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Show IT REMAINED for a young, keen-eyed keen-eyed corporal from Montauk, deeply interested In the sport, as most of our servicemen are, to ask a rather baflling question. We were talking about the big bond sales gathering from baseball's Hall of Fame at the Yankee j Stadium. I "Could you tell me," he asked, "from this Hall-rf-Fame group, which men vou consider outstanding I mean jy c0DD j the top of the list in each position? We have a lot of arguments about this around the barracks. There must be a few who head the list." This was a quick-order decision. We had to make it that way. And here it was: Outfield Cobb, Ruth and Speaker. Infield Ilonus Wagner. Pitchers Cy Young, Walter Johnson. Here were Just six names that popped out from what Is sometimes known as the subconscious roundup of more than 40 years. Here is the way these quick selections selec-tions worked out: Back of the bat we have Bill Dickey, Mickey Cochrane, Gabby Hartnett, Buck Ewing and Roger Bresnahan. My vote here goes for Bill Dickey, but there can be an argument. In the box we have Cy Young, Christy Mathewson, Grover Alexander, Alexan-der, Walter Johnson, Lefty Grove, At first we have Lou Gehrig, George Sislcr, BUI Terry. At second we have Nap Lajole, Eddie Collins, Rogers Hornsby, Frank Frlsch. A photo finish. At short we have only one man Honus Wagner. At third we have Jimmy Collins, Pie Traynor, Art Devlin, and Bill Bradley. In the outfield we have Cobb, Ruth, Speaker and Joe Jackson with Joe DiMaggio coming on. Ted Williams, a great hitter, was not a great outfielder. Back to Results I would say the top man on the list was Honus Wagner in the infield Spot. The flying Dutchman, a great shortstop, led his league in hitting year after year. He was also a brilliant base runner. run-ner. Shortly before he died John McGraw, who knew more than his share of baseball, rated Wagner as the greatest ballplayer of all time. In the outfield yon can't get away from Cobb, Ruth and Speaker hitting, hit-ting, fielding and spirit. Shoeless Joe Jackson was the greatest natural bitter of them all. But Jackson finished under a cloud. It is almost Impossible to split Lajoie, Collins and Hornsby. If I happened to be a manager I'd like to have any of these men around. Collins had the speed the smartness. smart-ness. Lajoie and Hornsby had the hitting power. Cy Young won 511 ball games, more than most men ever pitch. He was the star of two leagues. Walter Johnson was the best pitcher pitch-er I ever saw. I believe these are the two standouts. Look over Johnson's strike-out, shut-out and earned-run record. There's the story. The best all-around ballplayer I ever saw outfield, infield, pitching mnd hlltlnf was Babe Ruth. Ruth and Cobb or Cobb and Ruth are still the two greatest ballplayers ballplay-ers the old game has ever known. Plus Hans Wagner. Mathewson and Sockalexis Our old college chum, Andy Oakley, Oak-ley, told me "You made a mistake mis-take in naming your two greatest pitchers. I mean Cy Young and Walter Wal-ter Johnson." "These two won close to 1,000 big league games," I suggested. "No one else was even close. What's your pick?" "Christy Mathewson," Andy said. "He was the best and the smartest pitcher I ever saw in more than 40 years. I'll admit Matty never had as much stuff as Johnson bad and he never had the incredible stamina of Cy Young. But he was the best." "Who was the greatest ballolaver I left off?" I asked Andy. "An Indian by the name of Sockalexis, Sock-alexis, who played with Cleveland. He could outhit Cobb, Ruth, Speaker or Jackson. He had more speed than all of them." Wartime Sports Program Most of those who believe that sport should either be eliminated or cut to small measure in wartime are out of the service. Most of those who favor as good a program as possible are In the service. I have talked with many servicemen, serv-icemen, and I have yet to find a single entry who doesn't want sport j to keep going, largely for his own j interest in baseball, football or box- j ing, news of which comes through newspapers, radio and movies. |