Show r U My iMy Thirty Years EI i Of Baseball i iS' iS I S' S John J. J McGraw I E EUdie die Collins Is Greatest Second Baseman of I II I All Time Jawn Says I I I i ARTICLE 41 I i iI I I I DOUBT if anybody will dispute my selection of Eddie ColI Collins Collins Col Col- I lins as the greatest second baseman of all time and therefore therefore there there- fore entitled to a place plaice on the tile American All-American team of all time At At any rate there is s no doubt in my mind about it In picking him hini I have been fully mindful of the greatness of I such men men as Napoleon Lajoie Its It's pretty hard to select any team and leave L jole off oU Still Eddie Collins In my ray entitled to the honor There is nothing that Collins does not know lenow about playing that Important po position The Giants played against Eddie in several worlds world's championship games In which we were defeated I have ha been a staunch admirer of ot that young oung mans man's ability ever since I saw him m make ke his first play and os as a pivot man man en cn cn a fI double play I don't dont remember ever h seen his equal As an all around snarl mart he is superb rb Not only does he play the game tame but he thinks it Rare are the occasions when Collins does not anticipate tho the play To cross him cross him is almost impossible sible And he Is Just as forceful on the offensive as the defensive His mental mental mental men men- tal attitude attitude- is an inspiration to his fallow fel fellow tellow tel tel- low players HANS WAGNER IS GREATEST SHORTSTOP In the selection of ot a shortstop there is no going behind the returns I doubt if It there is a baseball man In the United States who would not select Hans Itans Wagner for shortstop for any team no matter how great without o n I moments moment's hesitation I have never heard of ot anybody pointing to a matas mat as the possible peer of ot Wagner agner He stands out above all In these memoirs me Sue- I I have already a e devoted devoted-a. chapter chap chap- g ter tor to show h etha that I think h Hans Wagner tho the greatest ball player that ever lived lIvell reft regardless n of position t If Wagner had any weakness as a batter we never discovered it tt On On-ac- On oc occasions he would strike out on an out curve curvE The next time up he was likely likely like like- ly to hit the same kind of a a. curve out of ot the lot I Wagner had a faculty of hitting bad balls bails as well as good ones He would make up his mind to hit and hit he Ito would regardless of what the pitcher gave him He always stood In the far t corner of the box and would run into the ball swinging with a deadly ac ac- ac- ac curac curacy On the defensive Wagner could I t throw from r any position I and ho had a pair f 0 of hands n that never failed d him It was a a. common saying amon among r ball players that Wagner n never ver made madea a wild peg In his life lite Hans Wagner will go down In baseball baseball base base- ball history as the greatest of all time I believe that he could have played several more years than he did There have been many great third basemen and I have had several on onee my teams but In my mind there r is no q question ee TI n that ti the h ho honor of f the All All- l American third baseman ol ot all time should go to Jimmy Collins Incidentally Incidentally Inci mci- dentally Jimmy Collins arid and Eddie Collins Collins Col Col- lins lbs are not related JIMMY COLLINS WAS GREAT FIELDING BUNTS I select Jimmy for his general ex excellence excellence ex- ex as a a. fielders fielder a hitter and a man lIe Ho was a great fellow on and andoff andoff off ort the field and a credit to baseball Jimmy Collins was particularly adept at going goin for bunts The art of buntIng bunting bunt bunt- I f tb fit et Ing g gh had cf just come e into being when Collins began playing third base and he was one one of the first to solve this timis style of ot pla play I remember very well wella a game m in which Cl we had the e opposing l t third baseman standing t d on his head bead trying to handle l these tantalizing little jabs Collins was playing the outfield lIe He was called In In a few Innings inning's It seemed he had completely complete complete- ly y blocked our efforts Jimmy Collins was wa-S an fin originator the real pioneer of ot the modern style of playing I third base He l is clearly ril aOn entitled to the t American All erI honor o In the outfield I have hav selected Hush Hugh Duffy Daffy of the old Boston Champions as the America All-America left fielder nelder Fans of ot today do not remember Duffy Daffy quite I so well as the younger men but they should Not only was he a marvelous I but fielder but he was as one of the hardest hitters the game Ijas Ilas vcr ver known Duffy Dutt is not a large man but my may he could sting that ball In BostOn Boston Doston Bos Dos ton old fans still relate some of his picturesque catches in the outfield Duffy Dufty first played center field for forthe forthe forthe the After they won the championship IO in 1897 1597 8 and 1898 though ho was as s shifted to le left r field leli ana played there to the end of his career Duffy is one 0 of the few men to hit hitas hitas as high as He Ho also was a n. great base baso runner and had team spirit TV TY COBB AS V OUTFIELDER CHOICE Ty Cobb Is outstanding as a center fielder a base runner and a batter There use in me going into de details de- de tails about him Everybody has seen Ty Cobb and knows his ability The mere fact tact that he led the American league so many years ears in succession and is still a premier with the bat is sufficient His aggressiveness Is even evena a greater factor There have been many ball players who could play the outfield as well as Cobb but none of them had his combination of ot speed aggressiveness and quick thinking I doubt if anybody will dispute Ty TyCObb's TyCobb's TyCobb's Cobbs Cobb's claim to the honor as the All All- American center fielder of ot all time For many years tears cars J 1 have selected Willie Keeler for right field Poor Willie died on New Years Year's day 1923 after a long illness Illness heart heart trouble When he passed out one of ot the greatest greatest greatest great great- est lights that ever shone in baseball was dimmed d e I played on the same team with w Keeler the do Orioles rol e and cf I knew him like a a. book knew his ability in every department of ot the game At bat Keeler and my myself eU were a team that helped to win many a pennant pen pen- nant I led off ort and he followed If It I Imay Irna rna may may be permitted to say so so Keeler and andI I practically revolutionized the style of hitting bitting to advance the runner run run- ner iter a form torm of ot attack that had bad never been given much attention up to 1894 In Sn n previous chapters I have discussed Keeler at length giving many In Instances Instances instances In- In stances of his greatness Space will not permit a repetition here As a hitter as a fielder and as a abase abase abase base runner I have no hesitation in naming Willie Keeler as the greatest right fielder of all aU God time God rest his soul soult I It has been very hard to leave Joe Kelley Keiley off oft that regular outfield In recognition of ot his greatness and to do him justice I have placed him on my American All-American team as an extra out out- fielder From my personal association with Kelley on the old Orioles Oriole's s and from my dally daIly observation of ot his work I Iam Iam am nm strongly convinced that Joe In his day was as good a man for the position position position tion as any of ot those who preceded him or followed him In considering this matter I have bave gone over all great o ones including C s such men n as George e ie Burns rn Jimmy y McAleer I l a and many others Some of ot them were weak Jn In n certain spots like hitting or base running Joe had no prominent weakness He was fast on the bases could hit the ball hard and was as graceful an outfielder as one would care to see He covered an Immense amount of ground and mad had ad that necessary faculty so prominent in itt Speaker and others of ot being able to place himself where the batter would be likely to hit the ball Joe Kelley was a great groat ball player I wouldn't be satisfied if It I didn't have him on my star all-star team I have a hunch that some Bome old friends maybe friends maybe some old strangers strangers- will write in and ask me to explain explain- why I left certain men off oft my coy team It is enough to explain my selections It would be e impossible to discuss those left lett off In the next chapter I will explain my my selections of pitchers Copyright 1923 U. U S. S and Canada by byth bythA bythe th the thA Christy Walsh Syndicate V |