Cobb, Ty

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Editing Ty Cobb
 
  
 
{{Infobox baseball player  
 
{{Infobox baseball player  
 
| name=Tyrus Raymond Cobb
 
| name=Tyrus Raymond Cobb
 
| image name=TyCobb.jpg
 
| image name=TyCobb.jpg
| birthdate=[[December 18]], 1886
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| image caption=Ty Cobb
| birthplace=[[Narrows, Georgia]]
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| birthdate=December 18, 1886
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| birthplace=[[Narrows]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]
 
| dead=dead
 
| dead=dead
| deathdate=[[July 17]], 1961
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| deathdate=July 17, 1961
| deathplace=[[Atlanta, Georgia]]
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| deathplace=[[Atlanta]], Georgia
| debutdate=[[August 30]], 1905  
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| debutdate=August 30, 1905
| debutteam=[[Detroit Tigers]]
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| debutteam=Detroit Tigers
| debutopponent=[[New York Yankees|New York Highlanders]]
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| debutopponent=New York Highlanders
| debutstadium=[[Bennett Park]]
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| debutstadium=Bennett Park
 
| teams='''As Player'''<BR>
 
| teams='''As Player'''<BR>
[[Detroit Tigers]] ([[1905 in sports|1905]] - [[1926 in sports|1926]])<BR>
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Detroit Tigers (1905–1926)<BR>
[[Philadelphia A's]] ([[1927 in sports|1927]] - [[1928 in sports|1928]])<BR>
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Philadelphia A's (1927–1928)<BR>
 
'''As Manager'''<BR>
 
'''As Manager'''<BR>
[[Detroit Tigers]] ([[1921 in sports|1921]] - [[1926 in sports|1926]])<BR>
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Detroit Tigers (1921–1926)<BR>
 
| HOFer=HOFer
 
| HOFer=HOFer
| inductiondate=[[1936 in sports|1936]]
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| inductiondate=1936
| careerhighlights=<br>
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| careerhighlights=<br/>
 
;All-Time Records:
 
;All-Time Records:
 
* Career batting average (.367)
 
* Career batting average (.367)
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;Notable Achievements
 
;Notable Achievements
 
* Batted over .320 for 22 straight seasons
 
* Batted over .320 for 22 straight seasons
* Batted over .400 three times ([[1911 in sports|1911]], [[1912 in sports|1912]] & [[1922 in sports|1922]])
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* Batted over .400 three times (1911, 1912, 1922)
* Won the [[Triple crown (baseball)|Triple Crown]] in [[1909 in sports|1909]]
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* Won the Triple Crown in 1909
 
* One of the inaugural members of the Hall of Fame
 
* One of the inaugural members of the Hall of Fame
}}
 
{{Infobox Cooperstown |
 
| Name= Tyrus "Ty" Cobb
 
| Nickname= The Georgia Peach
 
| Team=[[Detroit Tigers]]
 
| No.=None
 
| Elg. Year=1936
 
| Ind. Year=1936
 
 
}}
 
}}
  
'''Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb''' ([[December 18]], [[1886]] [[July 17]], [[1961]]), nicknamed '''"The Georgia Peach"''', was a [[Baseball Hall of Fame|Hall of Fame]] [[Major league baseball|baseball]] player. When he retired in 1928, he was the holder of ninety major league records.<ref>http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/summary_0199-514151_ITM</ref> Cobb also received the most votes of any player on the 1936 inaugural [[Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 1936|Hall of Fame Ballot]].[http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/history/hof_voting/year/1936.htm]
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'''Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb''' (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed '''"The Georgia Peach,"''' was a [[Baseball Hall of Fame|Hall of Fame]] [[baseball]] player. When he retired in 1928, he was the holder of 43 major league records.<ref>James Peach, “Thorstein Veblen, Ty Cobb, and the Evolution of an Institution,” ''Journal of Economic Issues'' 38, no. 2 (June 2004): 328. </ref> Cobb also received the most votes of any player on the 1936 inaugural Hall of Fame ballot.<ref> National Baseball Hall of Fame, [http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/history/hof_voting/year/1936.htm History of BBWAA Hall of Fame Voting: 1936 Election.] Retrieved June 18, 2007.</ref>
  
Cobb currently holds the records for highest major-league career batting average with .366 <ref>http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/BA_career.shtm</ref>and most career batting titles with 11<ref>http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/BA_leagues.shtml</ref>. Cobb also held for decades the record for most career major league hits that was broken by [[Pete Rose]] (4,189, long believed to be 4,191)<ref>http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/H_career.shtml</ref><ref>http://mysite.verizon.net/charliesballparks/stadiums/royston.htm</ref>, and the most career stolen bases with 892, later broken by [[Lou Brock]] and [[Rickey Henderson]]<ref>http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/SB_career.shtml</ref>. Upon his death in 1961, the [[New York Times]] editorialized, "Let it be said that Cobb was the greatest of all ballplayers."<ref>http://www.baseball-fever.com/archive/index.php/t-14070.html</ref>
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Cobb currently holds the records for highest major-league career batting average of .366 and most career batting titles at 12. He led the American Leage in stolen bases six times, with his 1915 record of 96 stolen bases lasting until 1962. Cobb also held for decades the record for most career major league hits (4,191), which was broken by [[Pete Rose]], and the most career runs (2,245), which was broken by Rickey Henderson.<ref> Major League Baseball, [http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/historical/leaders.jsp?c_id=mlb&baseballScope=mlb&statType=1&sortByStat=All&timeFrame=3&timeSubFrame2=0 Historical Leaders,] ''MLB.com.'' Retrieved June 18, 2007</ref> Upon his death in 1961, the ''[[New York Times]]'' editorialized, "Let it be said that Cobb was the greatest of all ballplayers."
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The greatest star during his playing prime before the emergence of Babe Ruth, Cobb's legacy as an athlete has sometimes been overshadowed by his surly temperament, racist attitudes, and aggressive on-field reputation, which was described by the ''Detroit Free Press'' as "daring to the point of dementia."<ref> ''New Georgia Encyclopedia,'' s.v. [http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-733 Ty Cobb (1886–1961).] Retrieved June 18, 2007.</ref> So great was his fellow players' disdain toward Cobb, that when the legendary ballplayer died in 1961, only three representatives from all of baseball attended his funeral. Yet some connoisseurs of the national pastime claim that Cobb played the game the way it should be played&mdash;with an all-out tenacity and a driving passion to win.
  
