The Washington times., 1920-01-10
TY WASN'T NOTED WHEN
HE BROKE INTO. LEAGUE
~ FREDERICK C. LIEB.

Detroit started batting Chesbro in
the FIRST inning and assumed a lead
which was never lost. Mullin was
effective in tight pinches. DeleHanty
sprained his ankle sliding TO third in
the seventh. Coughlin was put out
OF the game for disputing decision
in the eighth"
Thus on August so. 1906, was the
greatest player professional baseball
ever has produced introduced to the
American public. Not word in that
Associated Press introduction sent
out from Detroit about fiery young
Georgian. not yet nineteen, stepping
into .oDe Of Jack Chesbro's spitters
in the first inning and rapping out a
double, which drove in Matty McIn-
tyre and Chris Lindsay. 1t was the
young stars double which enabled
Detroit to assume a lead which was
never lost"
Since that time this youngster has
hammered out quite a few leads
which never have been lost. Refer
ence is made to~Tyrus Raymond Cobb,
basebalis superplaycr Of all time.
That first inning bingle was Ty's
hit portion for the day, though he
later picked up a base on balls. Bill
Armour. then manager of the Tigers,
selected a splendid place to insert
1'y into his batting order, right next
to Wahoo Sam Crawford. This pair
Cobb and Crawford-were destined
to make the greatest batting pair in
the history of baseball.
He Was Biggest Bargain.
Armour lost little time in putting
Cobb to work after the Georgian "a
ported to the Michigan city. Detroit
purchased Cobb from the Augusta,
Ga, team, of the Sally League, on
August 2S, 1905, for $500, and two
days later Cobb showed up at the
Detroit club house.
Looking up Manager Armour, Ty
announced, I'm here" Armour gave
him his chance that afternoon He was
the biggest bargain ever picked up
by major league club.
Cobb made two hits of Jack Powell.
the portly heavyweight pitcher of the
Yanks. in his second game, but he
went hitless in his third game, when
he was unable TO garner a bingle OF
Ables and Buchanan of the Browns
Cobb finished the 1905 season with an
average of .240 for forty-one games.
the only time he ever has been under
800.
Cobb's early stay in Detroit was no
bed OF roses. A hot-headed, head
strong \youngster. Tyrus got along
with those grizzled Tiger veterans as
nicely as though he had fallen into a
lair of real Bengals.
He Carries a Chip.
A youngstcr breaking in in those
days did not have the same easy
time or get the encouragement that
veterans now often tender to rockies
trying for big league jobs. And Cobb
was no youngster desiring encour-
agement, nor did he take kindly to
advice to improve his style OF play.
lie carried a chip on his shoulder,
and from the first was a kid who
knew IL ALL"
The outcome was that almost every
day some Tiger or other would knock
that chip off. Ty then was only
eighteen, and though he was a tall,
rangy kid, he had TO take some severe
sonr~, of the men who were fifty
pounds heavier than he. But Ty was
game. He never cried quits" and no
sooner did he get out OF one fight
than he got into another. No one ever
made him cry enough"
But It has been this belief in him
SELF that absolute self-reliance that
has characterized the play OF Cobb
during his entire baseball career. This
Unsuitable, unquencheble ambition
has spurred Cobb along during his
entire baseball history,
or the men Immediately surround
ing Cobb in that box score, Germany
Schaefer and Sam Crawford, the for.
mer died last summer. while old
Wahoo Sam still Is knocking out
homers and triples In the. Pacific
Coast League. Like poor Schaefer,
SILK OJoughlln, who umpired Cobbs
flrst big league game. has been struck
out by the Gree1 Umpire.
tCopyrisht, 1890. by Al Munro EiiaA)