East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1920-07-01

! al pastime, the Detroit star hai
been so tardy in getting under way thii
season that baseball is listening for his
valedictory.
Cobb has justly been considered the
greatest OF all players. His feats have
so far overshadower his nearest rivals
that fandom despaired of ever seeing
! a youngster from the new school rise
up and take his place.
"Who will fill the shoes of Cobb
when he steps out?" has been the
making of an argument for years.
| The question has gone without an
swer until this year.
Put the query to any fan today and
| h II answer Babe Ruth" without hes
itation.
Babe FILLING Tys Shoes
Filling the shoes of the great Ty is a
herculean assignment but the Yankee
Babe not only promises to do that but
threatens TO make a record that will
stamp Cobb as the No. of all time.
Cobb has batted over 800 in IA of
his 10 years career. lie has been the
leading hitter of the American League
in = out of 13 seasons. The peak of
his greatest was achieved in 1920 when
he batted .420. his lowest mark was in
1906 when he finished with an aver
age of $40.
In 1927 games of IA seasons he has
stolen 768 bases His speed. skill and
daring on the bases was a big factor
in earning his sobriquet as 'The
Great" The same fleetness of foot
made him the star fielder OF the lea
que.
A great record he has made but the
Bal be has a record himself
Considering Ruth not as the great
est home run hitter of all times, not /
as the greatest attraction in the his |
tory of the game and the higest pric- |
ed gait of baseball flesh in the major !
leagues but as an all-round ball play |
er and he is almost there.
Can Pitch. Too
Babe Ruth is first class pitcher |
Given a regular turn in the box there |
is little doubt that he would be the best /
in the league. Memory still /
fingers of his 10 victory over Jim |
in the first game of the 1918
worlds series when he let the Cubs |
down with six hits. This season when
Manager Higgins was in a bad way for
pitchers, Ruth volunteered for box dut
with just a brief warming up and he
went in and won his game. He can
still pitch.
He is a first class baseman. He has
proved his ability on the first corner
and Keeps brushed up on the infield
game by working out almost daily on
the initial sack during batting practice
Babe Ruth is a first class outfielder.
also. He's fast on his feet, has excel
lent judgement fine wing and a wise
head. He will rank close to the ex-
ception of coming in for shoe string"
catches.
He's Some Batter
AS n batter he shines the greatest,
of course. Cobb scored countless hits
by his fleetness in beating out infield
rollers. Ruth smacks his where they
amt" His hits are all clean.
BY terrific swing of football |
shouleds, Ruth set IA high mark last
season with. 90 homers. This season
he promises to run the number to be-
tween 40 and so.
His slugging tendency was n handi-
cap early in the season in one way He
either knocked the ball out of the lot
or struck out. In one of the early
he struck at ball with such
fOrCe tnat ne strained MS back ana
was ont for several days.
He has been less vicious since and
connects consistently with the ball.
Doubles and triples have
been added to his collection until he
promises to become a more valuable
batter than Cobb.
Big Boy Runs Bases
In addition, Ruth is a good base
runner in spite of his rather ponder
ous, size. Hes fast. a skiiiful slider
and carries enough weight behind HON
to get the way from the majority of
hasemen. He has stolen 6 bases this
year and cobb ;.
In his palmy days, Cobb was consid-
cred the games greatest drawing card,
hut Ruth has played TO more fans in
Of this year than Cobb ever
lid on any one of his great years.
He his batting .345 this year and in
of his past years he has been i'm the
500 class.
New York fans herald Babe as the
greatest all-around' ball player Of all (
mes. The resords may bear them
'ut.