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Home , Detroit Tigers, Ty Cobb

Fanning the Mighty

St. Louis College vs. Tigers

by Donald W. Olson and Robert H. Newton

18 Gold&Blue www.stmarytx.edu “Bert” Gallia

After the game, players from the and St. Louis Collegians posed for this photograph, taken on the front steps of St. Louis Hall.

Ty Cobb

-batter the headline “Detroit vs. St. Louis Woodsboro, Gallia not only pitched for confrontation played in College. Tigers to Face School Lads the team but also proved to be their This Afternoon at West End.” strongest hitter, in the cleanup Adramatic fashion, almost like a position. In the bottom of the first scene from a Hollywood One of Baseball’s inning , Gallia stroked a and All-Time Greats took part in a double steal, as the script, in a baseball game on The star player for Detroit was Ty students took an early 2-0 lead . the campus of St. Mary’s Cobb, who still holds the major league The newspaper account the next University 100 years ago . record for the highest lifetime batting day described the young pitcher’s average. memorable : “Gallia pitched When we recently discovered an Although modern baseball fans good ball for St. Louis. He had the eyewitness account of this long-ago often name as the greatest pleasure of fanning the mighty Ty game, we were reminded of the classic player of all time, baseball writers who Cobb and a couple of others just about 1984 baseball movie The Natural . In saw both Ruth and Cobb play as dangerous.” that film a young unknown amateur generally accorded that honor to Cobb. The Detroit lineup eventually pitcher (played by Robert Redford) For example, when the Baseball Hall prevailed and won the game, as first attracts national attention when an of Fame inducted the first group of expected, but the Daily Express noted exhibition is arranged , and he strikes players in 1936, Ty Cobb led the that “the Collegians arose to the out the major league’s greatest hitter voting (with 222 votes out of 226 cast ), occasion with a spirit that surprised (called “The Whammer” in a role with and Babe Ruth even their most hearty rooters. The clearly modeled on Babe Ruth and tied for second (215 votes each ). game was a credit to the school and the played by Joe Don Baker ). The result was similar when the Tigers complimented them on their Something very much like this in 1942 asked former showing.” movie scene actually happened on the baseball stars and managers the St. Mary’s campus a century ago, question “Who was the greatest player Discrepancies Put to Rest when a seventeen-year-old student of all time?” Of the 102 replies, 60 Tales of this legendary game have from St. Louis College (as St. Mary’s voted for Ty Cobb, 17 for Honus been told and re-told over the years, University was known then) faced the Wagner, 11 for Babe Ruth, with 14 but misinformation has crept into those greatest hitter in votes going to several others. accounts. – and struck him out. This was no ordinary player who Recent baseball historians The Detroit Tigers, champions of led the Tigers onto the college campus mistakenly place the game in March the in both 1907 and in the spring of 1909. 1910, and although the Detroit Tigers 1908 , came to San Antonio for spring did train again in San Antonio during training in 1909. The Detroit team The Game 1910, in that year Cobb elected to prepared for the upcoming season with To face Ty Cobb and the rest of the work out by himself in . With daily workouts and exhibition games Tigers, St. Louis College sent Melvin this fact in mind, a search through the with local teams. On March 18, 1909, Allys “Bert” Gallia to the mound. An microfilm reels of the San Antonio the morning edition of the San Antonio electrical engineering major from Daily Express from 1909 yielded the Daily Express announced a game with

spring 2009 Gold&Blue 19 Rattler Athletics – Extending the Tradition of Excellence

Although Don Olson’s and Robert Newton’s story may feature the “Collegians” of yesteryear instead of today’s Rattlers, and that 1909 game likely was played on a patch of Donald Olson, dirt on the “West End” campus instead of at V.J. Keefe Field with its stands that hold 2,500 a professor in fans, there is little disagreement that baseball – and sports overall – at St. Mary’s enjoy a the Department long, colorful and successful tradition. of Physics at With five national titles in four sports, winning at St. Mary’s is a testament to the spirit of Texas State competition and the tenacity and talent of thousands of student-athletes. University, is a lifelong fan of While records show interscholastic competition began in 1902 with baseball, over the the Detroit years women’s and men’s teams in 11 sports at St. Mary’s have won more than 100 Tigers. Olson conference championships and advanced to NAIA and NCAA Division II postseason play grew up in Toledo, , where more than 50 times. the Detroit Tigers are considered Just as athletic competition a century ago hinted at the legacy of success that exists to be the local team . While today, it is St. Mary’s goal to expand our campus and our achievements through the teaching at Texas State, Olson began researching Ty Cobb ’s Extending the Tradition of Excellence campaign. visits to Texas and discovered the The $23 million initiative includes – along with scholarships and professorships – a new connection to St. Mary ’s Outdoor Sports Complex that will rival the Alumni Athletics & Convocation Center with its University. 3,800-seat Bill Greehey Arena, home to Rattler indoor sports. Nearly $7 million has been raised or pledged for the $13 million Outdoor Sports Complex that will feature facilities, Like Olson, Robert Newton fields and courts for baseball, softball, soccer and tennis. is an avid These additions and upgrades to the University complement St. Mary’s efforts to baseball fan revitalize the neighborhood and the Westside, as well as strengthen our partnership with and loves the city to make San Antonio an NCAA destination for championship tournament play. Last learning about year the Bill Greehey Arena was site of the NCAA Final Four Slam Dunk/3-Point Shot how the game competition and this spring the NCAA Division II Women’s Elite Eight was played in years past. In Championship. his senior year as a physics major, Besides bringing with them the opportunity to host national sporting events, new when he heard that his professor outdoor facilities certainly will benefit St. Mary’s by providing our students and student- had made an exciting discovery athletes alike with the finest facilities for varsity and recreational play and by attracting pertaining to baseball history, prospective students to the University. Newton couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be a part of the Through the Extending the Tradition of Excellence campaign, the leadership of St. Mary’s is research. ensuring that the University’s winning traditions and legacy of success, borne of the likes of Melvin “Bert” Gallia – the boy who struck out the world’s best baseball player – live on in Acknowledgments: the decades to come. The authors are grateful for research assistance from archivist Brother For more information about the Extending the Tradition of Excellence campaign, contact the Robert Wood, S.M., of St. Mary’s Office of Development at ( 210) 436-3718. University and Margaret Vaverek of the Alkek Library at Texas State University.

original accounts of the game. leading the American League in 1909 Similarly, historians and yarn- in , runs batted in, and spinners alike tell us that Ty Cobb home runs. Melvin Gallia went on to a gained a measure of revenge on Gallia major league career, pitching for the by hitting a long home late in the Washington Senators from 1912 to game. The box score shows five 1917, the St. Louis Browns from 1918 doubles by the Tigers and one – to 1920, and the but no home runs by either side. The late in 1920 . newspaper story praises Gallia for But it was 100 years ago that Gallia pitching “good ball” and explicitly first showed that he was a “natural” – states that the “triple was the liveliest with the talent to strike out “the mighty performance off his delivery.” Ty Cobb.”  After the Game The Detroit Tigers won the American League pennant again in 1909. Ty Cobb himself achieved the rare feat called the ,

20 Gold&Blue www.stmarytx.edu