The Washington herald., 1913-12-28
ANSON THE BEST
BATTER OF ALL
Has Grandest Record in His
tory of Game Hit for 1897
for twenty-five Years.
NAP LAJOIE HAS CHANCE
Big Singing NaPlander Has Mark of
.352 for Eighteen Years-cobb
a Demon Swatter.
BY FRANK G. MENKE.


batsman of all time?
Or will Joe jackson. now laundering
along at a mighty clip, compile a record
before his playing days are over that
will overshadow the wonderful perform
ance Of the slugging Georgian?
Or have Anson, Wagner and Lajoie al
ready made records that never will be
equaled or beaten?
Or will the future bring to the fore
some batter with such wonderful bat
Ting eye such wonderful batting skill,
and sUoh mighty power in his arms that
he will slatter the records made by this
wonderful quintet?
A bevy OF questions, these. and ones
that time alone can answer. Were you
to ask today which of the quintet is the
greatest batter that ever stepped to the
plate, a mighty. chorus would tell you
Cobb, another chorus would shout An
son." and an equal number would name
jackson. Wagner and Lajoie. And, as
we view it. every one would be right and
no one wrong.
Each Has n Record.
Such a statement seems odd, but it
isn't Each member Of this wonderful
quintet has established certain records
that no one ever has equaled or even
approached.
been in the major leagues only four
wears. Yet in that time ne mas amassed
a grand batting average of .39l-a record
without parallel in the history OF the
game None of the other four hit for
such an average in their first four years
in the majors. nor did they ever hit for
3sl for any four successive years
Cobb. in nine years in fast company,
has cIubb i them out for a grand aver
mis-
addition to this Cobb fas led the Amerl-
can league in batting for seven success
Siye yea-s-from 1907 D 1906 INCLUSIVE
and in 1911 he hammered out 24S hits
the greatest number of safeties ever
made by any man in one season.
Cobb's record, no doubt, will stand all
the unslaughts of time. Perhaps some
iay there will come a man who can oat
81 for nine straight years. and there
NAV come a man who can lead his league
for seven straight years, but IT is be-
yond the power of our imagination to
conceive a time when there will come
one man who will duplicate Cobbs dual
feat.
Iajoie's Average Good.
Laioie. the wonderful Cleveland in
fielder has collected an average OF .~ol
for eighteen years-the greatest slugging
accomplishment for such period LaJole
led the league four times in batting, ano
in 1901 batted for an average of 81
the best average ever made in any one
season by a batter. In addition to this.
Laioie pounded out 200 or more hits for
five wears. and made 1882 hits in 2.n2
games-an average around one and one
third hits per game.
Wagner's batting average for seven
teen years in fast company is .SH, not
such a wonderful record as Lajoie s,but
~ 1nNFR
those seventeen years has he failed to bat
800 or over This establish the greatest
record for consistent 800 hitting in base
ball history.
,irandest of Them All.
But wonderful as are the records of the
four already mentioned, they do not COM
pare with that compiled by cap ADRIAN
Anson. who began his major league ca
reer i'm 1876, and ended it in 1897. After
twenty-five years as a big Lacquer, Cap
retired with a grand batting average OF
ga record that most likely will stand
all the onslaughts of time.
Only four times in those twenty-five
wears did Anson fail to hit owe 500, and
two of those years he was unable to do
himself full justice because of illness
and injuries. In 1897, his best year. he
1naced out "a hits for an average of
&
bv I,ajoie fourteen years later.
Wagner, with five years to go. and La
i,ie with four more to travel, have d
chance to equal and. perhaps, beat An
sons record. But the chance is slight.
Both men have reached a point where
Father Time calls a halt Both have
slowed up. not enough TO send them to
the discard for another year or two, but
50 that il seems certain that added years
and the resultant stiffeRinE of the joints
and muscles will move them from the big
league spotlight before they have trav-
Cled the road as far as Anson did.
.'TaDS" MHy sound for Vets.
I.ajoie is something like thirty-eiGht or
thirty-nine now, Wagner Is forty, and
taps" We fear must be sounded for
these grand old veterans before they can
reach the twenty-second milestone OF
their major league careers.
The chances of Cobb or Jackson equal
ing Anson's record are much slighter
than that of their two veteran rivals. To
take a whirl at Anson's record, Cobb
must remain in the majors thirteen more
years. He is twenty-seven or twenty
eight now, and thirteen years will bring
him at or over the forty-year mark Even
il he remains in the majors for that Pc
riod, Cobb must hit for an average better
than .3lO for each OF these thirteen years
10 beat Anson's record.
Jacksons chances are even more re-
mote. ''Shoeless joe already twenty
four years of age, must remain in the
majors eighteen years more before he
has a chance to have his record COM
Eared with Anson's. And that would
gaep Joe in the big leagues until he is
torty-two, which stacks up as one OF
those called rarities.
Must Hit for .32O.
Assuming JoeS does remain in the
majors tor eighteen years more, he has
to club the hotsehide each and every
year from now on until 1881 for an aver
age around .S2Ot
Cobb and Jackson have chance to tie
or beat records made by Lajoie and
Wagner-but the chances are slim. To
equal Wagner's record of seventeen years
as 800 batter, Cobb must hit over the
800 mark for the next nine years, as
Cobb has swatted over 300 only since
1906, averaging only $40 in his first year
out
Jackson. to tie Wagner's record, must
hit 100 or over for the next thirteen
years.
To beat Lajoie's record OF Ss1 for eight |
cen years, Cobb must his slightly over
so each year for the next nine years.
and jackson must hit around .S4O-which |