Show a told THE HE old timer likes to think thi the old days and the old ways were the best As the years slip by hf he lets his imagination build up the th stronger spots and lop off the weak er turns his ancient idols carried into action certainly baseballs two most fa stars for 30 years from 1905 to ta 1935 were ty cobb and babe ruth cobbs big i league career opened in 1905 babes in 1914 for more than 10 years their careers overlapped their counterparts in 1941 are bob feller and joe dil dibaggio DiH I aggio bob feller is or should be one of the all time grantland nd rice p pitching itching greats the same rating applies to joe dimaggio as a hitter and outa outfielder lelder without attempting to rate the value of ty and babe against bob and toe joe there is one department at least where the old timer can expand his chest and prove his point this is the matter of color cobb and ruth packed an enlarged amount of personality in their playing systems they had flame flare dash they caught and held the fancy of the crowd feller and dimaggio are both on the quiet unobtrusive side who like life better away from the mob both are friendly serious young men who make their entire contribution as a star pitcher and a star outfielder they make no claim or pretensions to any form of so called color cobb and ruth have always been exactly the opposite they were actors as well as ball players both were on the exciting side and a big part of their crowd appeal had no particular connection with mechanical ch anical skill they had plenty of that disagreeing with ty it pains us to disagree with such an old pal as tyrus raymond cobb I 1 was in atlanta ora when ty was in augusta around 1904 or 1905 and we headed north from I 1 the red clay hills at about the same date ty naturally likes the one run at a time game best he likes the less lively ball he has ty cobb something on his side of the argument with respect to this bat the modern game Is more dramatic in the old days a three or four run lead was usually decisive today it may mean little and the crowd knows it both infielders and outfielders especially infielders havi have to work at a far faster clip to handle whistling drives that come their way wak the home run Is still the main crowd thrill I 1 must disagree with ty on another point on his all time allstar all star team the pitchers he names are walsh alexander mathewson johnson plank and feller what about a pretty fair pitcher by the name of denton tecumseh cy young the paoli all AH cy did was to win bau ball games in two major leagues this winning count totals more games than the great majority of pitchers ever pitch they talk about pitchers who can win 20 ball games a season cy young averaged better than 20 games a year for more than 20 years about cy young young did his pitching tor for cleveland st louis and boston working in both leagues he came up from paoli ohio in 1890 with hay bay in his hair cy a huge hulk of a fellow had speed control a fine head and a stout heart and you can emphasize control and smartness cy worked from 1890 through 1911 and when he had finished he had passed by something like winning games of walter johnsons mark in second place cobb picks ed walsh and eddie eadie plank both fine pitchers but old cy won more games than both together I 1 ran across cy a short while back he gave me then one of the secrets of his success how did I 1 ever win games he said heres one reason I 1 had four different pitching motions that I 1 made look alike also I 1 think that I 1 was the first pitcher to cover up the pitching motion completely id practically turn my back to the batter and the ball would be on him before he be was set he explained 1 I also made a close study cy said of what they wanted to hit and what they want to hit you dont think I 1 ever gave wahoo sam crawford a pull hitter any ball he could pull not a chance a big part of pitching to know a hitters style and to have enough control to put the ball where you want it to go there are too many pitchers Pit cheis today who any idea what a batters weakness is nor do they have the control to match this weakness when they do know and almost as bad as not knowing |