Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-11
CObb's Skill ON the Paths
Made Him Greatest of All
Players, Is Collins Opinion
TwENTY-ONE YEARS OF BASE BALL.
BY EDDIE COLLINS.
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-VIlI--Running the Bases.

No tanning bee ever adjourns until
a story is told of how we'll some play
er liked his base hits. That's natural.
but I've seen the time when | thought
as much of stolen base as did of
a safe hit.
That was in the days when stolen
base meant something, when runs
became less precious and the difficult
art of base running fell into n decline
Most of the players who were good
base runners when the lively ball
came in haye faded out of the picture
and few OF the younger men have
been schooled TO work their own way
around the paths as they We're when
| came in. A still smaller number
cares to learn. The hazards of broken
ankles. Strawberries" and "sliders'
look too formidable. There are less
than a half.dozen good base runners
in the American League today and
they are not all young fellows either
There Is no doubt in my mind that
Ty Cobb In the greatest player that
ever lived, and one reason why he is
entitled to this distinction is beca use
of his skill as a base runner.
Only One Cobb In History.
Certainly he was and is a great hit
ter, but so were Delehanty, LajOie,
and others of the older era. Heima mn,
Hornsby and Ruth can hit some. too.
but there are no Cobbs among them.
Ty stands out above all these great
players because of his work on the
base lines. Only players opposed to
him knew what it meant to have
Cobb in the game. Few were the
inf1elds that he did not turn upside
down and many of them he com
pletely wrecked.
Connie used to say to the AS out
fielders: Throw that bali to the base
ahead of Cobb, not to the one he's
trying TO make"
have heard Ty call out to our
catcher Better have him pitch out.
I'm going down on this ball" And he
went, and often landed safely. Any
time an infielder or outfielder dared
him to run he invariably would set
sail. / have seen him score from
first on a single, from second on a
sacrifice fly, and steal second, third
and home on three pitched balls.
have heard that Wagner did that last
stunt once In game against Chicago.
but / never saw any one else but Ty
90 II.
ExceIled on the Paths.
As a base runner Cobb was all alone.
When ! say base runner / don't refer
simply to his ability to steal base.
| mean being alive to the situations;
having in mind after reaching first
base to get to second, then third and
home. the big objective. Runs win
! bah games, not base hits nor stolen
, bases.
| A good base runner takes chances,
| but he knows when to take them.
| Once he starts he goes. lie doesh
hesitate between the bases, but on
/ them. A base runner takes the lnltla-
| tive. He makes his opponents guess
! about what he is going to do, ne
! always has them on the defensive ana
! thus wins the first point. The great
base runner knows when IT is worth
while to take a chance and when
! taking that chance is not warranted,
! He knows the score of the game.
| heard a story once, the truth of
which | cannot vouch for, but which
. illustrates the state of mind of a
/ good many players. This incident Is
! said to have occurred long time ago
! A fan who knew Pete Browning,
I famous Louisville slugger was In that
! city on one occasion and went TO the
races. Returning to his hotel, he met
! Browning and asked. What was the
score today, Pete?"'
! Pete looked puzzled Tor d noihcHl
and replied: DANCED If l know, but
l got four
If that was Petie's ordinary atti-
| tude, can't believe he was much help
to his club, no matter how often he
got four
Stars Think for Themselves.
| 1t is hard for some players to fol
low the ball while running. They
depend on the coaches, which often
leads to disaster. The best runners
think and run for themselves, thus
getting all the benefit of the judg-
ment Of the coacher, who assists In
watching the pitcher, catcher and the
fielder who 10 to receive the throw.