Evening star., 1954-12-03

brought his black uniformed Au-
gusta team to town. That was
so years ago. Since then I've
seen the entire parade 60 by, In
cluding the greatest competitor
I've ever seen-Ty Cobb.
My first introduction to this
ambitious youth came from mes
sages that deluged my sports desk
during the early part of the
1904 season. They were meaty.
! Keep your eye on Ty Cobb.
He is one Of the finest hitters
I have ever seen. Watch
Cobb of Admission. He Is sure to
be a sensation" !. Have you
seen Ty Cobb play ball yet? He
is the fastest mover I've seen
in baseball These and
dozens like then--Signed Brown,
Smith. jackson. Holmes show
cred In from all points Of both
circuits.
It wasn't until years later that
I found out from Ty himself that
he had sent these conamunica-
tions himself.
Intrigued, I journeyed to
Augusta and talked to the lad.
/ six years younger than I.
| "I've been hearing about you.' -
/ I said. MY name is Rice. I write
baseball for the journal"
| "Is that so?" he replied. 1--WE
| heard OF you, too"
/ Brooding and Bubbling.
| During those early years,
found Cobb to be an extremely
peculiar soul - brooding and
bubbling with violence, comba-
tive all the way. Cobb's frequent
and violent explosions with his
teammates as well as the enemy
were the rule. From the first,
Cobb's life was a constant war,
and Ty lived in q hostile camp.
Cobb moved to Detroit in 1905.
A year or so later, when Pitcher
Bob Willett moved In to room
with Ty, his Detroit teammates
ordered Willett to move out.
Having to live alone" Cobb
told me, Il spent all my time
thinking baseball-of plays I
could make :. . of tricks I could
try. Baseball was 100 per cent
of my life."
From the start, Cobb never
lost an opportunity to study his
craft. recall that in 1904,
working on a tip. I got Alb
Powell, Atlanta's manager, to
sign a long. loose-jointed fire.
baller known as Happy Harry
Hale, from Happy Hollow, Tenn.
Cobb was then with Augusta.
I made considerable copy of
Happy Harry's debut. On the
day he was to pitch, Cobb got
permission to come to Atlanta
to study the unveiling of the
young phenom.
Built like tuning fork, Harry
Hale was 6 feet 6--and all up.
For four innings that day, with
his long, lean arm and his tall,
lean body. Hale moved 'em down
with his fast ball.
First Look at q Bunt.
Then in the fifth some bastard
in human form hunted. Happy
Harry had never seen a bunt
BY the time he'd uflraveled his
frame, the runner was on iirst
Another safe bunt! When the
third man bunted, Hale crashed
in, arms and legs akimbo, tried
to scoop UP the ball and spiked
his own hand. That was the
finish of Happy Harry Hale and
sports writer Rice's discovery.
Three years later, in 1907. ir
Washington, a country pitcher
from Weiser, Idaho. was mow-
ing down the Tigers-along with
Cobb. For three innings they
couldn't dent him. Cobb remem-
bered the episode of Harry Hale
He told Hughie Jennings, the
Tiger manager. The Tigers
started bunting on the young
smoke-baller named Walter
johnson, who, like Hale, couldn't I
field bunts at the time. That was
also Johnson's finish-that day
/ But it never worked again.
| I'D sometimes figure out q
! play-or a weakness-and then
have to wait a month or a year
before the chance came to use
it," reflected Cobb.
tCopyright, 1854 by A. g. Barnes
and Company, Inc.)
| distributed by The Bell Syndicate. Inc }
| I'm his merit article Rice