The greatest of stars during his playing prime, Cobb's legacy as an athlete has sometimes been overshadowed by his surly temperament and aggressive reputation<ref>http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/readers/dirtiest/players.html</ref>, which was described by the [[Detroit Free Press]] as "daring to the point of dementia."<ref> http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-733</ref>
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==Early life and baseball career==
  
==Early life & baseball career==
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Ty Cobb was born in Narrows, [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], as the first of three children to Amanda Chitwood Cobb and William Herschel Cobb. His early career was hardly illustrious. Ty spent his first years in baseball as a member of the Royston Rompers, the semi-pro Royston Red, and the Augusta Tourists of the Sally League. However, the Tourists cut Cobb two days into the season. He then went to try out for the Anniston Steelers of the semi-pro Tennessee–Alabama League, with his father's stern admonition still ringing in his ears: "Don't come home a failure."
Ty Cobb was born in [[Narrows, Georgia]], as the first of three children to Amanda Chitwood Cobb and William Herschel Cobb.
 
  
Ty spent his first years in baseball as a member of the Royston Rompers, the semi-pro Royston Red, and the Augusta Tourists of the [[South Atlantic League|Sally League]].  However, the Tourists cut Cobb two days into the season. He then went to try out for the Anniston Steelers of the semi-pro Tennessee-Alabama League, with his father's stern admonition still ringing in his ears: "Don't come home a failure." Cobb promoted himself by sending several postcards to [[Grantland Rice]], the sports editor of the ''[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|Atlanta Journal]]'' under several different aliases. Eventually, Rice wrote a small note in the ''Journal'' that a "young fellow named Cobb seems to be showing an unusual lot of talent."<ref>http://www.tycobb.org/bio.html</ref> After about three months, Ty returned to the Tourists. He finished the season hitting .237 in 35 games.
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Cobb promoted himself by sending several postcards to [[Grantland Rice]], the sports editor of the ''Atlanta Journal'' under several different aliases. Eventually, Rice wrote a small note in the journal that a "young fellow named Cobb seems to be showing an unusual lot of talent."<ref>Ty Cobb with Al Stump, ''My Life in Baseball: The True Record'' (Garden City: Doubleday, 1961), 48.</ref> After about three months, Ty returned to the Tourists. He finished the season hitting .237 in 35 games. In 1905, the Tourists' management sold Cobb to the American League's Detroit Tigers for $750.<ref>Baseball-Reference.com, [http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/cobbty01.shtml Tyrus Raymond Cobb (The Georgia Peach).] Retrieved June 19, 2007.</ref>
  
August 1905 was an eventful month for Ty.  The Tourists' management sold Cobb to the [[American League]]'s [[Detroit Tigers]] for $750.<ref>[http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/cobbty01.shtml baseball-reference.com]</ref>.  Additionally, On [[August 8]] 1905, Ty's father was shot to death by Ty's mother. William Cobb suspected his wife of infidelity, and was sneaking past his own bedroom window to catch her in the act; she only saw the silhouette of what she presumed to be an intruder, and acted in self-defense.<ref>http://www.tycobb.org/bio.html</ref> Cobb's father would never witness his son's major league success.
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On August 8, 1905, Ty's father was tragically shot to death by Ty's mother. William Cobb suspected his wife of [[infidelity]] and was sneaking past his own bedroom window to catch her in the act. She only saw the silhouette of what she presumed to be an intruder, and shot twice, killing William Cobb.<ref>Charles C. Alexander, ''Ty Cobb'' (Oxford University Press, 1984 ISBN 0195035984), 21.</ref> Cobb's father would never witness his son's major league success.
  
 
==Major League Career==
 
==Major League Career==
 
====The early years====
 
====The early years====
Three weeks after his mother killed his father, Cobb played center field for the Detroit Tigers. On [[August 30]] 1905, in his first major league at-bat, Cobb doubled off the [[New York Yankees|New York Highlanders]]'s [[Jack Chesbro]]. That season, Cobb managed to bat only .240 in 41 games. Nevertheless, he showed enough promise as a rookie for the Tigers to give him a lucrative $1,500 contract for 1906.
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[[Image:Ty_cobb.jpg|thumb|200px|Early Ty Cobb baseball cards fetch top dollar on today's market.]]
 
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Cobb played center field for the Detroit Tigers. On August 30, 1905, in his first major league at-bat, Cobb doubled off the [[New York Yankees|New York Highlanders]]'s Jack Chesbro. That season, Cobb managed to bat only .240 in 41 games. Nevertheless, he showed enough promise as a rookie for the Tigers to give him a lucrative $1,500 contract for 1906.
[[Image:Cobbsign.jpg|left|thumb|300px|Cobb signs a $5000 contract for 1908 after a bitter holdout.]]
 
 
 
Although rookie hazing was customary, Cobb could not endure it in good humor, and he soon became alienated from his teammates. He later attributed his hostile temperament to this experience: "These old-timers turned me into a snarling wildcat."<ref> http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-733</ref>
 
 
 
The following year ([[1906 in sports|1906]]) he became the Tigers' full-time center fielder and hit .316 in 98 games.  He would never hit below that mark again.  Cobb, firmly entrenched in center field, led the Tigers to three consecutive American League Pennants from 1907-1909.  Detroit would lose each World Series, however, with Cobb's post-season numbers being much below his career standard.
 
