Newark evening star and Newark advertiser., 1914-04-07
Eddie Sure That Ty's Bat Won
1907 and 1909 Pennants
for Jennings.
TIGERS DEFENSE WEAK
Team Needs Pitchers to Help
Out Dauss and
Dubuc.
BY EDDIE COLLINS
tStar second Baseman of the Philadelphia
Athletics)

Athletlcs.)
Having already mentioned the Bos-
ton, Washington. Cleveland and Chi
eago teams as the foremost rivals of
, the Athletics for the 1914 American
League championship and now about
to include one more team in my list,
| can almost hear some of my read
ers say, "Why don't you name the
whole league and be done with it?''
While the name of this last club
may seem, in the opinion of many
fans, a superfiuity on my already
iong list of possible champions, from
an athletic standpoint I never could
afford to omit it, For all that Damon
and Pythias, and David and Jona-
than, and other famous friends of
history were to each other. the De-
troits and Athletics have not been
ono to the other for the past seven
years, or since the day Hughey Jen-
nings took charge of the Tigers and
they began to cut figure in the
American League race. The fires of
deadly (?) rivalry were kindled way
back in 1907, and have been kept
burning fiercely ever since, because
all through this period, with the ex-
ception of the last two years, the
Tigers and the Athletics have en-
gagged in the strenuous pastime of
nosing each other out for the cham
pionship. The Tigers did the trick
IN '07, '0S and '09, while Connie Mack's 8
charges led the way in 10 and II.
Besides this, several individual ami
mosities. which are now better left
untouched, have not aided materially
IN cementing the bonds of friendship
between us. But "be that as it may
the Tigers arid Athletics always play
their heads off to beat each other,
as they rightly should, and when con-
sidering obstacles in the path of the
Philadelphia club to another pennant,
the Detroit team must be reckoned
with, regardless of how it stacks up
against the rest of the league -
Ty Cobb's Bat Beat Athletics Twice.
If there is any one man of whom it
can be said that he beat the Athletics
out of pennant. Ty Cobb is that
person. But for him and his mighty
bat in just one series between our
clubs in 1907 and again in 1909. /
am sure that Detroit would never
have won the flag either of those two
seasons. Regardless of how he may
perform against the other clubs IN
our circuit, he has exhibited enough
accomplishments extraordinary at
bat, on the bases, and afield against
the Athletics to assure him forever
of the lofty position he now occupies
in the baseball world, namely, the
greatest all round player in the game.
l have already written a separate
article about him and some of his
marvellous feats, so anything l might
say here would only be repetition.
AS with johnson with Washington,
so with Cobb with the Detroit team
hi rra1Y 4e, Al n
there have been vague rumors of his
transfer elsewhere, Mr. Navin, presi-
INT mt, end. owner of the Detroit club.
would be as unlikely to dispose of
Tyrus as he would of his whole ball
team.
Obviously, Detroit's general weak
ness is not a lack of batting strength,
because Cobb. Crawford & Co. sup
ply that need very acceptably; in
fact, the Tigers usually maintain a
batting average well up among the
leaders, but where they are shy con-
siderably is on the defensive. Not
that am going to say So-and-