Cobb v. Ruth

Who was the better ballplayer--Ty Cobb or Babe Ruth? To settle that question the two Immortals themselves, Cobb, who retired in 1928, and Ruth, who retired in 1935, last week met on a golf course.

Tyrus Raymond Cobb, the fiery Georgia Peach whom the Detroit Tigers bought for $750 in 1905, was a daredevil base-runner, a shoestring-catching outfielder, a dazzling hitter. He could go from first to third on an infield out. On one afternoon, in six times at bat, he hit two singles, a double and three home runs. When he finally hung up his spikes, he had a lifetime batting average of .367, had broken innumerable different baseball records.

George Herman Ruth (ne Gerhardt), New York's happy-go-lucky Bambino, broke fewer records but drew more fans. He too could break up a ball game singlehanded. Before he became the "Sultan of Swat," the Babe was a good southpaw for the Boston Red Sox. In two World Series (1916 and 1918), he pitched a total of 29 consecutive innings without allowing a run. Twice, in later World Series, he hit three home runs in one game. Ruth once scored 60 homers in one season.

Cobb and Ruth, contemporaries for more than a decade, took intense pride in their achievements. Their pride, fanned by sportswriters, kindled into a crackling feud. Cobb used to call Ruth "that big baboon," and Ruth would bristle at Cobb's mere name. Recently sportswriters tried to rekindle the dying embers. They told Ruth what a good golfer Cobb is (Cobb once shot 71). They told Cobb what a good golfer Ruth is (Ruth once shot 70).

Cobb was the first to blow up. "That So-and-So," he barked, "I could always lick him on a ball field and I can lick him on a golf course now." "Okay," Babe wired, "if you want to come here and get your brains knocked out, come on." Last week Cobb came. Golf Promoter Fred Corcoran had arranged two 18-hole matches (one in Boston, one in New York) for charity. To see the two southpaws with strange bats in their hands, 2,000 folks turned out at Boston's Commonwealth Country Club. They saw no heckling match: it was much too serious for that. The Babe, now 47 and 30 Ib. heavier than in his heyday, put his 230 Ib. behind each tee shot, outdrove Cobb on nearly every hole. Cobb, 54, played a characteristically crafty short game. His brilliant putting stole hole after hole. On the 16th green, he won the match, 3 and 2. Finishing the 18 holes to please the gallery, Cobb's medal score was 81, Ruth's was 83.

Two days later, at New York's Fresh Meadow Country Club, Ruth beat Cobb on the 19th hole. Even-Stephen, they now have both golf and baseball fans arguing.

Some of them remembered the remark of canny Clark Griffith, baseball's Old Fox: "Trying to choose between Cobb and Ruth is like trying to choose between two $20 gold pieces."

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