THE ase a esearc JOURNAL OMPARISONS BETWEEN athletes of to; Fourteenth Annual Historical and Statistical Review day and those of yesteryear are inevitable. In of'the Society for American Baseball Research C many respects baseball lends itself'to such as; sessments to a greater degree than any sport. This is so for at least two reasons: l;The nature of the game remains Cobb, Jackson and Applied Psychology, David Shoebotham 2 Protested Games Muddle Records, Raymond]. Gonzalez 5 essentially the same now as when itfirst was played, and Honest John Kelly, James D. Smith III 7 2;Statistical documentationofplayerachievements spans Milwaukee's Early/Teams, Ed Coen 10 bas~. more, than a century, thus providing a solid data Pitching Triple Crown, Martin C. Babicz 13 As Pete ,Rose approached - and then broke - the Researcher's Notebook, Al Kermisch 15 hallowed record for career hits held by T y Cobb, another Alabama Pitts, Joseph M. Overfield 19 flood of comparisons began taking shape. Pete was quick Dickshot's Hitting Streak, Willie Runquist 23 to say hedidn't feel he was a greater player than Cobb had A Conversation with BilLJames; Jay Feldman 26 been, but added merely that he had produced more hits. Tim McNamara, Jim Murphy 30 The two men had much in common, of cQurse.Both Change of Allegiance, HenryL. Freund, Jr. 33 were always known as flerce competitors. Each spent most Stars Put'Syracuse on Map, Lloyd Johnson 35 of his CHreer with on,e club and eventually managed that Counting Stats, New Stats, Bobby Fong 37 team. And in a touch of irony, Cobb was in his eighty; Ruth's 1920 Record Best Ever, Larry Thompson 41 Lifetime 1.000 Hitters, Charles W. Bevis 44 .fifth year when he passed away in 1961, and ,it was in '85 Thank God for Nuts, DavidQ. Voigt 46 ~ or 24 years later - that Pete shattered the record Ty Players Today Better thanOldtimers, Bill Deane 52 had compiled over a career that spanned 24 years. Rating the Base Stealers, Jim Weii~nd 55 While Rose was producing a new chapter for baseball's Sweeney's 19 Strikeouts, Frederick Ivor;Campbell 57 colorful history, various aspects ofthe game's glorious past Wheat in the Phil were being resurrected and reviewed by, the media for the 1921 Negro League, John B. Holway 63 public's pleasure. This pointed up anew the degree to Life 'in the Minors Exciting, Carol Palmer 71 which the present is linked with the past. Big Jim Weaver, James A. Riley 74 It is this nostalgic blending ofthe past with the present Teammates Who Rated 1;2 in RBIs, Wayne Stewart 78 that enriches bHsehHll1it~rlltllre and that also forms a Germany Schaefer, Jack Kavanagh 80 strong bond betweell lllclubers of the Society for Anleri; 1874 Baseball. Tour of England, Neil Stout 83 can Baseball Research. Many members have discovered The World According to SABR, Jay Feldman 86 Origin of Alphonse and Gaston 88 that, besides being enlightening, the research of baseball/ history is a most rewarding for1)1 of entertain,ment. On succeeding pages readers will find severalarticles by Editor: Clifford Kachline SABR members that tie in ,with the Cobb and Rose Associate Editors: Barbara Flanagan, Leonard Levin, Elizabeth accomplishments. Other articles deal with a wide variety McGrail, Richard Puff of baseball topics, most of them' with a nostalgic" twist. The Cobb and Rose drawings contained on the cover PICTURE SOURCES'{credits accompany photos}: NBL, National Baseball Library.' were prepared by Richard A. Leva, who is anassoc)ate Albuquerque Dukes, Joseph M. Overfield, John Thorn. professor of psychology at the Fredonia branch cif the State University ofNew York and enjoys dabbling in art. BASEBALL RESEARCH JOURNAL (lSSN 0734,6891, ISBN 0,910137,20,X). Pub, lished by Society for American Baseball Research, Inc., P. 0. Box 1010, Cooperstown, NY Another feature of this fourteenth annual ,edition of 13326. Postage paid at Manhattan, KS. Copyright © 1985 Society for American Baseball the Ba.seba.ll Research Journal is its distinctive appearance. Research, Inc. All rights n:s~rv~rJ. Rf'production in whole or in part without \vrittcn permission is prohibited. Publications director JOllIl Thorn deserves, the credit for developing/the Journal's new look. Printed by Ag Press, Manhattan, KS. Ty Cobb, Joe Jackson and Applied Psychology DAVID SHOEBOTHAM (Statistical research by Craig Carter) The Georgia Peach's version of how he tricked his rival.to win the 1911 A. L. batting title isn't supported by. the facts. With the 1911 season about finished, Shoeless Joe Jackson of Cobb passed Jackson on May 7 and never again fell Cleveland topped me nine points in the