Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-04-03

Aw. shucks. fellcrs didn't want to
start any argument. and here wc arc
sure 10 have about forty In the FIRST
place suppose about hal, New Eng
iand VIII be yelling that Speaker ought
to he higher than Cobb, and then the
whole state OF Michigan Will yalp be-
caus" now Speaker figures as a bet
Ter fielder than Cobb, and viii Kick
even II Coob does rate way above him
thnd above everyone else i'm haSchalD
IN the attacking end OF the game
Bu, the dope says II, and we've got
70 believe IL; was surprised to ind
how far have been compeIled To cut
down the fielding value Of the Georgia
Peach. and have added only eleven
points 70 Speakers value as n.ldcr
al that Cobb must be reduced He
seems as great In attack as ever. hut
the truth is. Tyrus is not as good n
hc'G"r We have 10 deduct for wear
i'"' tear even from him. His arm Is
not as strong as il was he doos not
cover quite az much ground. AMI he is
not quite az fast. Nor. to my idea. does
he get into and force as many plavs
az he did.
cobb's immense value az ball play
or Che is worth almost n PLAYER and
n hal) has been more IN the plays tina,
he made that none of the others ever
tried than In his individual! hr!ll!ancv
TO max" plays both IN attacn and de-
fcuse. do not think Cobb Is quite az
effective as he WINS three years ago in
attack. Last year lac spurrcd him
self to enormous effort and even while
doing il Ne did not have his old speed
II one could speak OF a. lightning flash
slowing M cobb is slowing It re-
Gu!res more effort for him TO do thjncs
have been compelled 10 rate
Speaker above Cohb as center fielder
because OF one thing marvellous
ability to 90 far back and capture long
flies. The capture Of on" Of these means
the changing Of Il triple or "A ~oMe run
into an out. and the" count immense
lv. Speaker retS more OF these than
anyone in tho business. and Cobb.
while Speakers superior IN max sing
plays. In forward dashcs and side
sprints. cannot 20 out ~ far as does
the Boston marvel
Milan ranks third on all departments
OF tho game combined. hut Of course.
falls behind jackson because OF the
Socklcss Southcrncr's slugg;nr ability.
Now. M looms this r"jivnnated New
York team again have had to ranit
New York right up among III" stars OF
;hc American League hlancni to
shine more brightly IN center field than
anywhere else Center field In the
American League Is the Milky Way o!
HaScbalI DID you ever see 80 many re-
And some OF them Stop over into the
other Acids occasionally marvel
ous aggregation and Il shows tho
change of hitting style 10 straight
awa% slamming.
In n later article. while studying the
teams ! want Ia explain this cNoln-
ton Of the game and the tremendous
decrease III hitting. which IL due not
10 tho lesser ability OF battcrs. not to
the fact that the pitchers are better to
day than they ever were, but 10 tho in
crease In the number Of good pitchers.
Nowadays Il batter faces good pitch =
inn. all the time, whereas, np to Tour
years ago. he faced one star. one sec
ond ratcr. and perhaps, one dub In each
serics and fattcucd np his average
against the dub This steady good
pitching has forced the hattcrs to hit
"naiurally" and has made center fielding
more and more important SO here the
American League crowds them To the
center To head of the long "hcalthicS.'
Strunk Is a magnificent natural ball
PLAYER. hut despite speed. hitting power
and all that lie Is not a great ball
PLAYER and never will be. Walker IS
:, clever man Graney and hia under
study rank we'll so we have every
center field In the IcnEue filled with
! competent men. Iiu, back To tho New
York situation, for | imagine we arc
going To he II lot more Interested In
those Yankees before July than we
expected {" he. Donovan probably viii
play Lee Mogcr IN center field. Ma
gee may play second part Of tho time.
during which period Hugh High Will
occupy center. unless This Miller from
Mobile manages to butt IN on account
/ az his hitting, Magao can itcld, run
throw and hit aud he pluSs tho game