| Show THE Copyright 1927 1917 New York TrIbune Inc Trademark Reg Registered U. U B. B potent Patent Office L L. y Grantland Rico Rice J MARVEL EL MARVELIn In dIscussing athletic marvels there is 15 another entry to be considered On the day of the Dempsey Tunney-Dempsey fight I saw a 0 taU tall lean brown and looking brawny athlete pass and make hIs way through the crowd We shook hands and he had the grIp of a a. steel atee vise Ise lie He was one forty years old He had just come to the thelast thelast last few turns of his twenty third campaIgn He had been hard at atIt atIt It since last February Yet there a a. trace of weariness or stale stale- staleness ness fleas about him His name was Ty Cobb and If he looked a day over oyer twenty twenty five five you are entitled to eat his baseball glove When Cobb start start- started started ed his twenty thIrd season with the this spring there Were any number of bets made nade that he would not play In games ames or bat over HIs legs were supposed to be gone long long- periods of rest They had pattered too often around the tow paths at headlong speed Yet Cobb has already plaYed in over games and he will finish the season around Naturally he hasn't the speed and sprIng of the old days but he has after twenty three years of hard driving to stand u as one of the best in the game OUT BY HIMSELF As a competitor r embracing both quality and quantity Cobb stands out by himself Babe Ruth h Ins just forked over a a. remarkable achievement for his fourteenth season But Ruth has nIne more years to go before he equaLs Cobbs Cobb's period of servitude ude among the sons BOns of swat Cobb was S Splaying playing big league baseball when Gene Twiney Tunney was as six years old and Dem Dempsey y was only el eight ht Yet he looks Just about as young as either and he looks locks tI to be In Just about as good shape He looks as lean and as hard and a a. wiry and he could throw a agun gun across his shoulder and walk alk either through the woods making It a steady day all hike for two or three weeks Cobb was a a. bIg lea leaguer er when Bobby Jones waS two years ears old There Is no game that takes a a. great great- greater er toll from the legs thin than baseball especially for base runners sliding In starting quickly and stopping quIck quIck- quIckly ly pulling up suddenly at the bag Football alone Is worse for In foot foot- football football ball so many ankles and knees give way In the wake of accidents bad spills heavy falls sudden twists and hard tackles But Dut baseball on the legs Is worse than tennis running or almost any other game Yet after scoring more runs and stealing more bases than anyone anone else In the his his- history history tory of the game alter after twenty three years ears n at top speed Cobb Is still sUll good for tor more than games He Is 15 pretty good proof that hard work doesn't slow ow down but helps to speed peed speedup uP up to a certain poInt where the years cars step In to collect their per per- percentage percentage no matter what the work COMING ON Who Is comIng on to fill Sn In at the top for Cobb Speaker Johnson Alexander and others on the edge of the down grade Paul Waner Naner of Is 15 one of the surest bets Here is 15 a Teat great ball bali player who may finish with v. a aos record close os to Cobbs This is S no orto even bet nor ay 1 like It He still sUll has twenty ono years to go and kingdoms and can change or be overthrown In twenty twenty- one years But Waner has a a. great start lIe He has all the requirements and his first two years In the tho game have b en better than Cobbs Cobb's first two years Speakers Speaker's or Wagners may easily be another Babe Ruth lie Ho has a a. running start In that direction although he couldn't quite stick with the pace the old old- timer put on through the stretch But 1927 has been a great year for forthe forthe the young player just getting a a. good grip on his professIon It Is the greatest slugging year ear any young player ever stumbled across Among the pItchers there are Root and Lyons on the younger sIde who are headIng for the spots soon to be vi- vi by Johnson and Alexander But It may be more than one or two generations before the fan gather gather- gatherIng gathering Ing looks upon another Cobb or an- an another another other Ruth whereIn and per per- personality are Included with v. the rut rest of the stuff |
