Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-06-23

There is a tense finality in Ty Cobb's
conversation which is unique. Other
players state opinions; the Georgian
gives facts In the presence of the
games greatest player the listener feels
intuitively that here is the one man
who knows absolutely what he is talk
ing about. For il Ty Cobb hasn't seen
a particular play. or tried it himself. or
seen it tried, it has never been and
probably never will be attempted The
Tigers experience runs the gamut from
merely simple plays of everyday &C.
currence to those sheer flights of genius
which border on the impossible. He is
the last word in base ball achievement.
If he confesses that a certain play is
beyond him the outlook is hopeless. 1t
simply can't be done
The conversation had turned upon
great plays. Il have always thought"
said Ty reminiscently, that the records
give a player either more or less credit
than he deserves. Certainly they fail to
do simple justice to the facts. There
are many details of good playing which
or runs scored. On the other hand. a
great batting average. for instance,
might cover up a whole multitude Of
deficiencies. You can't express st. Pc
mortar. Those things might be used
just as aptly to express a warehouse
or brewery. The records themselves
do not distinguish the genuine ball
player from the fellow who doesn't have
it in him to be star.
For instance, take the matter of
stretching hits. There is nothing more
important And yet there are few
things that look more foolish than to
see a runner try to go to second on a
single and get thrown out. On the
other hand. nothing demoralizes the
opposing felders more than a play of
this type that succeeds.
Scored Man From Third.
ITO illustrate what 1 mean, I remem-
Der a game at New York. A Detroit
player. 1 don't recall who, was on
third base. I sent q slow roller to
Maisel. The man on base was prevent
ed. from the nature of the play, from
advancing. But I made up my mind
as 1 neared first base that would ad-
vance him II possible. I had the throw
beat alright. No one was surprised to
see me get to first. But when rounded
first with never a let-up in speed and
dashed for second, l suppose there were
many in the stands who thought I had
gone crazy. And that Is just what they
would have said had the play ] in
tended to make gone wrong. l kept
on at full speed for second base. The
play looked like suicide, but that is
just what | intended to have 1t re-
semble. AS ! neared second base the
fielder was waiting for me with the
ball. He was ready to welcome me
with open arms. Every member on the
team was congratulating himself on
getting me to walk into such stupid
trap. / knew they would look at the
play in that light.
The more they patted themselves on
the back the better l liked it. I romped
back toward first base. and two or
three more men came in to corner me-
Then ! ran toward second. In the mean
time the Detroit runner on third edged
off the bag. No one paid any attention
to him. Finally. getting good lead. he
dashed for home. Too late, the fielder
who had the ball saw the play and then
threw for home. The runner was safe
In the meantime. by fast sprinting, 1
reached third base. That is an illus
tration of what l mean. There were
no errors made in that play save the
errors Of omission on the part OF the
defense. For my part. I scored the man
wanted to score and reached third
myself. had no complaint to offer.
But suppose something had gone
wrong? Every one could have said
what an idiotic play!
Stretching hits Is important. 1t is
no less important to have the man al
ready on stretch q base as well as the
batter. Ordinarily a payer on second
will score on a single. But 1t requires
| q nicely Of judgment and good break
all round TO score from hrst on sin
hrst and home. The runners who get on
base and die there don't figure in the