 
 
In one notable [[1907 in sports|1907]] game, Cobb reached first, stole second, stole third, and then stole home on consecutive attempts.  He finished that season with a league high .350 batting average, 212 hits, 49 steals and 119 RBI.  Despite great success on the field, Cobb was no stranger to controversy off it. At Spring Training in 1907, he fought a black groundskeeper over the condition of the Tigers' field in Augusta, Georgia. Ty also ended up choking the man's wife when she intervened.<ref>http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00014142.html</ref>
 
 
 
In September 1907, Cobb began a relationship with [[The Coca-Cola Company]] that would last the remainder of his life.  By the time he died, he owned three bottling plants, in [[Santa Maria, California]]; [[Twin Falls, Idaho]]; and [[Bend, Oregon]]; and owned over 20,000 shares of stock.  He was also a celebrity spokesman for the product; one Cobb endorsement claimed, "I always find that a drink of Coca-Cola between the games refreshes me to such an extent that I can start the second game feeling as if I had not been exercising at all, in spite of my exertions in the first."<ref>[http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/history/2002/021218_cobb_ty.htm baseballhalloffame.org]</ref>
 
 
 
The following season, the Tigers bested the [[Chicago White Sox]] for the pennant.  Cobb again won the batting title, although he hit "only" .324 that year.  Despite another loss in the Series, Cobb had something to celebrate.  In August 1908 he married Charlotte "Charlie" Marion Lombard, the daughter of prominent Augustan Roswell Lombard.
 
 
 
The Tigers won the American League pennant again in [[1909 in sports|1909]].  During the Series Cobb stole home in the second game, igniting a three-run rally, but that was the high point for Cobb.  He ended batting a lowly .231 in his last World Series, as the Tigers lost in seven games.  Although he performed poorly in the post-season, Cobb won the [[Triple crown (baseball)|Triple Crown]] by hitting .377 with 107 RBI and nine home runs - all [[inside-the-park home run|inside-the-park]].  Cobb thus became the only player of the modern era to lead his league in home runs in a given season without hitting a ball over the fence.
 
  
It was also in 1909 that [[Charles M. Conlon]] snapped his famous photograph of a grimacing Ty Cobb sliding into third base amid a cloud of dirt, which visually captured the grit and ferocity of Cobb's playing style.
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Although rookie hazing was customary, Cobb could not endure it in good humor, and he soon became alienated from his teammates. He later attributed his hostile temperament to this experience: "These old-timers turned me into a snarling wildcat."<ref>Joseph Durso, ''The Days of Mr. McGraw'' (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1969), 69.</ref>
  
===1910  & the Chalmers Award controversy===
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The following year (1906) he became the Tigers' full-time center fielder and hit .316 in 98 games. He would never hit below that mark again. Cobb, firmly entrenched in center field, led the Tigers to three consecutive American League pennants from 1907 to 1909. Detroit would lose each [[World Series]], however, with Cobb's post-season numbers falling much below his career standard. In one notable 1907 game, Cobb reached first, stole second, stole third, and then stole home on consecutive attempts. He finished that season with a league-high .350 batting average, 212 hits, 49, steals and 119 runs batted in (RBI).
[[Image:CobbLajoie.jpg|frame|left|Cobb and Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie]]
 
  
In [[1910 in sports|1910]], Cobb and [[Napoleon Lajoie|Nap Lajoie]] were neck-and-neck for the American League batting title.  Cobb was ahead by a slight margin going into the last day of the season.  The prize for the winner of the title was a [[Chalmers Automobile]].  Cobb sat out the game to preserve his average. Lajoie, whose team was playing the [[St. Louis Browns]], notched eight hits in a [[doubleheader]].  Six of those hits were bunt singles that fell in front of the third baseman.  It turned out that Browns manager, [[Jack O'Connor (catcher)|Jack O'Connor]], had ordered third baseman [[Red Corriden]] to play deep, on the outfield grass, so as to allow the popular Lajoie to win the title.  A seventh hit is credited despite a wild throw to first base.  The [[St. Louis Press]] was one of numerous newspapers to criticize the shenanigans, writing, "All St. Louis is up in arms over the deplorable spectacle, conceived in stupidity and executed in jealousy."<ref>http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/C/Cobb_Ty.stm</ref>
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Despite great success on the field, Cobb was no stranger to controversy off it. At spring training in 1907, he got in a fight with a black groundskeeper who he thought was drunk and had called him the wrong name. When the groundskeeper’s wife started yelling at Cobb, Cobb started choking her.<ref> Charles C. Alexander, ''Ty Cobb'' (Oxford University Press, 1984 ISBN 0195035984), 50.</ref>
  
After some wrangling, AL president [[Ban Johnson]] declared all batting averages official, with Cobb seemingly hanging on to win, .3850687 to .3840947.  The Chalmers people, however, decided to award an automobile to both Cobb and Lajoie. The next year, the Chalmers Award was given to the player "most valuable" to his team, and the modern [[MLB Most Valuable Player award|Most Valuable Player Award]] was born, with Cobb winning the American League version unanimously.
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In September 1907, Cobb began a relationship with the [[Coca-Cola Company]] that would last the remainder of his life. By the time he died, he owned three bottling plants and over 20,000 shares of stock. He was also a celebrity spokesman for the product.
  
Muddying the waters further, it is the 1910 season which accounts for the statistical discrepancy in Cobb's career hit total, which was long reported as 4,191.  A Detroit Tigers box score was mistakenly counted twice in the season-ending calculations, thus giving Cobb an extra 2-for-3. Beyond awarding him two nonexistent hits, it also raised Cobb's 1910 batting average from .383 to .385. Lajoie is credited with a .384 average for the 1910 season, and thus the downwardly revised figure would also cost Cobb one of his 12 batting titles. The commissioner's committee voted unanimously to leave the numbers unchanged, but this ruling has typically been ignored by the game's statisticians.
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The following season, the Tigers bested the Chicago White Sox for the pennant. Cobb again won the batting title; he hit .324 that year. [[Image:Cobbsign.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Cobb signs contract for 1908.]] Despite another loss in the World Series, Cobb had something to celebrate. In August 1908, he married Charlotte "Charlie" Marion Lombard, the daughter of prominent Augustan Roswell Lombard.
  
