OCR Text |
Show HARRY SALSINGER brought out the point recently that if Ty Cobb had gone out to be a home run hitter, Ty could -have more than tripled his four-base output. I think this is true. But Ty was a place-hit specialist, who merely war ted to get on base and then turn on his speed. Now a close pal of Babe Ruth brings out the point that if the Babe hadn't been built up as a home run hitter, hit-ter, he could have been a .450 average entry, chopping singles sin-gles over the infield or rapping doubles 553 to wide open spaces Babe Ruth in the outfield. I know the Babe has always felt that way. .450 or better. "But what good are singles or doubles to me?" Ruth used to say. "I get four singles and I'm a bum. j The mob came out to see me hit one over the fence or strike out. And don't forget I struck out plenty. Aft- er I once got started hitting home runs I could have hit 12 home runs a season, battled .500, and still have been a punk. Nobody wanted to see me hit singles or doubles. It was a home run or nothing and I had to go all out for those home runs. That's what I got paid for." In the same way the crowd wanted want-ed to see Ty Cobb on some base, churning up the dust at second or third or storming into home. Ruth and Cobb were specialists in two entirely en-tirely different fields. Leading specialists rarely double In two different acts. When they do they are not specialists. The Way It Works Out I was talking about this angle with Jimmy Thomson, the longest driver that golf has ever known. Thomson, now In the coast guard, is powerfully power-fully built, around 200 pounds of steel sinew. His range is from 270 yards to 300 yards and with a following fol-lowing wind I've seen him hit greens 340 yards away. I was playing with Jimmy one day at the Los Angeles Country club, a top championship course, just before be-fore the $10,000 L. A. Open. Thomson Thom-son had a 66, even through a steady rain, which was no California fog. He played well within himself, frequently fre-quently using a spoon or brassie oflf the tee. "Why don't you follow this system In a tournament?" I asked him. Jimmy merely smiled. "I'm paid," he said, "to hit the ball farther far-ther than anyone else In any field. My main living dough comes from big hitting. I like to eat and pay my rent and take care of my family. I give everything I have from every tee. That's where I get most of my publicity. That's what my firm wants. "Suppose I switched over. Too know what the gamble is In trying to outscore such men as Byron Nelson, Nel-son, Sammy Snead, Ben Hogan and some of the others. You've got to beat par 10 or 12 strokes to even have a chance. And then you might lose. But long hitting is my specialty. spe-cialty. The crowd doesn't give a rap about seeing me get a birdie. The crowd wants to see me drive 300 yards and hit a 500 yard green with a driver and a 6 iron. I'm pegged as the longest hitter. Horton Smith is pegged as the best putter. They always liked to see Hagen scrambling out of trouble. Bobby Jones? Well, they liked to see Bobby handle any club he had in the bag. The answer is they liked to see Bobby, no matter what club be used." This is all true. I saw a tremendous tremen-dous gallery watching Jimmy Thomson Thom-son playing the famous 520 yard 13th hole in the Augusta National. Most of the stars on hand were trying to hit this green with a drive and a brassie, for there was a guarding ditch In front of the velvet. Thomson carried the tall and stately pines over 200 yards away and hit the green with a 6 Iron. It was an incredible performance. That was the gallery's thrilL Don Hutson could have been almost al-most anything in football. He could have been a star back a fine ball carrier. But he happened to be the greatest pass receiver in the long history of football. Why not concentrate concen-trate on his specialty as Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth and Jim Thomson did? This is why the sideliner or the non-combatant runs into trouble when he begins to rank leading stars. I must admit that I lean towards to-wards the specialists, those who can do one thing better than anybody else. They are the true artists. 'Sao" News From Bonura Corp. Zeke Bonura writes from North Africa "Dear Grant We have Just run off an International marathon. Sad news. I am sorry to say the first American that finished was No. 21. He was Lieutenant Tribon, an army officer. The first two runners run-ners were All Guernoue and Ahmed Belgheem, two Arab soldiers. No. 3 was Maj. D. B. McKenzie of the British army. We seem to be long on speed but short on stamina These Arabs can run all day. |