averages ... Jackson behind. From May 15 to July 2 Cobb hit .482 while was ... a friendly, simple, and gullible sort of fellow. On the putting together a 40 ... game hitting streak- an American field, he never failed to greet me with a "Hiyuh, brother Ty!" So now we were in Cleveland for a season... closing six ... game League record at the time - and raising his average to series, and before the first game I waited in the clubhouse until .447. At the same time Jackson was hitting a very respect... Jackson had taken his batting practice.... Ambling over, Joe able .378, which nevertheless left him 69 points behind. gave me a grip and said, "How's it gain', brother Ty? How you Jackson picked up his pace in July, running up a been?" 28 ... gamestreakbetweenJuly 11 and August 12. Jackson's I stared coldly at a point six inches over his head. Joe waited average climbed over .400 on August 8, and the gap for an answer. The grin slowly faded from his face to be replaced by lJuzZlelllellL. narrrn;ved t.o 22 points. By August 25 Ja{:kson \vas only "Gosh, 'ry, what's the matter with you?" nine points behind Cobb, but he never came any closer. I turned and walked away. Jackson followed, still trying to To salvage the legend, one could.assume that rather learn why I'd ignored him. than having COine from behind Cobb used his psycho... "Get away fro)Il1 me!" I snarled. logical ploy to derail the onrushing Jackson and preserve Every inning ~fterward I arranged to pass close by him, each time giving him the deep freeze. For a while, Joe kept asking, his narrow lead in the batting race. But even this inter... "What's wrong, Ty?" I never answered him. Finally, he quit pretation doesn't stand up. Detroit and Cleveland played speaking and justlooked at me with hurt in his eyes. their last three each other 2 and My mind was centered on just one thing: getting all the base in into s~ri~s a hits I could 111uster. Joe Jackson's Inind was on ruanyother 15 ... point lead in the batting race (.422 to .407). The things. ... We Tigers were leaving town, but I had to keep my possibility of Jackson overtaking Cobb's lead at that late psychological ploy going to keep Jackson upset the rest of the way. date could not have been very great, and Cobb had no So, after the last map was out, I walked up, gave him a broad I1.eed to apply psycIlological pressure; smile and yodeled) "Why) hello) Joe - how's your good The only other.rim,e Cobb and Jac.kson.met durillg tIle health?" I slapped his back and complimented him on his fine last three months of 1911 was for a single exciting game in season's work. Detroit on September 10, the kind ofgame that produced Joe's mouth was open when I left. Final standings: Cobb .420 batting rnark, Jackson, .408. the Cobb legend. The Georgia Peach singled in the first It helps if you help them beat themselves. inning but was stranded.after stealing second and third. From My Life in Baseball: The True Record, Cleveland scored the game's first run in the seventh when by Ty Cobb with Al Stumpf Nap Lajoie doubled home Jackson. Detroit tied it with two away in the ·eighth; Cobb beat out an infield hit, y COBB PSYCHING OUT JOE JACKSON to continued to second when the late throw to first base was win the 1911 American League batting cham... high and streaked for third when the pitcher, after re ... T• . pionship is one ofbaseball's most memorable anec­ trieving the ball, threw to second. When the Cleveland dotes. There are many versions of the story, varying in second baseman threw wildly to third, Cobb tore home details, but all agree on the basic plot. There's only one and slid around the catcher, scoring on his own infield problenlwitIl tIle story: It Ilever Ilappened. hit. Cobb beat out another infield hit .in the thirteenth A glance at Figure 1 on the 1911 batting race shows inning and was on second base, with the bases loaded, why. The day... by ... day records of that season reveal that when Detroit scored the winning run on an error. THE BASEBALL RESEARCH JOURNAL At that point Cobb's lead over Jackson was 14 points (.420 to .406). With one month remaining in the season the possibility that Jackson might overtake Cobb was considerably better than it would be on October 2. How-­ ever, if Cobb snubbed Jackson on September 10, it certainly didn't work. From then to the end ofthe season Cobb hit .422, hardly the pace of a psyched--up demon. Over the same period Jackson hit .420, hardly the dra-­ matic decline of a befuddled bumpkin. So the whole story could be a myth, a tale fashioned out of Cobb's megalomania to embroider his already larger-­ than--life legend.