With the Browns deliberately helping an opponent to surpass a total which was unknowingly inaccurate, the ensuing mathematical mess was described by one writer, "It could be said that 1910 produced two bogus leading batting averages, and one questionable champion." <ref>[http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCI/is_4_64/ai_n13684071]</ref>
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The Tigers won the American League pennant again in 1909. During the World Series, Cobb stole home in the second game, igniting a three-run rally, but that was the high point for Cobb. He ended batting a lowly .231 in this, his last World Series, as the Tigers lost in seven games. Although he performed poorly in the post-season, Cobb won the Triple Crown by hitting .377 with 107 RBI and 9 home runs&mdash;all inside-the-park home runs. Cobb thus became the only player of the modern era to lead his league in home runs in a given season without hitting a ball over the fence.
  
===The 1911 Season & Onward===
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===The 1910 Chalmers Award controversy===
[[Image:Cobb Jackson.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Ty Cobb and Joe Jackson in Cleveland]]
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In 1910, Cobb and Nap Lajoie were neck-and-neck for the American League batting title. Cobb was ahead by a slight margin going into the last day of the season. The prize for the winner of the title was a Chalmers automobile. [[Image:CobbLajoie.jpg|thumb|200px|Cobb and Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie.]] Cobb sat out the game to preserve his average. Lajoie, whose team was playing the St. Louis Browns, notched eight hits in a doubleheader. Six of those hits were bunt singles that fell in front of the third baseman. It turned out that Browns’ manager, Jack O'Connor, had ordered third baseman Red Corriden to play deep, on the outfield grass, so as to allow the popular Lajoie to win the title. The Browns disliked Cobb and did not want to see him win the title. When a “ninth” hit by Lajoie was ruled a fielder’s choice, Browns’ coach Henry Howell attempted to bribe the scorekeeper to change the ruling to a hit. The scorekeeper refused, and a few days later, AL president Ban Johnson declared all batting averages official, with Cobb hanging on to win, .384944 to .384084. O’Connor and Howell were fired after news about their scheming got around. They would never work in organized baseball again.<ref> Charles C. Alexander, ''Ty Cobb'' (Oxford University Press, 1984 ISBN 0195035984), 95–96.</ref>
Cobb was regarded not just as an athlete, but a psychological competitor. Cobb was having a typically fine year in [[1911 in sports|1911]], which included a 40-game hitting streak. Still, [[Shoeless Joe Jackson|”Shoeless” Joe Jackson]] had a .009 point lead on him in batting average. What happened next is discussed in Cobb's autobiography. Near the end of the season, Cobb’s Tigers had a long series against Jackson and the [[Cleveland Indians|Cleveland Naps]]. Fellow Southerners, Cobb and Jackson were personally friendly both on and off the field. Cobb used that friendliness for his gain. However, Cobb suddenly ignored Jackson whenever Jackson said anything to him. When Jackson persisted, Cobb snapped angrily at Jackson, making him wonder what he could have done to enrage Cobb. As soon as the series was over, Cobb unexpectedly greeted Jackson and wished him well. Cobb felt that it was these mind games that caused Jackson to "fall off" to a final average of .408, while Cobb himself finished with a .420 average.<ref>http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/C/Cobb_Ty.stm</ref>
 
  
Cobb led the AL in numerous categories besides batting average, including 248 hits, 147 runs scored, 127 RBI, 83 stolen bases, 47 doubles, 24 triples, and a .621 slugging average. The only major offensive category in which Cobb did not finish first was home runs, where [[Frank Baker]] surpassed him 11-8. Cobb's dominance at the plate is suggested by this statistic: he struck out swinging only twice during the entire 1911 season. He was awarded another Chalmers, this time for being voted the AL MVP by the [[Baseball Writers Association of America]].
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===The 1911 season and 1912 fight===
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[[Image:Cobb Jackson.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Ty Cobb and Joe Jackson in Cleveland.]]
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Cobb was having a typically fine year in 1911, which included a 40-game hitting streak. Still, [[Shoeless Joe Jackson|“Shoeless” Joe Jackson]] had a .009 point lead on him in batting average. Near the end of the season, Cobb’s Tigers had a long series against Jackson and the Cleveland Naps. Fellow Southerners, Cobb and Jackson were personally friendly both on and off the field. However, Cobb suddenly ignored Jackson whenever Jackson said anything to him. When Jackson persisted, Cobb snapped angrily at Jackson, making him wonder what he could have done to enrage Cobb. As soon as the series was over, Cobb unexpectedly greeted Jackson and wished him well. Cobb felt that it was these mind games that caused Jackson to "fall off" to a final average of .408, while Cobb himself finished with a .420 average.<ref>Stewart Wolpin, [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/C/Cobb_Ty.stm Ty Cobb,] ''BaseballLibrary.com.'' Retrieved June 19, 2007.</ref>
  
The game that may best illustrate Cobb's unique combination of skills and attributes occurred on [[May 12]], [[1911]]. Playing against the [[New York Yankees]], Cobb scored a run from first base on a single to right field, then scored another run from second base on a wild pitch. In the 7th inning, he tied the game with a 2-run double. The Yankee catcher began vociferously arguing the call with the umpire, going on at such length that the other Yankee infielders gathered nearby to watch. Realizing that no one on the Yankees had called time, Cobb strolled unobserved to third base, and then casually walked towards home plate as if to get a better view of the argument. He then suddenly slid into home plate for the game's winning run.<ref>http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/C/Cobb_Ty.stm</ref>
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Cobb led the AL that year in numerous categories besides batting average, including hits (248), runs scored (147), RBIs (127), stolen bases (83), doubles (47), triples (24), and slugging average (.621). The only major offensive category in which Cobb did not finish first was home runs, where Frank Baker surpassed him 11-8. Cobb's dominance at the plate is suggested by the following statistic: he struck out swinging only twice during the entire 1911 season. He was voted the AL MVP by the [[Baseball Writers Association of America]].
  
