New Britain herald., 1930-10-01
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No. 15-Some Ideas on Greatness
 Perhaps no manager in the hs- tcry of baseball ever handled more and greater pitching talent than the master of the House of Mack. Down through the years they have left indelible marks-the ec centric but brilliant Waddell. the taciturn Bender, the cool and de- pendable Plank, iron-man Coombs, Bullet Joe Bush, knuckle-ball Ed die Rommel, the modern strikeout king, Grove, and the hard-working Earnshaw.
 Great as these have been, Mack unhesitatingly regards the late Christy Mathewson as the greatest pitcher of all time, a tribute to Big Six" all the more remarkable because it comes from the most suc- cessful of American League man agers.
 Taking everything into consider aton, I should say Matty was the greatest" Mack once told me, turn ing over carefully in his mind the memories of a half century in the game. Seldom has Connie been willing to make comparisons, but he continued:
 "Mathewson had world of stuff, a great head and great heart. He was a winning pitcher. invariably at his best when the stakes were highest. His pitching against the Athletics in the 1905 worlds series was the most marvellous individual exhibition I have ever seen. Six and eight years later he was still the toughest of them all to beat in a pinch. It took the greatest team I ever had to finally turn the tables on Matty after he had beaten us | fcur straight games.
 There have been others nearly as great. It is difficult to rank them, but you can put Ed Walsh, Walter Johnson and Miner Brown among the greatest, along with four stars that l handled-Rube Waddell, Ed die Plank, Chief Bender and Jack Coombs. They were wonderful combination.
 Grove started slowly, but he has developed into really great left handler. He has the control now that he lacked at first, and he has emendous speed
 Bender was the greatest one game pitcher I ever saw. When I told the Chief to get ready for a big game, l knew l could count on him."
 The greatest all-around player of all time? Ty Cobb, declared Mack, without the slightest equivocation.
 John McGraw had just named Hans Wagner for this position in baseball's Hall of Fame when I asked Mack for his opinion.
 "I think McGraw would agree with me if he had seen Cobb as long as I have" replied Connie There was no doubt of Wagner's greatness or of the marvellous all- around ability of such players as Lajoie, Ed Collins, Speaker, Horns by and Ruth. but to me Cobb Is iH class by himself. He could do everything and do it superlatively. When he was in his prime we all ways figured Detroit in terms of Cobb. not as a team.
 Even now Gin 1927), after p years in the big leagues, Cobb con- cedes little to any rival. He is one of the few players who always can be counted on to get from first to third on a single.
 Babe Ruth is like Cobb in this respect. The Babe has greater speed and is a greater all-around star tfan many people think But. ex- cept for his long distance hitting, Ruth doesn't compare with Cobb over long period of years for con- sistent ability"
 McGraw selected the old Balti-
 more Orioles, among whom he was star, as the greatest team of all
 time, but Mack rated the New York Yankees of 1927-2S at least a notch higher, While reluctant to make , comparisons, there is reason to be-
 lieve that Mack regarded these
 Yankees, in the heyday of their I power, as an even greater combina- ton than his own famous machine ; of 1910-14.
 f Whether the Yankees were the
 geratest team ever assembled. may not say" he told me, but cer- , tainly l would put them above the
 Orioles, if not over any other out
 fit. These Yankees have shown no
 weakness. They have had great , pitching and a fine defense, as well f as tremendous hitting The Orioles F did not have the pitching. They D were a great bunch of hitters and , smart; a great club, but not the r greatest"
 Assuming they could all DC
 brought together in their prime : what a mighty all-star club Mack : "ould assemble from the players he ' 7s handled!
 - Imagine a lineup such as this: 2 First base-Jimmy Foxx. = Second base-Eddie Collins.
 Shortstop-Jack Barry.