TY COBB IS WORLD’S GREATEST PLAYER,OPINES BRANCH RICKEY
The score was tied, with two out in the ninth… when Cobb came up and worked Carl Weilman for a pass. He immediately took a long lead off first and drew a throw. Leary, our first basebam, lobbed the ball back to the box, and immediately Cobb dashed away from the bag again, drawing another throw.
Again Leary lobbed the ball back, and again Cobb streaked off first. Weilman snatched the ball out of the air and whipped it back. Too late.
At this stage of the proceedings, I thought I saw a chance to retire the side by catching Cobb napping. I stood up in the dugout and yelled:
“Do it again.”
Leary drew back his arm and tossed the ball even higher than before, and away Cobb went, this time for second base, with no intermediate stops. Weilman reached high in the air, grabbed the ball and threw it in the dirt at Lavan’s feet. It went into short center, and Cobb rushed for third.
The centerfielder had backed up the play, and Cobb figured to be out a mile. The ball beat him by yards, and right then and there Cobb showed that he either has brains in his feet or he isn’t human.
The ball was lying out there between Austin and the runner for only a fraction of a second, but in that instant Cobb did more thinking than the average ball player does in a season. Instead of sliding for the base, he slid for the ball, feet first, gave it a kick that sent it into the dugout and then went on to the plate with the winning run.
It was a clear case of interference, but the umpires couldn’t see it that way. And, besides, the game was over. You never can win an argument after the umpires call it a day.