| Show S ST T petersburg FLA LA thoy were discussing joo joe Gor dona tu ture as a first baseman I 1 was sit ting in the ole stands with joo joe tinker nt at the time tinker of tho the old cubs tinker to evers to chance tame gordon cant miss joe sold said ton a natural ball player lie li Is fust fast on oil ills his feet and quick with ills his haals almost nn an acrobat hell make ploys plays at first which 1 r will bo be hair raising L A natural ball ploy play er can all play almost anywhere ny whore except maylie pitch or catch so wo drifted into a discussion sock grantland bico ing B to name tile greatest all allaround around ball player baseball had ever known tho the man who could handle more jobs well the list was longer than you might think the squire or of orlando pon dered this problem first of all joe JOB said them was babe ruth lie iio started as aa a pitcher and still holds the best beat five year winning average in baseball ill great left hander then he became a star outfielder and I 1 mean one of ilie best beat and ho he was a good first baseman lie was the greatest home run hitter of all time and a tough record to beat greatest shortstop what about dionus aenus wagner I 1 asked 1 I was thinking about old linns hans tinker said he was known as ac a great shortstop probably the greatest but did you know he had li starred tarred in every position on the club except in the box ile he played every out held field position including catcher ile ho led his league in batting for seven or eight years and he used to steal from CO 60 to 60 00 bases a season there was as a ball player detter better than babe ruth uth id hate to say any but old liana was close now no W you pick one tinker said who belongs with these what about george staler ler I 1 suggested started out nt at michigan as a star left handed pitcher lie might have been one of the best in baseball but they need ed his hitting after that he was a crack outfielder just as ruth was then he n they moved him to first base wh where ere he Is one of the few feato ito challenge hal chase hit as an high as which ruth nor wagner never did As an I 1 recall it the michigan gan star averaged over at bat for four consecutive years and he was one of the best base runners the game ever knew I 1 mean 40 to so 50 steals a Y year car 11 we cant throw him out tinker said pitcher ier outfielder infielder great hitter crack baso base runner that moves him up with the other two the discussion goes on ty cobb one of baseballs lm im mortals played hla his string through as an outfielder walter johnson was solely a pitcher 4 so was matty grover alexander cy young and lefty grove nap cajole was a great cat inhelder infielder tris speaker and joe jackson were among the best qa as is J joo oo 00 DIMagg dimaggio lo to day cobb of course was something apart on an attack tho greatest run getter that hat ever lived but the he argument was about the allaround all around entries those who had the chance to prove they could star at many positions I 1 also nominated john montgomery ward of providence and the old now new york giants that was before my day tinker said ward I 1 said was a star out fl elder r a brilliant infielder lelder and a better pitcher than hosi rne whom ile bo discovered ward pitched at least two no hit games one of them perfect and he was one of 0 the best base runners that ever lived he was also a manager and scout ut at the time waybe so no tinker sal said d but lets keep more kudern lets not go back any further than 1900 we accepted the mild rebuke in the spirit ono one should show to younger yeas we finally settled on the big three for allaround all around ability ruth wagner and bisler AU all were great hitter samong the greatest two of them ruth and were star pitchers although never had the chance babe had bad to prove his ability along this une line wagner and were two of tile the best beat base runners in baseball ruth with his to poun pound d body operating on slender ankles washout was out of the running here wagner was never a pitcher but he proved that he could handle the eight remaining jobs as well as lead his league at bat year after year and run bases uke like a scared coyote there are many others Rhody wallace an old timer jimmy foxx of f the red sox box ducky bucky walters of ahe reds freds freddy lindstrom of the giants and many more but the triple top remain a as stat alstat edduth ed Ruth wagner and sa s1 elsler ex as long as tinker wont let me ring in ny golfing partner from the late eighties and the early johni john montgomery ward |
