“The bleachers are crowded with fans that come to see him play, expecting something startling, something unusual, and Cobb seldom disappoints them!”
HUGH JENNINGS PAYS HIGH HONORS TO TY COBB
Baseball’s Most Colorful Manager Pays Tribute To The Player He Released On The Base Paths To Become The Game’s Greatest All Round Performer.
It has been my great pleasure to know Tyrus Cobb for several years. As his manager, I have had the opportunity to see him intimately, both on and off the diamond. And the more I have seen of him, the better I have admired him, both as a player and as a man.
I consider myself fortunate to be, in a measure, responsible for the beginning of Cobb’s brilliant career as a player. When he came to Detroit, he had undoubted ability and bright prospects, but he was still awkward and untrained. It is always a great satisfaction to a manager to see a likely player develop under his coaching, and it is the highest possible satisfaction to have had a hand in the development of the greatest player the game has ever known.
There used to be a rumor, which has fortunately died out now, that Cobb was reckless and inconsiderate of opposing players on the diamond. This rumor was aroused by several unfortunate accidents in which Cobb was mixed up, particularly in Philadelphia. I say at this time what I have stated before, that Cobb has never intentionally spiked another player in his life. He is particularly fast on the bases, and always plays the game for everything there is in it. But he is a considerate and likable player in every way, and I know from my own personal knowledge that he would never be guilty of such an unsportsmanlike act. If anyone will take the pains to examine the records, he will find that Cobb has spiked fewer players than several other prominent stars who have never been criticized in the slightest degree, or accused of unnecessary roughness. I am sure the average critic nowadays is ready to admit there is nothing whatever of rowdyism or dirty tactics in the playing of Tyrus Cobb.
It is true when he first came to Detroit, Cobb was a bit too heady, but he has been, as a whole, one of the easiest players to manage whom I have ever had in my charge. In short, his general demeanor both on and off the field has been a source of gratification to me.
Cobb is a dashing player who always takes chances, and exerts himself to the utmost. He plays well within the rules of the game, and I know he is as sorry as anyone if an opposing player is spiked in one of his lightning dashes for the bases. But I know that he never intentionally injured a player at any time. I feel sure of this for I have been acquainted with Cobb as intimately as anyone, and far more intimately than most, and I have found him to be a gentleman at all times, and under all conditions.
It is hard to estimate what Cobb’s worth is to the Detroit team. He is its mainstay in batting and base running, and one of its strongest features in defensive work. His wonderful record on the diamond has made him a popular idol throughout the circuits, and I have no doubt that he has acted as a drawing card in luring many thousands of spectators every season to the games in which he participated.
He is a player whom everybody likes to see on the field, for he always does his best. The bleachers are crowded with fans that come to see him play, expecting something startling, something unusual, and Cobb seldom disappoints them. I believe he was in large measure responsible for the wonderful success of the Detroit team in winning three pennants in succession.
The public will readily understand how great a source of strength such a man as Cobb would be to any manager. I have depended on Cobb in many close contests, and he has more than made good on the high expectation I had of him.
Ever since he broke into the game Cobb has been the butt of a good deal of misinformation. Some of the leading authorities have been sure that he would soon exhaust himself by his own excessive efforts, and speedily play himself out. Such has not been the case, however. His brilliant record of 1911 is certainly a tremendously high standard to set as a model, but for all that I believe that Cobb will do as well, if not better, in the coming season.
In my long career on the diamond, both as player and manager, I have come in contact with most of the leading stars of the game, past and present, and I can say without prejudice, and I believe no one will accuse me of partiality, that I claim for Cobb the distinction of being the greatest player baseball has ever known.