Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1914-04-11
COmiSkey Greatest First Stacker
Griffith Ranks Him Above All

IT ne could club like Wagner he would
Be the greatest shortstop OF all time.
Barry OF the Athletics, also Is a
Nonder, and Fletcher. OF the Giants,
is a mighty good man
"Of all the third basemen think
McGraw and Jimmy Collins, Of the
Boston Red Sox, were the best Nc
Graw was foxier than Collins and q
better hitter bat Collins was the bet
ter fielder He was the most grace
full fielding third baseman the game
ever has seen, And this gives him
the edge
Gardner. or the Red Sox; Foster
Of the Washingtons, and Baker, Of
the Athletics, are the only third
basemen who can be compared t.
these two,
Baker is a poor fielder; he is awk-
ward But he is such a wonderful
after that ii lifts him up to the top
notch. Foster Is q foxy fielder and
a foxy batter-a great all-round man.
Gardner is a wonder, but not quite in
Fosters class"
"Tris Speaker is the most remark
able outheder that ever lived" re-
marks Griffith. after according places
In the Outheld Hall Of Fame to more
than score OF the past and present
gardening stars He is the best man
ON fly balls that I ever have seen.
His throws are deadly Batters hit
the bail mile vet Speaker goes out
to the fence and gets them-gets
drives that other men would have to
let Eo for three base hits and home
runs
"Of course, Il is hard 70 judge be-
tween Speaker and Cobb as to which
is the better man Cobb Is a better
base runner and better batter, but
Speaker stands out as a fielder,
jackson. OF Cleveland, is Won
derful throWer and batter but he does
rot shine as a base runner. Milan,
OF Washington, ia a better bali play
ar than Jackson. He is a splendid
fielder. splendid base runner and a
consistent 900 hitter He Is coutin-
uauy using his head
"('oMPARlNG these stars WITH Biz
y LANCE, OF the old generation.
shows that the Old generation suf-
fers. Cobb and Speaker are Iange's
superiors, and think Milan is al
most Lange's equal Among the other
great outdeldmg stars OF the past and
present were Willie Keller, Fred
Clarke, Fielder Jones, Jesse Burkett,
Elmer Flick, Hugh DUFFY. Mike Dom
lin Jimmy McAleer Fogarty AMI
Diclly Johnson.
"ln the catching line the stars OF
the present daN are not as good as
those OF the other days Buck Ewing
never has known an equal as a
catcher call him the best ball
PLAYER the world ever has known.
The only man who ever approached
him was Mike Kelly, OF the old Chi
cago white SoX Kelly. too was a
wonder, but not quite equal TO Ewing.
"XNALTER JOHNSON Is The great,
wonderful as he is. there were some
old timers chat were wonders. too.
Clarkson and keefe were the best in
the period that ended in 1898. Then
came three wonders Amos Rusie, Cy
Young and Kid Nichols And then
came Mathewson. Garrison, keefc
and Nichols were not quite as good
AS Mstty and johnson are to-day. but
Young and Rusie, i'm their prime
we're right along with them.
"lu making these comparisons in
telling who think were the greatest
men that ever played the different
positions ON the diamond ] am only
swing my opinion Some may differ
with me. but these conclusions are
drawn after watching closely the
thousands who have come and gone
since ] entered the big league games"