1951 Yankee of the Past: Clark Griffith

GRIFFITH'S INGENIOUS TRADE FOR A DAY: MORIARTY FOR COBB
"Some of the very young might not have heard of a type of 'trading' that doesn't involve the exchange of players between teams. A good trade of this type, though, often is worth a couple of runs in a ball game.
In the early years of the American League, for instance, rival club owners and managers always were accusing Clark Griffith, among others, of 'trading.'
It was during Griffith's last, bitter years as manager of the New York Highlanders- now the Yankees- that Uncle Clark, the current Washington owner, became less than a popular figure, particularly when the Highlanders were hooked up with the Detroit Tigers, featuring a hotheaded young outfielder named Ty Cobb.
Almost from the moment Cobb came up to the majors, it was evident he was destined for greatness as a hitter and base runner, a ball player capable of breaking any game wide open. It was also evident that Cobb had a quick temper, a fact not lost on the wily Griffith, who also reasoned it was far easier to beat the Tigers if they were minus Cobb.
Griff had some pretty fair ball players, including the immortal Hal Chase. He also had a pugnacious rookie infielder named George Moriarty, later to become an umpire. Moriarty was ever ready for fight or frolic and, while third base was his position, he found himself, on occasion, starting games at first base while the catlike, peerless Chase remained in the dugout.
Moriarty was expendable. He played first base with all the grace of a water buffalo, but he rarely had to play for long. His job was to get Cobb out of the ball game and, since Cobb was high in the Detroit batting order, fireworks usually started in the first inning.
Cobb was almost certain to hit the ball and, inasmuch as he wasn't an out-of-the-park hitter, he always was hell-bent-for-action going down to first base, or rounding the bag. It was Moriarty's chore to stick out his hip and, if possible, rack up Cobb in the field boxes. This was an assignment for which George was both physically and temperamentally qualified.
The result was invariably a fight, Cobb being no man to stand still for such shenanigans. That Moriarty was more than his match in fistic encounter mattered little to the prideful Cobb, and the almost inevitable result was that both combatants were thrown out.
To Detroit it was a catastrophe, losing the great Cobb, but for the Highlanders it was wonderful. They not only reduced the potentiality of the Tigers but they increased their own by substituting Hal Chase for the banished Moriarty."

-Francis Stann, condensed from the Washington Star (Baseball Digest, April 1951)