On [[May 15]] [[1912 in sports|1912]], Cobb assaulted Claude Lueker, a heckler, in the stands in New York. Lueker and Cobb traded insults with each other throughout the first three innings, and the situation climaxed when Lueker called Cobb a "half-nigger." Cobb then climbed into the stands and attacked the handicapped Lueker, who due to an industrial accident had lost all of one hand and three fingers on his other hand. When onlookers shouted at Cobb to stop because the man had no hands, Cobb reportedly replied, "I don't care if he has no feet!" The league suspended him, and his teammates, though not fond of Cobb, went on strike to protest the suspension prior to the [[May 18]] game in Philadelphia. For that one game, Detroit fielded a replacement team made up of college and sandlot ballplayers, plus two Detroit coaches, and lost, 24-2. Some of major league baseball's all-time negative records were established in this game, notably the 26 hits allowed by [[Allan Travers]], who pitched the sport's most unlikely complete game. The strike ended when Cobb urged his teammates to return to the field.<ref>http://wso.williams.edu/~jkossuth/cobb/race.htm</ref>
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The game that may best illustrate Cobb's unique combination of skills and attributes occurred on May 12, 1911. Playing against the [[New York Yankees]], Cobb scored a run from first base on a single to right field, then scored another run from second base on a wild pitch. In the seventh inning, he tied the game with a 2-run double. The Yankee catcher began vociferously arguing the call with the umpire, going on at such length that the other Yankee infielders gathered nearby to watch. Realizing that no one on the Yankees had called time, Cobb strolled unobserved to third base, and then casually walked towards home plate as if to get a better view of the argument. He then suddenly slid into home plate for the game's winning run.<ref>Stewart Wolpin, [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/C/Cobb_Ty.stm Ty Cobb,] ''BaseballLibrary.com.'' Retrieved June 19, 2007.</ref>
  
During Cobb's career he was involved in numerous fights, both on and off the field, and several profanity-laced shouting matches. For example, Cobb and umpire [[Billy Evans]] arranged to settle their in-game differences with a fistfight, to be conducted under the grandstand after the game.  Members of both teams served as the spectators, and broke up the scuffle after Cobb had knocked Evans down, pinned him, and began choking him.  Cobb once slapped a black elevator operator for being "uppity." When a black night watchman intervened, Cobb pulled out a knife and stabbed him. (The matter was later settled out of court.)<ref> http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-733</ref>
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On May 15, 1912, Cobb assaulted Claude Lueker, a heckler, in the stands in New York. Lueker and Cobb traded insults with each other throughout the first three innings, and the situation climaxed when Lueker called Cobb a "half-nigger." Cobb then climbed into the stands and attacked the handicapped Lueker, who due to an industrial accident had lost all of one hand and three fingers on his other hand. When onlookers shouted at Cobb to stop because the man had no hands, Cobb reportedly replied, "I don't care if he has no feet." The league suspended him, and his teammates, though not fond of Cobb, went on strike to protest the suspension prior to the May 18 game in Philadelphia.<ref> Charles C. Alexander, ''Ty Cobb'' (Oxford University Press, 1984 ISBN 0195035984), 105–106.</ref>
  
 
===1915-1921===
 
===1915-1921===
[[Image:Cobbruth.jpg|frame|left|Babe Ruth (left) and Ty Cobb]]
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[[Image:Cobbstealing3rd.jpg|thumb|200px|Sources say this photograph was taken specifically July 23, 1910. New York Highlanders' (now Yankees) third baseman [[James Phillip Austin|Jimmy Austin]] attempts to avoid Ty Cobb's spikes on a stolen base attempt at [[Hilltop Park]].Photgraph by [[Charles M. Conlon]].]]  
In 1915, Cobb set the single season steals record when he stole 96 bases. That record stood until [[Maury Wills]] broke it in 1962. Cobb’s streak of five batting titles (believed at the time to be nine straight) ended the following year when he finished second with .371 to [[Tris Speaker]]’s .386.
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In 1915, Cobb set the single season steals record when he stole 96 bases. That record stood until Maury Wills broke it in 1962. Cobb’s streak of five batting titles ended the following year when he finished second (.371) to Tris Speaker’s .386.
 
 
In 1917, Cobb hit in 35 consecutive games; he remains the only player with two 35-game hitting streaks to his credit (Cobb had a 40-game hitting streak in 1911).  Over his career, Cobb had six hitting streaks of at least 20 games, second only to [[Pete Rose]]'s seven.
 
  
Also in 1917, Cobb starred in the motion picture "[[Somewhere in Georgia]]". Based on a story by sports columnist Grantland Rice, the film casts Cobb as "himself", a small-town Georgian bank clerk with a talent for baseball.
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In 1917, Cobb hit in 35 consecutive games; he remains the only player with two 35-game hitting streaks to his credit (he also had a 40-game hitting streak in 1911). Over his career, Cobb had six hitting streaks of at least 20 games, second only to [[Pete Rose]]'s seven.
  
By [[1920 in baseball|1920]], [[Babe Ruth]] had established himself as a power hitter, something Cobb was not considered. When Cobb and the Tigers showed up in New York to play the Yankees for the first time that season, writers billed it as a showdown between two stars of competing styles of play. Ruth hit two homers and a triple during the series while Cobb got only one single in the entire series.
+
By 1920, [[Babe Ruth]] had established himself as a power hitter, something Cobb was not. When Cobb and the Tigers showed up in [[New York]] to play the Yankees for the first time that season, writers billed it as a showdown between two stars of competing styles of play. Ruth hit two homers and a triple during the series while Cobb got only one single in the entire series.
  
As Ruth's popularity grew, Cobb became increasingly hostile toward him. Cobb saw Ruth not only as a threat to his style of play, but also to his style of life. While Cobb preached ascetic self-denial, Ruth gorged on hot dogs, beer, and women. Perhaps what angered him the most about Ruth was that despite Ruth's total disregard for his physical condition and traditional baseball, he was still an overwhelming success and brought fans to the ballparks in record numbers to see him set his own records.
+
[[Image:Cobbruth.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Babe Ruth (left) and Ty Cobb.]]
 +
As Ruth's popularity grew, Cobb became increasingly hostile toward him. Cobb saw Ruth not only as a threat to his style of play, but also to his style of life. While Cobb preached ascetic self-denial, Ruth gorged on hot dogs, beer, and women. Perhaps what angered him the most about Ruth was that despite Ruth's total disregard for his physical conditioning and traditional baseball, he was still an overwhelming success and brought fans to the ballparks in record numbers to see him break Cobb's own records.
  
