Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-01-06
Joe JACKSON NOW
THE BEST BATTER
Fans Have Hard Time, How
ever, Selecting Real Fa-
vorite OF Diamond.
ANsoN A GOOD STICKER
t,;ol.. ceeb and Wagner Net Far Be-
hind NapIander-Joe Has 3s1
Average in Four Years

VII " Cobb 90 down in baseball
,i,.orv as the greatest batsman OF all
time
or will Joe Jackson. now numbering
,lonr A. a mighty clip, compile rec
o-s before his playing days are over
,sar will ove-shadow the wonderful
performance Of the smuggling Georgian?
Or have Arson. Wagner and Lajoie
already made records that never will
be equa.ed or beaten
Or will the future bring 20 the fore
some batter with such wonderful
hating eve. such wonderful batting
skin and such mighty power In his
a-ms.that he will shatter the records
made by this wonderful quintet
A bsvy OF questions. these, and ones
that time alone can answer
Hard 70 Pick Favorite.
Were you TO ask today which OF the
auiute- is the greatest batter that ever
stepped to the plate. a mighty chorus
would tell you Cobb. another chorus
would shout Arson and an equal num-
Der would name Jackson. Wagner and
I.ajo.e. And. IS we view it. everyone
would be right AMI no one wrong.
such a statement seems odd. but II
isn't. Each member OF this wonderful
quintet has established certain rec
orcs that no one ever has eIualed or
even approached
IL IS F=aa
has been in the major leagues only
four years. Yet in that time he has
smsssed a grand batting average OF
3si-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 .391 FOR any
four successive years.
Cobb Most Spectacular.
Cobb. in rine years in fast com
pauy. has dubbed them out for a
grand average Of .37I-another mighty
record. In addition TO this. Cobb has
led the American league in batting for
seven successive years-from 1907 TO /,
1913. inclusive-and in 1911 he ham !
mered out 2fS hits. the greatest num- I
Der Of safeties ever made by any man ]
IN one season.
C0bb's record. no doubt. viii stand /
all the Onslaughts Of time Perhaps I
some day there will come a man who 4
can beat 81 for nine straight years. /
and there may come = man who can I
Lad his league for seven straight /
years. but IL IS beyond the power OF I
when there Will come one man who .
vii duplicate Cobb's dual feat.
LajOie, the wonderful Cleveland in
fielder. has collected an average of .
-SSl for Is years. the greatest smuggling
accomplishment for such a period La
loie led the league four times in bat
uns. and In 1901 batted for an average
OF .iZZ. the best average ever made in
any one season by a batter. IN add
ION 70 this. LajOie pounded out 200
o. more hits for five years, and made
$50 hits IN Pip games. an average
around 1 I-3 hits per game
Wagner Is Consistent.
Wagner's batting average for II \
years In fast company Is .344. not such
wonderful record as LaiOie's. but
more remarkable in one respect
aeTer In those Il years has he failed
o bat 300 or over. This establishes
ne greatest record for consistent 300 {
hitting in baseball history.
But wonderful a. are the records Of
ne -FOUR already mentioned, they do
iot compare with that compiled by
zap Adrian Arson. who began his
major league career in 1875. and ended
In 1887 After p years as a big !
as1er. cap" retired with a grand ;
atiiHg average OF -337, "A record that