The Georgia Peach
Cobb, a left-handed hitting centerfielder, was by far one of the finest hitters ever to play the game of baseball, and many argue he was the greatest of all time. The Hall of Famer with the highest career batting average was a fierce competitor who played hard, known as much for his skills on the field as his explosive temper, fighting nature and racism.
In This Lens
- Lou Gehrig, Tris Speaker, Cobb, Babe Ruth
- The Beginning
- Tragedy
- Cobb as a Rookie in 1905
- His Major League Debut
- The First Controversy
- 1911 - 1920
- 1921 - 1926
- The Second Controversy
- Ty Cobb on YouTube
- On To Philadelphia
- Cobb, Thomas Edison, Connie Mack
- Retirement
- Visit The Hall Of Fame!
- After Baseball
- The End
- A retired Cobb with Joe DiMaggio
- Some Ty Cobb Info
- Baseball Movies
- Links
- What Do You Think?
Lou Gehrig, Tris Speaker, Cobb, Babe Ruth
The Beginning
William Herschel was not too fond of baseball, feeling that ballplayers were drunks and womanizers. Ty was first cut by a minor league team, and then asked his father if he could try out for a semipro team. His father told him "Don't come home a failure". He figured his son would soon get baseball out of his system, and he could never have been more wrong. He eventually gave in, saving Ty's first press clipping and showing it off like a newborn's photo.
Tragedy
"My father had his head blown off with a shotgun when I was 18 years old -- by a member of my own family," Cobb said. "I didn't get over that."
Cobb as a Rookie in 1905
His Major League Debut
The Tigers went to their first World Series in 1907, but lost to the dominant Chicago Cubs in 5 games. Cobb was not impressive, hitting just .200 for the series.
In addition to Cobb's second straight batting title in 1908, he led the American League in hits, doubles, triples, runs batted in and slugging percentage. Detroit again lost to the Cubs in a 5 game World Series, though Cobb hit .368 this time around. 1908 also brought the wedding of Ty Cobb to Charlotte Marion Lombard.1909 saw Cobb win the American League's triple crown, on top with his .377 batting average, 9 home runs, and 107 runs batted in. All of Cobb's home runs were inside the parkers, and it was just the second time since 1882 that the league leader hit less than 10 home runs.
The Tigers entered their third straight World Series, this time against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and lost in 7 games. Cobb hit only .231 in his last World Series.
"I'd rather be called a swellhead than a bad hitter"
The First Controversy
1911 - 1920
The Most Valuable Player award was introduced to each league in 1911, and Cobb won the first in the AL, along with another new car. Ty said he had played mind games with "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, another Cleveland hitter, to overcome him and win yet another batting title. Cobb also led his league in hits, runs, doubles, triples, stolen bases and slugging percentage.
Cobb won four more batting titles from 1912-15, leading the league in on-base percentage three of those years and slugging twice.
In 1916, Cobb lost the title to Tris Speaker of Cleveland, but did set the modern day for record for stolen bases with 96, which would not be broken for 47 years.
1917-1919 saw three more batting titles for the Georgia Peach. This time also saw the rise of Babe Ruth and his massive home run totals. Ruth set the single season home run total in 1919 with 29. He then hit 54 and 59 the next two years. This was unheard of at the time, and Cobb couldn't stand it. He didn't care for Ruth's appearance or his disregard for taking care of himself. But Cobb especially hated the way Babe played the game. Ty appreciated "small ball" - base hits, bunts, taking the extra base, a more strategic way of winning.
1921 - 1926
Cobb did pick up his 3000th hit in 1921, a great feat which is still used to measure players' greatness today.
In 1925, Cobb told a reporter that he too could hit home runs. He went out and blasted 5 in two games, tying a league record with 16 total bases in one contest, then went back to playing his style of baseball.
"The great trouble with baseball today is that most of the players are in the game for the money and that's it. Not for the love of it, the excitement of it, the thrill of it." - Ty Cobb (1925)
The Second Controversy
Dutch Leonard, a former Detroit pitcher, came out with allegations that Cobb and Speaker were involved in fixing games. He most likely did this to run the two out of baseball, as he felt Cobb had done the same to him. When nothing could be proved, the two men were returned to their original teams, who said they could sign with any club they chose. This was decades before free agency. In those days you signed a new contract with your club, or did not play. Unless you were traded.
On To Philadelphia
Cobb signed with Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics for the 1927 season, and Speaker would join him there a year later. Ty wanted to retire when he decided it was time, and said he came back to prove that point. He picked up his 4000th hit in July of 1927 against his old team, but the 27 Yankees were far too great for the Athletics, who finished second. 
Cobb, Thomas Edison, Connie Mack
Retirement
In 1936, Major League Baseball elected the first five members to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown New York. Cobb was inducted along with Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson. Cobb received 98 percent of the votes necessary, which proved that while many people may have hated him, they respected him as a ballplayer. Ty got more votes than any of the other four players.
Visit The Hall Of Fame!
After Baseball
Cobb enjoyed hunting, fishing and golfing, and moved out west for a while, and he got divorced in 1947. He would then marry 40 year old Frances Casse in 1949. Cobb was 62. This marriage lasted until 1956, when the two divorced.
He would tell people he thought baseball had changed for the worse since Babe Ruth came along. Ruth's home runs factored with a more tightly wound baseball in 1920 certainly did change the game forever, but the results of the changes are definitely a matter of opinion.
Ty Cobb spent time with two writers during his life, hoping to document his story. First John McCallum, and later Al Stump would both go on to write books, which were mostly edited by Cobb, making sure to only include certain stories. Many years later, Stump would revise his book, and write about the wild and fearful times he spent with Cobb...this newer edition would provide inspiration for the 1994 film "Cobb", starring Tommy Lee Jones.
The End
Tyrus Raymond Cobb died in an Atlanta hospital on July 7, 1961. To this day he is remembered as an exceptional baseball player as well as a racist hothead whom most people hated. He did do some good for people, at least later in his life. He apparently helped Joe DiMaggio negotiate a contract with the Yankees, and donated many thousands of dollars to scholarship funds and hospitals in his native Georgia. No matter how awful his personality may have been, he is without a doubt one of the all-time greatest to ever step foot on a baseball diamond.
A retired Cobb with Joe DiMaggio
Some Ty Cobb Info
- Cobb was never known as a great fielder, but was rumored to have once thrown out three base runners going to first in a single game...from the outfield
- Ran the bases on his own, without signs from his manager
- Known for "spiking" fielders as he slid into a base, though he claimed he only did this twice intentionally
- In 1912, he ran into the stands in New York to fight a heckler and was suspended. Ty was highly disliked, even by his own teammates, but they rallied behind him and decided to sit out a game in protest
- It was once rumored that he killed a man in a fight, though there is nothing to prove this
- Became the first professional athlete to act in a film, in 1917's "Somewhere In Georgia", playing - what else? - a ballplayer
- Kept a loaded pistol with him at night during his rookie season because of hazing by the older players...he also claimed this caused his explosive personality
Baseball Movies
Cobb
Amazon Price: $17.99 (as of 12/28/2009) 
Bull Durham
Amazon Price: $13.49 (as of 12/28/2009)
Field of Dreams (Widescreen Two-Disc Anniversary Edition)
Amazon Price: (as of 12/28/2009)
Eight Men Out (20th Anniversary Edition)
Amazon Price: $11.99 (as of 12/28/2009)
The Natural (Director's Cut)
Amazon Price: $15.99 (as of 12/28/2009)
Links
What Do You Think?
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