After enduring several years of seeing his fame and notoriety usurped by Ruth, Cobb decided that he was going to show that swinging for the fences was no challenge for a top hitter. On [[May 5]] [[1925 in sports|1925]], Cobb began a two-game hitting spree better than any even Ruth had unleashed. He was sitting in the dugout talking to a reporter and told him that, for the first time in his career, he was going to swing for the fences. That day, Cobb went 6 for 6, with two singles, a double, and three home runs. His 16 total bases set a new AL record. The next day he had three more hits, two of which were home runs. His single his first time up gave him 9 consecutive hits over three games. His five homers in two games tied the record set by [[Cap Anson]] of the old Chicago NL team in 1884. Cobb wanted to show that he could hit home runs when he wanted, but simply chose not to do so. At the end of the series, 38-year-old Cobb had gone 12 for 19 with 29 total bases, and then went happily back to bunting and hitting-and-running. For his part, Ruth's attitude was that "I could have had a lifetime .600 average, but I would have had to hit them singles. The people were paying to see me hit home runs."
+
After enduring several years of seeing his fame and notoriety usurped by Ruth, Cobb decided that he was going to show that swinging for the fences was no challenge for a top hitter. On May 5 1925, Cobb began a two-game hitting spree that topped any even Ruth had unleashed. He was sitting in the dugout talking to a reporter and told him that, for the first time in his career, he was going to swing for the fences. That day, Cobb went 6 for 6, with two singles, a double, and three home runs. His 16 total bases set a new AL record. The next day he had three more hits, two of which were home runs. A single his first time up gave him 9 consecutive hits over three games. His five homers in two games tied the record set by [[Cap Anson]] of the old Chicago NL team in 1884. Cobb wanted to show that he could hit home runs when he wanted, but simply chose not to do so. At the end of the series, 38-year-old Cobb had gone 12 for 19 with 29 total bases, and then went happily back to bunting and hitting-and-running. For his part, Ruth's attitude was that "I could have had a lifetime .600 average, but I would have had to hit them singles. The people were paying to see me hit home runs."
  
On [[August 19]] 1921, in the second game of a double header against [[Elmer Myers]] of the [[Boston Red Sox]] Cobb collected his 3,000th hit.
+
On August 19 1921, in the second game of a doubleheader against the [[Boston Red Sox]], Cobb collected his 3,000th hit.
  
 
===Cobb as player/manager===
 
===Cobb as player/manager===
[[Frank Navin]], the Detroit Tigers owner, signed Cobb to take over for [[Hughie Jennings]] as manager for the [[1921 in sports|1921]] season. Cobb signed the deal on his 34th birthday for $32,500. To say the least, the signing caught the baseball world off-guard.  Universally disliked (even by the members of his own team) but a legendary player, Cobb's management style left a lot to be desired. He expected as much from his players as he gave, and most of the men did not meet his standard.
+
For the 1921 season, Frank Navin, the Detroit Tigers owner, signed Cobb to take over for Hughie Jennings as manager. Cobb signed the deal on his 34th birthday for $32,500. Universally disliked (even by the members of his own team) but a legendary player, Cobb's management style left a lot to be desired. He expected as much from his players as he gave, and most of the men did not meet his standard.  
  
The closest he came to winning the pennant race was in [[1924 in sports|1924]], when the Tigers finished in third place, six games behind the pennant-winning [[Minnesota Twins|Washington Senators]]. The Tigers had finished second in [[1922 in sports|1922]], but were 16 games behind the Yankees.
+
The closest he came as a manager to winning the pennant race was in 1924, when the Tigers finished in third place, six games behind the pennant-winning Washington Senators. The Tigers had finished second in 1922, but were 16 games behind the Yankees.
  
Cobb blamed his lackluster managerial record (479 wins-444 losses) on Navin, who was arguably an even bigger [[skinflint]] than Cobb. Navin passed up a number of quality players that Cobb wanted to add to the team. In fact, Navin had saved money by hiring Cobb to manage the team.
+
Cobb blamed his lackluster managerial record (479–444) on Navin, who was arguably an even bigger skinflint than Cobb. Navin passed up a number of quality players that Cobb wanted to add to the team. In fact, Navin had saved money by hiring Cobb to manage the team.
  
Also in 1922, Cobb tied a batting record set by [[Wee Willie Keeler]], with four five-hit games. This has since been matched by [[Stan Musial]], [[Tony Gwynn]] and [[Ichiro Suzuki]].
+
Also in 1922, Cobb tied a batting record set by Wee Willie Keeler, with four five-hit games. This has since been matched by [[Stan Musial]], Tony Gwynn, and Ichiro Suzuki.
  
At the end of 1925 Cobb was once again embroiled in a batting title race, this time with one of his teammates and players, [[Harry Heilmann]]. In a doubleheader against the St. Louis Browns on [[October 4]], Heilmann got six hits, leading the Tigers to a sweep of the doubleheader and beating Cobb for the batting crown, .393 to .389. Cobb and Browns manager [[George Sisler]] each pitched in the final game. Cobb pitched a perfect inning.
+
At the end of 1925, Cobb was once again embroiled in a batting title race, this time with one of his teammates, Harry Heilmann. In a doubleheader against the St. Louis Browns on October 4, Heilmann got six hits, leading the Tigers to a sweep of the doubleheader and beating Cobb for the batting crown, .393 to .389. Cobb and Browns’ manager [[George Sisler]] each pitched in the final game. Cobb pitched a perfect inning.
  
 
===Cobb moves to Philadelphia===
 
===Cobb moves to Philadelphia===
Cobb finally called it quits from a 22-year career as a Tiger in November [[1926 in sports|1926]]. He announced his retirement and headed home to Augusta, Georgia. Shortly thereafter, Tris Speaker also retired as player-manager of the Cleveland team. The retirement of two great players at the same time sparked some interest, and it turned out that the two were coerced into retirement because of allegations of game-fixing brought about by [[Dutch Leonard (left-handed pitcher)|Dutch Leonard]], a former pitcher of Cobb's.
+
Cobb finally called it quits after a 22-year career as a Tiger in November 1926. He announced his retirement and headed home to Augusta, Georgia. Shortly thereafter, Tris Speaker also retired as player-manager of the Cleveland team. The retirement of two great players at the same time sparked some interest, and it turned out that the two were coerced into retirement because of allegations of game-fixing brought about by [[Dutch Leonard]], a former pitcher of Cobb's [[Detroit Tigers]].
  
