Evening star., 1924-11-29

A y inhelder can stand III a
~ wrong position. He can fool
u i base-runner by his attitude.
But the infieldcr's eyes cannot de-
ceive
Ty Cobb knew, OF course, that to
catch q ball a man has to have his
eye on the ball and, therefore. while
the infielder may not be standing In
the path of the ball and while his
hands may not be in position to
make the catch, his eyes will be fol-
lowing the ball and by watching the
mans eyes the runner not alone can
tell what direction the ball is taking,
but he can also discover how near
the ball is to the infielder.
Cobb decided to concentrate his at
tention on the eyes and pay no atten-
tiou to the position of the infielder.
This he did. BY watching the eyes of
the man covering the base, Cobb dis
covered the direction of the ball and
then lie changed his course so that
he came in the direct line of the ball.
He ran so that he would come be-
tween the ball and the man watching
to catch it.
This plan had double advantage.
There was the chance Of Cobb hiding
the ball momentarily from the in
fielder and thus making possible Il
tumble or misjudgment, and there
was the chance of the ball hitting
Cobb. AS Cobb was In the direct line
of vision the inflelder had to watch
Cobb as well as the ball, providing he
could see the ball
None Hit As Often.
Often during his career has Cobb
been hit by Il thrown ball. There
never was a player hit as often and
the reason is given in the preceding
paragraphs. Cobb travelled ahead of
the ball, and if the play was close
the chance always was that Cobb
and the ball met.
Several times Cobb has reached a
base, or scored, by kicking a ball.
Five times in one season Cobb scored
on play like this. One time I'm a
game between Detroit and Philadel-
phia, with J. Franklin Baker play
ing third base, Cobb got in the line
of the ball. The throw was a bit
faster than Cobb and as he slid the
bali struck the ground just ahead
of him and bounded up. AS the ball
arose Cobb kicked. His spikes struck
, the ball and it rolled into the De-
troit dugout. Cobb got up and walked
home. Baker protested. The umpires
said it was an accident, as 1t was i'm
possible for Cobb to deliberately kick
the ball while sliding. Baker lost his
argument, but he was not convinced.
He knew-so did Cobb.
BY watching the infielder's eyes
Cobb also judged his sliding. If he
thought the ball would beat him to
the bag he slid in the opposite direc-
ton from the one in which the in
felders gaze was focused.
Cobb had developed nine different
slides. This thing Of sliding came
difficult at first. Like everything else
he mastered the art of sliding by long
and constant practice.
"I worked at it until sliding came
as second nature to me. I would al
ways slide in game. slide when
there was no occasion for 1t. I did
this so 1 would slide naturally. Near
out thinking about it. I knew I
would not have time to think about
it, 1 learned to slide past f1elders
just as I would dodge around pedes-
trians if running in the street. I
would dodge around them without
pausing to make up my mind what
! to do. l wanted to slide the same
way, and 1 learned 1t. I slid auto
! matically, naturally. I first learned
the ordinary, orthodox slide into a
base. Then I decided I would have
| to improve on that to get a bigger
percentage in running bases. learned
| to slide on the outside and hook my
| toe in the corner Of tho bag as I
passed. 1t took me a long time to
| learn 1t, for this slide required judg-
ment Of distance. Your take-off has
| to be right and your direction accur-
| ate. 1t means quick action. learned
to slide on the inside Of the bag and
en- theE outside. always aWay from