The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-01-27
lc7A M@A Up to the Minute q - I
EHNSA SPORTINGlNEws 6XSgs41
| Zz2gNP from Everywhere. 0I
EG0OS -xt,1 EYFcLUon
HIS BLOOD is up WHY COBB LEADS
Quick Thinking, Keen Eyes and
Speed Make Him King.
Ambition and Love of Game
Also Great Assets.
from Everywhere

New York, Jan. EFT is no slight
honor to lead the National and the
American Leagues in batting. The
competition is keen. there is an abun-
dance of ambition among the players
for the coveted privilege of topping
the list of sluggers and player must
stick everlastingly to his task. Every
base hit and base on balls counts and
the batsman must have nerve enough
to stand up at the plate in the face
of the swiftest kind of pitching and
not be afraid of being hit by a ramp
| ant toss.
Two players stood out as champion
batsmen last season. They were the
incompatible Ty Cobb of Detroit, who
led the American League with a per-
centage of $40, and Larry Doyle of
| the New York Giants, who led the
] National League with an average of
.320. Doyles achievement was sorle-
thing of a surprise, for during the last
| few seasons he had not been hitting
| consistently, and in the season of 1914
an injured shoulder kept him far down
| in the list of star batsmen- Cobb's
performance was nothing of a surprise,
but it was none the less remarkable.
1t was the tenth year that Cobb had
! batted better than 800.
Ty Loves Game.
Baseball is Ty Cobb's business. 1t is
| also his pleasure. He would rather
| thing else There has not been a time
| since Ty Cobb Joined the Detroit Club
| ten years ago that his ambition to be
| the greatest player in the game ever
lost its fire. Cobb is a great ball play
| er because first of all he is imbued
| with an irrepreSsible spirit to excel.
Cobb entered the major league with
| the odds against him. The breezy tenn
| permanent of the young Georgian did
| not impress the time-worn veterans on
4 ha 1r1h hr.nl 10
| in he was no wonder. He was a per-
feet athlete and lived a clean life. Out
! in center field he ran all around under
! the ball and gave Manager Hughey
/ Jennings many anxious moments when
| he was trying to catch a fly ball
There was one thing about this
young Cobb which impressed Jennings.
He was the first player in uniform at
| the ball park, he was the first player
out on the field to practice catching
flies. He was everlastingly trying. He
practiced and practiced and never
tired. He couldn't get too much base
| ball.
He Loves Practice.
When the players were at batting
practice Cobb wasn't satisfied to take
his turn to go up and face the pitcher.
! He often went in ahead of the other
l players and got two chances at whack-
ing the ball, where the other players
were content to get one. Cobb does
the same thing today and he has been
| playing ball for ten years. 1t thrills
| him with enthusiasm when he crashes
his bat against the ball and pokes it
out into the field where no one can
reach it.
Cobb's ambition has never left him.
He is like a boy and gets more fun
out of baseball than 95 per cent of the
men who make it their bushes
Watch Cobb at his best, when he is
spanking out sharp hits and running
wild on the bases, and you will quick
ly see why he is the greatest baseball
player in the world.
He's always looking for the other
fellows weakness. When he steps to
the bat. the sharpest eye in baseball
is riveted on the pitcher. The pitcher
tries to cross Cobb by throwing him
a fast straight one, when he thinks
that Cobb is expecting a curve But
ing just one jump ahead of the pitch
err The ball comes up like a bullet
The quick eye of the southerner has
it sized up the moment it leaves the
pitchers hand.
He Hits Everything.
Maybe Cobb makes a short quick
chop at the ball. He will Invariably
, do this if the ball breaks at him
quickly. He is first sure that he
knows what is coming. He takes a
hard swing. He has no particular
likes or dislikes about pitching. He
hits everything. Say, for instance, he
chops a short hit over second base, He
goes to first base like a flash Cobb
: is all speed from his head to his toes.
He races to first base and does not
stop. If the second baseman is a wild
: thrower when he is in a hurry, Cobb
will play on this very weakness. He
: will round first base and make a bluff
= to gallop to second base He draws
= the throw to first. If the throw is not
perfect, Cobb sees it in an instant and
| Gashes on to second. There he lands