Hans Lobert (1881-1968)

[@jritechnology]

When Hans was speaking of the all dirt field that flooded in Pittsburgh, he was referring to Exposition Park on North Shore Way today. There is a plaque there stating the first world series was played at that spot in 1903. Sadly, the stadium that adorned the riverfront back then is now a parking lot.

[@shaindaman13]

What a Treasure that ol Fella is. Can you imagine all the great things and Players that he seen?

[@LtColUSMC]

One of the finest gentlemen to have ever played the game...

[@jamesselisker294]

Great interview. What history!

[@danacoleman4007]

This is a wonderful piece of history!!!!! That poor man deserved a better fate in the last years of his life.

[@marcm9999]

These interviews are rich on so many level!!! Thanks.

[@jamespernice4183]

Great interview!

[@RodneyMurray]

Hans was my "Uncle" - long time boyfriend of my Grandmother Louise K. Rinck. I have most of his memorabilia.

[@straycatttt2766]

Why did your family let him stay in a fleabag hotel in Philadelphia on the dole from the Giants organization?

[@primetime798]

Families are not always the loving affair

[@tonyt2588]

Back in the 70's I was a collector for a finance company. A lot of times I would roll up to old timers' homes and talk about baseball what they saw growing up. These guys saw Ty Cobb and those guys from the teens through the 70's. Not a single one of them had anything bad to say about Ty Cobb. Even the black guys. They told me that Eddie Collins was the dirtiest player back then. The way Cobb slid into a base with his toe on one of the corners or the other of the base was the best slide he could make to be safe and the safest for the baseman, which was the only thing he thought about on the base paths; being safe. The only thing! He never went into a base to cut someone up. He went into a base to be safe. That story about Cobb spiking Home Run Baker at third and cutting his knickers from his knee to his crotch is bullshit. It was Fred Snodgrass of the Giants who did that in the world series. Twice! Snodgrass said that Baker got in the way. He and the Giants had heard that Baker was spike shy, so they went into him at third hard. Spikes high if he already had the ball. He never flinched a slide at third base. Home run Baker was a real third baseman. Snodgrass says in his interview for The Glory Of Their Times that he was the one sliced Bakers knickers off him. Twice. Every single one of them told me the same thing; Babe Ruth was the greatest baseball player they ever saw. Even the guys who went back to when he was a pitcher. He did EVERYTHING! In 1927 when he hit 60 homers, he led the league in sacrifice bunts. Think about that. We think he was a fat guy, but he could steal bases and practically always scored on a hit when he was on 2nd base. Those old timers I talked to who said he was the greatest of all time actually saw him play. They never talked about his homers. They talked about his arm and his speed, and he NEVER threw to the wrong base. He may be the greatest left handed pitcher in the history of baseball.

[@chrishall6419]

I think maybe a lot of the players were just plain jealous of Cobb.. Ruth was a jovial fun guy...Cobb was serious about his business...

[@TheBatugan77]

If you look at the photo of Cobb 'sliding into Baker', it's almost impossible for it to have been Cobb's fault, if indeed Baker was injured.

[@nicholasschroeder3678]

​@@chrishall6419True. I also think Ruth was a spectacular natural talent, and Cobb wasn't. Cobb MADE himself into the best, and it--along with the brutal hazing he faced coming up--made him a combative personality. But I also think his reputation as a dirty player and raging racist are false. He played very hard, but he largely outsmarted and outtrained the rest, and, yes, there was a lot of envy. Baseball, too, was much rougher then with largely poor and uneducated players struggling to make a better living for themselves. It was either baseball or back to the farm, factory, mine, or dock. You had to be tough to survive. Cobb was a Southerner of relatively privileged background: neither made him particularly beloved either. If you ever had to work a non-union low-paying physical yet competitive job among men fighting for scraps you have an idea.

[@straycatttt2766]

This narrator interviewed Davey Jones, teammate of Cobb. Jones said Cobb was a nasty SOB.

[@FrontDesk-xl8zq]

wow! collins? never would have thought it

[@LtColUSMC]

These were ball players!!!

[@RodneyMurray]

Does anyone know when and where this recording was made?

[@TheBatugan77]

Yes.

[@primetime798]

Glory Of Their Times

[@jritechnology]

I wish players today had the amount of excitement and love for the game this man had (as well as thousands of players in that era) because the people like Garrett Cole ruin it for fans by talking smack and bullying a person who loves the game. Cole treats a game like a 9-5 job....

[@Steve-gx9ot]

Honest man

[@yescommunitiesnorules9623]

Has it ever been confirmed that Hans is the first player Babe faced when he played for Baltimore?

[@TheBatugan77]

That would be interesting. I think Stengel faced the Babe early on, maybe spring training.

[@LtColUSMC]

Him and Mr. Wagner....

[@df5295]

Hans #1 & #2.

[@TheBatugan77]

They made a fictionalized movie featuring Edward G. Robinson as an older Hans Lobert... He was a NY Giants coach/scout/player-developer type. Actually pretty enjoyable. If nothing else, Eddie must've been a baseball fan.

[@TheBatugan77]

In Bill James' Historical Abstract he goes over every decade, from then until now. And in every decade, some old-timer bleats about how much better/tougher/braver players were 'in MY day...' 😁😀😄😆