Show is IN IN PO POUNDING down georgia urt turf 1 gain again with one tyrus raymond cobb the he discussion came up re garding the tea best winning year or years of an athletes career freddie corcoran tournament manager manager of the P G A and a master of statistical lore hail had lust jupt discovered that the iiii winning nin g average age for pro professional ess ional golf olf stood a at t 28 years or in that immediate i neighborhood T bobby jones conw winning span ran from 21 I 1 to 28 bu but it was wa at 28 that he had bad grantland rice his greatest fi calest and final season k gens gene had his best years arom 20 to 31 so that his average stood at 28 11 weve had bad 20 year old winners in 0 almet and corcoran sak said and others in their high I 1 thirties hirt les S ahazen also tied for the title at 38 vardon was close to BO 50 when he won his last start but bat find fin that 28 23 la in close to dealt form for baseball my two best years cobb said were 1911 and 1912 when r I 1 I 1 wa was 28 20 and 27 years old the records proved this in lot 1911 cobb batted scored runs and stole 83 bases in 1912 cobb batted and stole 61 bases to in 1915 cobb stole 96 bases which Is snore more than the entire cast of two ball club will steal today azill when an I 1 wai was around 26 11 ty TV said laid 1 I had the experience that comes from eight years of play I 1 started at t 18 and I 1 also had the spring of youth at that age the eyes and legs are still young the reflexes work perfectly As I 1 got a few ayears older I 1 noticed the that t while I 1 uld run about as fast as aa ever I 1 start as fast and the start is a big part of speed in those two wo big biff years cobb pile piled d up hits and starting speed was a big factor in this total there have been a lot of ball bail players ty added who got better as they grew older but the average winning year is still around 28 26 walter johnson had many great years but his bis best season was in 1913 when as I 1 dimly recall it walter won 36 games and had an earned run average of 1 09 think of that and he won those 38 36 games with a weak hitting bitting club that rarely got him many runs in 1913 johnson was just 26 years old I 1 had to hit against him then and I 1 know what he had no one before or since has ever had such ter terrific rIfle speed you P knew a fast ball bail was coming but that help a lot it was too fast so there you have ty cobb and walter johnson with the age of 26 pointing to their twin peaks bob feller now 22 should be a 40 game winner at 26 it if the same average holds up cobb Is now moving on to his bis fifty fifth birthday the georgia peach is still in fine physical shape the main sign of passing years is thinning hair just a trifle gray but he can still hunt from dawn to darkness and take you around some fairway at a hectic beetle pace jack D dempsey apsey won the main title at the age of 24 so ty fy cobb obb did jim jeffries Jeff rles jim corbett was 26 when he be stopped john L sullivan then tat fat and 35 gme caie tunney was 28 when he won from dempsey antong among fighters dempsey was at his bis best the year he beat willard tunney come came along more slowly tunney retired before he be came to what he be might have been jess willard a freak was well over so 30 when he whipped jack johnson fitz was around 35 when h he e stopped jim corbett but I 1 think find the average age of fighting greatness close to 26 vr or 31 27 years As ty cobb puts it this Is the meeting point of experience per peri lence ence and youth th the a physical qualities have been retained and have also received an aa added hardness there Is more stamina to a work with and just as much speed As I 1 recall it bill tilden was 28 20 when he won his first national tennis championship at forest HMO and mopped up at wimbledon Wimble don ITH can still play every stroke known to the game but the legs and the eyes are years away from their prime eyes important and dont forget bill said some soma time ago the eyes cant be overlooked they are more important than most camp followers understand there have been except exception io us but it you look back find that 26 or 21 has been the golden year of competition especially where speed and stamina count willie hoppe beyond 50 is still a marvel but willie have to use his legs where speed is needed and important |