Evening star., 1924-11-10
TY COBB
Rernaker of Base Ball
Schoefers Joke
NdUin Watches Him.
Cobb's Average Jumps.

that afternoon. He happened to men,
tion the queer youngster.
I'll admit he needs a little polish
ing" said Leidy, but Az soon as that
boy gets used to a bride you're going
TO see the worlds greatest ball player
and nothing less
Soon after the Detroit squad started
back North. playing exhibition games
along the way. The players laughed
and joked about the queer one" in
Augusta for awhile and then forgot
about him. The pennant race was about
to start.
Before the Tigers left Augusta, De-
troit was expected to pay ground rent
for use of the Augusta field, but instead
or paying in money the club offered
Augusta the use of a player Detroit
had on the pay roll a pitcher named
Eddie Cicotte. Augusta needed a pitcher
and so Cicotte was turned over to
Augusta. This saved railroad fare on
Cicotte, and also saved the money that
would have been paid for ground rent.
There was also clause in the agree
ment stipulating that If Detroit wanted
player at the end of the season it
could have any man on the Augusta
roster for $3.50
Jumps His Average.
Detroit plunged into the pennant
race, the Augusta deal put aside for
several months. and down in Georgia
old George Leidy continued working
on Cobb, nursing the player along.
He batted .237 in 81 games in 1904
but Leidy had convinced Cobb that
this was highly satisfactory since
Cobb was changing his style at bat
and that he would improve con-
stantly. I.eidy created self-conf-
dence in Cobb and as a prophet he
proved correct He played in 1o3
games that season and his batting
average was 1927, just SO points above
his average for the preceding year.
Leidy also noticed that Cobb's base
running was taking on form: Cobb
now had a definite purpose when
he did things. 1t was the same with
his fielding and batting. He was
learning quickly and developing fast
Clcotte was pitching for the same
team. He won Is out of "a games
for Augusta and when the season was
drawing near the close the Augusta
club asked Detroit to select a man,
according to the clause in the agree
ment.
Augusta had another player that
looked like sure major league ma
terlal. He was Clyde Engel who
later came to the American League
Detroit finally discarded Cicotte
lie weighed l35 pounds and Detroit
considered that much too light for
pitcher Few major league clubs
ever cared for little fellows as
pitchers. This is matter of psy-
choIoEy. They believe that a bat
ter has no respect for a little fell
low. The batter concludes: "A little
guy like that can't have nothing"
and he has full confidence at bat.
When the batter faces giant, who
looms big before him. he believes
that the giant has a great deal of
stuff because "a guy that big can't
help have a lot" There is a great
deal in that. A little fellow is under
a handicap because of his size. a
big pitcher holds psychologicaI
advantage. Confidence is the thing
at bat.
Detroit decided it did not want
Cicotte He was too small. He
would be of no help. Batters would
not respect him. History proved
Detroit wrong
Tomorrow: Chapter x-C Cobb.
Debut)
tCopyrght, 1924 in the United States Can
ada and Great Britain by North American
Newspaper Alliance. All rights reserved