Leonard was unable to convince either [[Kenesaw Mountain Landis|Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis]] or the public that the two had done anything for which they deserved to be kicked out of baseball.
+
Leonard was unable to convince either Judge [[Kenesaw Mountain Landis]] or the public that the two had done anything for which they deserved to be kicked out of [[baseball]]. Landis allowed both Cobb and Speaker to return to their original teams, but each team let them know that they were free agents and could sign with whomever they wished. Cobb signed with the [[Philadelphia Athletics]]. Speaker then joined Cobb in Philadelphia for the 1928 season. Cobb reportedly said he came back only to seek vindication and so that he could leave baseball on his own terms.  
  
Landis allowed both Cobb and Speaker to return to their original teams, but each team let them know that they were free agents and could sign with whomever they wished.  Speaker signed with the [[Minnesota Twins|Washington Senators]] for [[1927 in sports|1927]]; Cobb signed with the [[Philadelphia Athletics]].  Speaker then joined Cobb in Philadelphia for the [[1928 in sports|1928]] season.  Cobb says he came back only to seek vindication and so that he could say he left baseball on his own terms.  
+
Cobb played regularly in 1927 for a young and talented team that finished second to one of the greatest teams of all time, the 1927 [[New York Yankees]]. He returned to Detroit on May 11, 1927. Cobb doubled in his first at bat, to the cheers of Tiger fans. On July 18, 1927, Cobb became the first player to enter the 4,000-hit-club when he doubled off former teammate Sam Gibson of the Detroit Tigers at [[Navin Field]].
  
[[Image:Ty_cobb.jpg|200px|right]]
+
Cobb returned again in 1928. He played less frequently due to his age and the blossoming abilities of the young A's, who were again in a pennant race with the Yankees. It was against those Yankees in September that Cobb had his last at-bat, a weak pop-up behind third base. He then announced his retirement, effective at the end of the season. Ironically, had he stuck with the A's in some capacity for one more year, he might have finally got his elusive [[World Series]] championship ring. But it was not to be. Cobb ended his career with 23 consecutive seasons batting .300 or better. The only season his batting average was under .300 was his rookie season, a Major League record that remained unbroken ever since.
  
Cobb played regularly in 1927 for a young and talented team that finished second to one of the greatest teams of all time, the 1927 Yankees, which won 110 games.  He returned to Detroit to quite a welcome on [[May 11]] 1927. Cobb doubled in his first at bat, to the cheers of Tiger fans. On [[July 18]] 1927, Cobb became the first player to enter the [[4000 hit club]] when he doubled off former teammate [[Sam Gibson]] of the Detroit Tigers at [[Navin Field]].
+
==Post-professional career==
 +
[[Image:Ty Cobb HOF plaque new.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Cobb's plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame.]]
  
1927 was also the final season of [[Minnesota Twins|Washington Senators]] pitcher [[Walter Johnson]]'s career.  With their careers largely overlapping, Ty Cobb faced Johnson more times than any other batter-pitcher matchup in baseball history. Cobb also got the first hit allowed in Johnson's career. After Johnson hit Detroit's [[Ossie Vitt]] with a pitch in [[August 1915]], seriously injuring him, Cobb realized that Johnson was fearful of hitting opponents. He used this knowledge to his advantage, by standing closer to the plate.
+
On account of his Coca-Cola deal, Cobb retired a very rich and successful man. He spent his retirement pursuing his off-season activities of [[hunting]], [[golf]]ing, and [[fishing]], full-time. He also traveled extensively, both with and without his family. His other pastime was trading stocks and bonds, increasing his immense personal wealth.
  
Cobb returned again in 1928, for no real reason other than he had nothing else to do with his life.  He played less frequently due to his age and the blossoming abilities of the young A's, who were again in a pennant race with the Yankees.  It was against those Yankees in September that Cobb had his last at bat, a weak pop-up behind third base.  He then announced his retirement, effective at the end of the season.  Ironically, had he stuck with the A's in some capacity for one more year, he might have finally got his elusive [[World Series]] ring. But it was not to be.  Cobb ended his career with 23 consecutive seasons batting .300 or better (the only season under .300 being his rookie season), a Major League record not likely to be broken.
+
In the winter of 1930, Cobb moved into a Spanish ranch estate on Spencer Lane in the millionaire's community of Atherton, [[California]], outside [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]]. At that same time, his wife Charlie filed the first of several divorce suits. Charlie finally divorced Cobb in 1947, after 39 years of marriage, the last few of which she lived in nearby Menlo Park.
  
==Post professional career==
+
In February 1936, when the first [[Baseball Hall of Fame|Hall of Fame]] election results were announced, Cobb had been named on 222 of 226 ballots, outdistancing [[Babe Ruth]], [[Honus Wagner]], [[Christy Mathewson]], and [[Walter Johnson]], the first year's induction class. His 98.2 percentage stood as the record until Tom Seaver received 98.8 percent of the vote in 1992 (Nolan Ryan and Cal Ripken have also surpassed Cobb, with 98.79 percent and 98.53 percent of the votes, respectively). People may have disliked him personally, but they respected the way he played and what he accomplished. In 1998, the ''Sporting News'' ranked him as third on the list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players.
[[Image:Ty Cobb HOF plaque new.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Cobb's plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame]]
 
 
 
On account of his Coca-Cola deal, Cobb retired a very rich and successful man. He spent his retirement pursuing his off-season activities of hunting, golfing and fishing, full-time.  He also traveled extensively, both with and without his family.  His other pastime was trading stocks and bonds, increasing his immense personal wealth.
 
