Evening star., 1938-05-02
Cobb Chase Danond Greatest Retired Umpire Dnneen Claims
EARLY-DAY STARS
NATURALP|.AYERS
Instinct, Speed Big Assets
of Ty, HaI-Lajoie Rated
AbIest Batter.
BY GRANTLAND RICE.

NEW YORK. May 2-The other
night, in Syracuse, Bill Dinneen was
looking back over 40 years of base
ball-sitting around with some of his
old friends like Johnny Evers and
George Wiltse and Jim Bottomley.
Starting out as a ball player himself
he won three games in the world
series 35 years ago-and then dom
ming the blue uniform of an umpire,
he has seen great parade of stars
go by. Now he has gone into retire.
ment, taking with him a lot of men,
ories
The two greatest ball players
ever saw were Ty Cobb and Hal
Chase" he said. They were the
greatest natural ball players. They
had an instinct for the game and the
speed to put their split second
thoughts into action. And the harder
their opponents rode them or played
against them. the better they were
remember when 1 was with the Red
Sox, and Lou Criger-a great catcher
that you don't hear about any more,
by the way-Said:
"'Ill stop that Cobb today. He's
been getting away with murder against
these other catchers, and I guess I
was little careless the last time We
played Detroit. But watch me today
Cobb Too Fast for Criger.
well, there was smart catcher
with fine throwing arm drawing a
bead on Cobb-and I don't think Ty
ever had greater afternoon He made
three or four hits and it seemed as
though, every time Criger looked up,
he was stealing. He'd dart off first
base, stop, make believe he was going
to go back-and then suddenly he
was of for second. Or he'd Just sud-
denly light out without any warning
whatever. He had poor Lou crazy.
The best hitter? Well, for fell
low who could lay into the ball, that
Lajoie wasn't bad. I'd like to have
seen him hitting the ball they use
today. I guess he'd like to be hitting
it himself mentioned it to him last
summer in Cleveland and he laughed.
I asked him how much he thought
he'd hit with it and he said, about
500 I believe he would at that.
Pitchers? Well, how about that
johnson? Incidentally, 1 hear fel-
= lows say once in while that johnson
was a Side-arm pitcher. He wasn't,
OF course. He may have looked it
sometimes-although he never did to
me. He brought his arm down like
this and let the ball go from in here.
Ed Walsh was great pitcher-and
a horse for work.
Young Smooth in Action.
80 was Cy Young. 1 was closer
to Cy than any of the others. I
pitched with him in Boston, as you
know. He had nice, easy style and
looked as though he could pitch all
day and all night. Well, he lasted
for many year. The last I heard of
him he was still pitching for semi
pro team out around GAINESVILLE. Ohio,
where he came from.
I'm the National League Matty and
Alexander were the best ever saw.
Alexander, I believe, was as smart
a pitcher as ever walked out on a
field. Even in the days of the dead
ball, that Philadelphia park was a
nightmare to pitchers, wasn't it? Well,
take time out some day to look at the
records Alexander hung up in that
park. For one thing, he pitched 16
shutouts in one season-19l6, I think
1t was-and no other pitcher in
either league ever did that. And he
led the league five or six times.
He always said that the park
which all other pitchers hated-was
made to order for the pitchers. Be-
cause it was so easy to hit ball
out OF 1t that that's what every hit
! ter was trying to do especially left
handed hitters. All pitcher had to
do then-since he knew exactly what
the hitter was trying to do-was to
keep him from hitting to right field.
Di Mag Ranks With Greatest.
The fellows playing today? I'll
take Joe Di Maggie. I think he's the
greatest young ball player to come up
to the major leagues in years-and
one OF the greatest ever All he has to
do is to keep moving at the pace he
set for himself when he came up and
he'll wind up as crowding somebody
out OF that all-star all-time outfield.
He hadn't been in the league for
week when he did something that
stamped him in my mind as a first
rate ball player and one who was
r going to go places. He hit a high
ny just back of shortstop-it looked
an easy out and the average kid
would have just logged down to first
base. but he put his head down, tore
down the line, rounded first, raced for
second and was on his way to third
when the ball finally hit the ground
about yard from the shortstop who,
after galloping around under it, had
misjudged it, BY the time he picked
1t up, Di Maggie was sliding into third
base. He had converted a misjudged
pop fly into three-base hit"
The occasion that had brought Bill
and his friends together was a dinner
in his honor. I turned to Evers and
asked MIN what he thought Of pres
ent-day baseball.
THE game is softening up Johnny
said with grin. Would you want
any better proof of it than the fact
that I came up here to attend a din
ner to an umpire?"
e opyright, 1888, by the North American
Newspaper Alliance, Inc.)