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George Sisler, aged 32, baseman and manager of the St. Louis Browns, graduate of the University of Michigan. Suave, courteous, assured, imperially slim, his genius for baseball was observed as early as 1913 by Barney Dreyfus, astute owner of the Pittsburgh club, who put him under contract before he had come of age. Sisler's father repudiated the contract. St. Louis bid for him. Mr. Dreyfus would not give him up. The controversy, a sensational one, was referred to the National Commission, which finally awarded Sisler to St. Louis. Pittsburgh never forgave him.
Such is the tact of George Sisler, such his control, that never in his career has he resorted to rowdyism to intimidate a refractory umpire. He was suspended only once and then, in 1924, because some supporter of his, enraged when an umpire called a close decision against him, discharged a shower of bottles upon the unfortunate official. He wrote a letter to the President of the American League, was restored to standing.
Two years ago, when he was at the pinnacle of his fame— leading the American League in batting, in base-running, voted its most valuable player—he took influenza, developed sinus trouble, underwent an operation. His sight was somewhat affected. His right and left eyes ceased to focus evenly; their beams, which should have been parallel, wellnigh met. Thus he came near to being crossed in his career by his own eyes. His batting average of .420 in 1922 sank to .305 in 1924. Now he sees perfectly again, he says. Will he, fans wonder, regain his former prowess? Sisler has three children, a wife. She, shyer than he, has never been photographed.
Ty Cobb, 38, now beginning his 21st season in the American League, has hit over .300 in 18 consecutive seasons. He holds the U. S. base-stealing record of 96 in 1915, has stolen more bases than any man in baseball with the exception of one Billy Hamilton. Cobb is cut to a different last than Sisler. No decorous college graduate he, but a "sandlot" player, a man of fiery mettle. Often-ihc bleachers, true to the tradition of U. S. sportsmanship, have risen in enthusiastic uproar while Cobb stood shoving his jaw-fare nearer and nearer to an umpire's quivering countenance, uttering words whose import could only be guessed by his furious gestures. He, who has rightly been called "the greatest player in baseball," declares that this season will be his last.
Rogers Hornsby, like Sisler, plays for St. Louis, but in the National League. Though only 26, he alone of ball players has averaged over .400 in : batting for four consecutive years; and he holds the extraordinary modern batting record of .423, made in 1924.
Edward Collins, six months younger than Cobb, has been in baseball one year less. Famed for his skill in stealing bases, his worshippers cried out, in 1921, that he was slipping because, that year, he stole only 12. In 1923, he regained leadership of the American League with 49 stolen bases, retained it last year with 42. Without the physical strength of Ruth, Hornsby, Cobb, lie cannot hit as hard, but he has struck out less than any other great player in baseball.