Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 102, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 May 1918 — BEST SEASONS FOR PLAYERS AROUND 25 [ARTICLE]

BEST SEASONS FOR PLAYERS AROUND 25

Most of Diamond Stars Start Downward After That Honua WAgner Had His Greatest Year When He Was 26 Years Old—Napoleon Lajoie Was 26 When He Batted for Total of A 22. When does the great ball player reach the greatest efficiency? At what age is his prowess superior to his efforts at other times? A little study of the ages at which ball players have had their greatest year is interesting. It shows that at about twenty-five or twenty-six the maximum of efficiency Is reached. * Bonus Wagner had his greatest year In 1900. At least, he reached his maximum as a batsman that year and his fielding whs never better. In 1900 Bonus was twenty-six years old. He batted .380 for the season. Napoleon Lajoie had his best year in 1901 when he was twenty-six. That year the great Frenchman batted for an astounding total of .422. Cobb’s star year was in 1911, when he was twenty-five. That year CobK batted .420 and amassed 248 hits and 147 runs. When it Is considered that there are few batters who get beyond 100 runs or 200 hits a season it may be seen how far out ahead of the field Cobb was that year. Matty had something like sixteen great years, but the greatest of these was 1905, when he was twenty-five. That year Matty won 31 and lost but nine games out of 40, and pitched three shut-out games against the Athletics in the world series, an achievement which has never been equaled. Ed Walsh’s superyear, when he won 40 games and lost 15, besides saving a number for other pitchers, was in 1908. Walsh was twenty-six then. His record of 40 wins has been beaten by only one pitcher, Chesbro having gone him one better. Walter Johnson reached his best season In 1913, when he was twenty-six. That year he won 36 and lost but seven games. He was twenty-six in 1913. It is hard to pick the greatest year of Grover Alexander, who has wdn more than 30 games during the last three seasons, but he delivered these victories during his twenty-fourth, twentyfifth and twenty-sixth years. There are exceptions, of course. Tris Speaker’s greatest year was 1916. He was twenty-nine. Joe Wood won 23 games arid lost five in 1912, when he was but twenty-three, and Rube Marquard was the same age the same year when he made the remarkable run of 19 straight victories. But the majority of the great stars have been around twenty-five or twen-ty-six when they had their best seasons.