Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 69, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 March 1919 — TYRUS COBB WANTS NEITHER OF HIS SONS TO FOLLOW HIS FOOTSTEPS IN BASEBALL [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

TYRUS COBB WANTS NEITHER OF HIS SONS TO FOLLOW HIS FOOTSTEPS IN BASEBALL

Tyrus R. Cobb has two sons—he doesn’t want either to become a ball player. ■ • He would not have either become a ball player if he knew, in advance, that eacH would achieve lasting fame in the national game. ; “I have some very definite plans laid out for my youngsters,” says Cobb. all, I want them to learn the value of a sliver dollar. “When they complete their grade school work I want each to get into a factory where hard work will be the law of employment. After laboring there for six months, or a year (which should be sufficient time for "them to become familiar with the whims of money) I am going to send them to a military school. Doesn’t Want Snobs. “I Tealize, right now, that there Is danger of these boys of mine be l coming snobbish. I do not w'ant to appear egotistical, but I have succeed 6 ed as a ball player; I insist that my youngsters do not capitalize because of it. “A few years in a military school will set them straight in life, and in health. It will remove all thoughts of them ‘being better than the other fellow’ and they will also acquire the qualities of leadership. “After military school training I want them to go to some big unlver-

sit.v. Completing their college courses they will be equipped to compete with the problems of life. ' . : * Where Fame Flees. “A hall player’s fame \s too fleeting. You are a star today and a hasbeen tomorrow. There is no permanency. I do not regret having played, but, at the same time, I cannot help but wish that I had established myself along more permanent lines. There are very few ball players who gdt paid in excess of $5,000 a season—and that is not a remarkable salary for a man in business. In fact, it is the rule, if the man is worth anything to himself, or his employer. Again, a ball player’s life Is limited. At best he cannot last more than a few years in the big leagues—and there is his single chance to earn real money. “When he is through as a player he has to start all over again. He starts under the handicap of age. It is harder for him to learn. He hasn’t the foundation and he has to draw on the money he has saved when a ball player to get along. By the time hq is capable of earning a decent wage hfs savings are exhausted and he is then starting where the yoqng fellow of 25 years left off. “Ball playing is all right if you know, in advance,' that you are going to be a star, but unless you do, my sons will do something else.”

Ty Cobb’s Youngest Son Stealing Home.