firet safely.
1t is the same on a drive to the
outfield. = The gardeners must
handle the ball perfectly, or else
Cobb Is on his way to second. He
10 a player who takes advantage
Of every opportunity. and the other
fellows mistakes are his gain.