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Show Famous Baseball Duels IT HARDLY seems possible that in in less than two months sevrai thousands of ballplayers wiU be neaded for the sun again, south oi west. In the meanwhile, the hot stove league is getting hotter now that football is packed r"S" SC"""' away where it I 5Mr belongs. And one I jjwui- s t o v e league JW" J feature has t,ecn i -f tV the argument in-K in-K 'j volving Tris Sfenk- v er and Joo Dl- fiW Magfi'0- Here's 0,18 LvXjkT' I leading example: f "Dear Sir: The . i j t other night we sat GranUandRice around Jndi n the inevitable late-hour discussion of the comparative abilites of Joe Louis and Jack Dempsey, naturally natural-ly the chitchat switched to the all-time all-time baseball team. One man averred that there should be a place for Joe DiMaggio. That he is such a great star that it seem ridiculous to bar him. "It was pointed out that currently, cur-rently, and for the last 20 years or more, the all-time outfield has been made up of Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth and Trls Speaker, and which of those ihree could a fellow toss out In favor of DiMaggio, Di-Maggio, no matter how great Joe Is. It was said we could throw out Speaker, that ld Tris had been only a great flycatcher fly-catcher and that he didn't really rank with Cobb and Ruth and DiMaggio. When I got home, I got out the record book to look up Tris' record and I am convinced that DIMnggio is forever locked out of the all-time outfield. Surely, no one questions the rights of Cobb and Ruth and, after a bit of study, no one can query the right of Speaker to the center field spot, either. "Now look. In the 12 seasons, embracing 1007 through 1928, all Tris did was average 344 at the dish, in 2,789 games and iftcr 10,-208 10,-208 times at bat, during wWh he got 3.515 hits. Only Cobb. Rabbit Maranville and Hans Wagner wtnt to bat more than 10,000 times, the only others in the hiitory of the games who hit safely more than 3.000 times are such stars as Cap Anson, Cobb. Eddie Collins, Nap Lajoie, Wagner and Paul Wancr. Even Ruth didn't make tnat category. "The only others to top his lifetime batting record were Jobb, Rogers Hornsby, Dan Dclahanty, Billy Hamilton and Willie Keeler. Ruth la two points jack. Think of the other greata who couldn't bang .344 In their careers, and Trie did It for 22 years! "He's In the book for hitting 50 or more doubles In five different years, showing his amaz'ng speed, and a knack of taking the extra base that DiMaggio has. He leads in 'he matter of two base hits, with 793. Aside from those figures, Speaker also shares the record for most assists from the outfield In one season 33. He once was guilty of perpetrating a pair of unassinted double plays in a season, and hit mark of four triples In his three World Series stands alone. "I'm sorry that DiMaggio can' make It, but the book won't yie'd Speaker was good. It lays ,o. Csswcll Adams." Speaker vs. DiMaggio The Spenker-DiMaggio duel Is a tough one to analyze. In addition to being hard and timely hitlers, both were great outfirldcrs. (in the defensive side alone, they were better than Cobb and Rutti. Both had better arms thun Cobb and both were faster than the Hobe. Speaker had a better chance to show his all-around outfield ability than DiMaggio. He played In the day of the. dead or at least deader ball. Tills gsve him a chance for a nuch longer range. Speaker was a star at going back tor a ball and so Is DiMaggio. Doth could also come In. Speaker .as a ma;tcr at fielding (round balls, perhaps the best in baicbalL No one would be more dangcroui In a pinch than DiMaggio has Iter -with men on bases, waiting 'o le driven home. I doubt that OiM.igglc can ever reach Speaker's all-tine batting mark of .314. Few have ever passed this set of figures. Connie Mark has the Idea that there should be new baseball base-ball rankings every 20 years since ao many things change. This Is a good Idea. DiMaggio then would eertalnlj hend the new order dating back U 1920 or 1023 Or possibly beglnnlni with 1930. when Cobb ind Speakei were through when Babe wai fading when Wagner and Colllni and Lajoie had all finished. |