Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-12-27
BY II. q. SALSINGER.

TI COBB will leave base ball
different game than it was
when he entered the sport.
He revolutionized the game, gave it
new life, new speed. He brought
about a change at time when the
game had gotten into a groove;
when 1t was an orthodox thing;
when>t was cut and dried and to
degree that was monotonous.
it out of this condition, gave 1t
polish and gloss, a sparkle and new
zest. He made something more out
of the game than 1t was, and the
rapid development of base ball, it's
astounding growth and dazzling
spread in popularity can all be cred
tied to Cobb's vision; to his speed of
limb and a brain that worked in per-
feet coordination and spirit. He in
jected into the game a powerful per-
sonality that was felt gradually
throughout the sport.
He did more for base ball than
any single individual that ever lived"
said Byron Bancroft Johnson on one
occasion. Base ball owes more to
him than the game realizes"
Disapproves Lively Ball.
And what does Cobb think of the
game today? Not as much as he
thought of base ball five years ago.
The lively ball, introduced a few
of the game. Cobb never liked the
lively ball. He opposed it from the
start, and his opinion never changed
as far as the ball was concerned. He
said often in the last few years:
THE lively ball has robbed the
game of its finesse. The art has been
taken out of base ball A premium
has been placed upon Drawn instead
of brain
The object of the lively ball is, of
course, to produce more hits. The
owners believe the public likes hits
better than anything else in base ball.
The public does like hits, but there
can be too much of anything. Too
much hitting causes overbalance. The
public will tire of too much of any,
thing in any sport. You can have
even too much Of such a good thing
as extra base hits.
What the lively ball has done to
base ball is to spoil much of the
strategy. After the lively ball few
players hunted any more and few
stole bases. 1t was not profitable to
bunt or try to steal. Why? The per-
centage was all against you. Maybe
you stood an even chance in trying
to steal, but that would advance you
only one base. You stood almost as
good a chance to be advanced two
bases on a hit and. probably score,
particularly If you were on. third.
Stealing third was folly. 1t became
bone-head play. The outffelders had
to get out so much farther. They
played from 20 to 80 feet farther out
than when the old style ball was in
play. Their new position made it
simple to take two bases on a hit.
A runner on second was almost sure
to score on any kind of hit to the
outfield. So why steal third?
"Science Is Gone"
why take a chance at all in steal
ing? The thing to do, with the lively
ball in play, was to stay anchored
to base and wait for the hit that
was almost sure to come. There was
no percentage in base running. That
was passe. They waited for the hit.
They got runs in clusters. Teams no
longer played for a run, but they
played for runs.
THE best thing to do was to play
the ihfield back, aim to get one man,
keep the other teams run total as.
low as possible, and trust to getting
more runs yourself. =. 4
THE science of batting has been
fairly we'll lost. The idea seems to
be to stand up and take healthy
poke at the ball. You don't have to
hit it a mile, although you generally
do when you get hold of 1t. But q
ball hit on the ground will do as well
most of the time. The lively ball.
hit right, goes so fast over the ground
that it generally has speed enough to
get by the infielders. 4
: "A damper has been put on inside
base ball by the lively ball. It has