The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-11-14

league but in the National. He was John P Wagner, known as Hans" "Honus" and 'The Flying Dutchman." While Wagner was not an actual competitor he was the king pin of base ball in that day, player with long record of bril- liant performances at bat and with whom Cobb would be constantly com pared if Cobb continued on his road to base balls top place.
 Like None Of Them
 Physically there was no comparison between Cobb and. the three men men tioned. They were not alone all nnatural hitters but they were sluggers besides. Lajoie, big and thick, remarkably well built, king of second basemen and a great batter. Crawford, another giant, slow, methodical, powerful. Wagner, broad-shouldered, thick-chested, bow legged, long-armed, stoical, described once by cartoonist as splendid piece of Mission furniture" y As batters they were nearly all of one type and this type. was directly op- posite to Cobb's type They were heavy, solid and they batted in that style. Each outweighed Cobb by at least 20 poundseand each could drive a ball a great deal farther than Cobb ever did. They were powerful hitters; Cobb lack ed their power.
 Because Lajoie, Crawford and Wag- per were the leading batters, they were the accepted type. No one expected Cobb to compete successfully against them because he was so entirely differ ent. And, naturally, when Cobb intro duced style contrary to the style used by the leading batters of the day, he was rebukedf
 Lajoie, Crawford and Wagner had set style at bat. They would step to the plate, plant their feet firmly on the ground, set themselves and await the pitch: When they elected to hit they would throw their shoulders behind the swing and follow through. They stood fiat-footed and firm so they could get their entire weight behind the swing.
 He Studied Crawford
 Cobb studied all the leading bat ters. He paid particular attention to Crawford. He quickly noted that Craw- lord was a groove balP' hitter; in other words, the pitcher had to get the Dall over the plate before Crawford would swing. Also, he noticed that whenever Crawford came to bat, the en- 1re 1nf1eld and outfield shifted to the rlght for Crawford, using the style at pat that he used, could hit only in a certain direction. He was a lane hit ter; or, as ball players say, a dead" rightfield hitter.
 20 Cobb set about to improve on this oattlng style. He realized that he lacked IIV Ine power of Crawford, a Laioie or A wagner, so he had to invent a style that would offset their physical advantages. And' furthermore, he had to invent A style which would enable him to bit 10 all fields. There would he extreme advantages in that. from Crawford's style at hat Cobh earned that a man, standing in A nosi. tion Ike Crawford, was certain to hit ainnost si always to a certain part of tba lleld' To overcome this result Cohh adopted a system by which he couIJ change his position to snit tbe e;taH eHuu oonetnlng othn Crawford and nearly all the tuners could not do ;. Instead of sDread- lns ms legs and planting his feet firmly Sn me ground and standing flatfooteS Copo stood at the plate with feet cIoss together and balanced on tbe bsIIs or ms rect. In this position he uas ohiS 10 switch instantly, jump into any Je- slred position after the ball left tho pitchers hand. By this stand ot tLe plate Cobb struck his first revolution rv note in base ball.
 CTomorrOw: Chapter xVI-New