 
 
In the winter of 1930, Cobb moved into a Spanish ranch estate on Spencer Lane in the millionaire's community of [[Atherton, California|Atherton]] outside [[San Francisco]].  At that same time, his wife Charlie filed the first of several divorce suits.  Charlie finally divorced Cobb in 1947, after 39 years of marriage, the last few of which she lived in nearby [[Menlo Park, California|Menlo Park]].
 
 
 
Cobb had never had an easy time being a father and husband.  His children had found him to be demanding, yet also capable of kindness and extreme warmth.  "He always wanted us to work as hard as we could at anything we did," Cobb's son James told sportswriter Ira Berkow in 1969. "Just as he did."{{citation needed}} Cobb had expected his boys to be exceptional athletes, especially baseball players.  Ty, Jr. flunked out of [[Princeton University|Princeton]] and would have rather played [[tennis]] than baseball, and in general was a disappointment to his father.{{verify source}}
 
 
 
A personal achievement came in February 1936, when the first [[Baseball Hall of Fame|Hall of Fame]] election results were announcedCobb had been named on 222 of 226 ballots, outdistancing Babe Ruth, [[Honus Wagner]], [[Christy Mathewson]] and [[Walter Johnson]], the only others to earn the necessary 75% of votes to be elected in that first year. His 98.2 percentage stood as the record until [[Tom Seaver]] received 98.8% of the vote in 1992 ([[Nolan Ryan]] and [[Cal Ripken]] have also surpassed Cobb, with 98.79% and 98.53% of the votes, respectively). Those incredible results show that although many people disliked him personally, they respected the way he played and what he accomplished. In 1998, [[The Sporting News]] ranked him as third on the list of [[Sporting news 100 greatest baseball players|100 Greatest Baseball Players]].
 
 
 
By then, Cobb drank and smoked heavily, and spent a great deal of time complaining about the collapse of baseball since the arrival of Ruth.  Cobb was known to help out young players.  He was instrumental in helping [[Joe DiMaggio]] negotiate his rookie contract with the New York Yankees, but ended his friendship with [[Ted Williams]] when the latter suggested to him that [[Rogers Hornsby]] was a greater hitter than Cobb.
 
 
 
Another bittersweet moment in Cobb's life reportedly came in the late 1940s when he and sportswriter Grantland Rice were returning from the [[The Masters Tournament|Masters]] golf tournament.  Stopping at a South Carolina liquor store, Cobb noticed that the man behind the counter was "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, who had been banned from baseball almost 30 years earlier following the [[Black Sox]] scandal.  But Jackson did not appear to recognize him, and finally Cobb asked, "Don't you know me, Joe?"  “Sure I know you, Ty,” replied Jackson, “but I wasn’t sure you wanted to speak to me. A lot of them don’t.”<ref>[http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:dPG5OIYSvE4J:www.pde.state.pa.us/a_and_t/lib/a_and_t/JoeJacksonOregon.pdf+cobb+%2B+%22joe+jackson%22+%2B+grantland&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=3&ie=UTF-8 http://www.pde.state.pa.us/a_and_t/lib/a_and_t/JoeJacksonOregon.pdf]</ref>
 
 
 
===Later life===
 
At 62, Cobb remarried.  The bride was 40-year-old [[Frances Cass]].  This marriage also failed, and she later filed for divorce.  She felt that he was simply too difficult to get along with when he was drunk.  However, Cobb counter filed and won the suit.
 
 
 
When two of his three sons died young, Cobb was alone, with few friends left.  He therefore began to be generous with his wealth, donating $100,000 in his parents' name for his hometown of Royston to build a modern 24 bed hospital now called the [[Cobb Memorial Hospital]].  He also established the [[Cobb Educational Fund]], which awarded scholarships to needy Georgia students bound for college, by endowing it with a $100,000 donation in 1953.
 
 
 
Cobb knew that another way he could share his wealth was by having biographies written that would set the record straight and teach young players how to play.  [[John McCallum (author)|John McCallum]] spent some time with Cobb to write a combination how-to and biography.  He, like everyone else, found Cobb difficult at best, and impossible at worst.
 
 
 
After McCallum left, Cobb was again alone and had a longing to return to Georgia.  It was on a hunting trip near his [[Lake Tahoe]] home that Cobb's long-range plans were going to be cut short, as he collapsed in pain and was diagnosed with [[prostate cancer]], [[diabetes]], [[high blood pressure]] and [[Bright's disease]], a degenerative kidney disorder.  He returned to his Lake Tahoe lodge with painkillers and [[Bourbon whiskey|bourbon]] to try to ease his constant pain.  He did not trust his initial diagnosis, however, so he went to Georgia to seek advice from doctors he knew, and they found his prostate to be cancerous.  They removed it at [[Emory Hospital]], but that did little to help Cobb.  From this point until the end of his life, Cobb criss-crossed the country, going from his lodge in Tahoe to the hospital in Georgia.
 
 
 
It was also during his final years that Cobb began work on his autobiography, ''My Life in Baseball: The True Record,'' with writer [[Al Stump]].  Their collaboration was contentious, and after Cobb's death, was described by Stump in other works, including the film ''[[Cobb (film)|Cobb]]''.
 
  
 
===Death===
 
===Death===
In his last days Cobb spent some time with the old movie comedian [[Joe E. Brown (comedian)|Joe E. Brown]], talking about the choices Cobb had made in his life. He told Brown that he felt that he had made mistakes, and that he would do things differently if he could. He had played hard and lived hard all his life, and had no friends to show for it at the end, and he regretted it. Publicly, however, Cobb claimed not to have any regrets: "I've been lucky. I have no right to be regretful of what I did" .([[Newsweek]], [[July 31]], 1961, 54).
+
In his last days, Cobb spent some time with the movie comedian Joe E. Brown, talking about the choices Cobb had made in his life. He told Brown that he felt that he had made mistakes, and that he would do things differently if he could. He had played hard and lived hard all his life, and had no friends to show for it at the end, and he regretted it. Publicly, however, Cobb claimed not to have any regrets.
  
He checked into Emory Hospital for the last time in June 1961, bringing with him a paper bag with a million or so dollars in securities and his [[Luger (pistol)|Luger]] pistol. This time his first wife, Charlie, his son Jimmy and other family members came to be with him for his final days. He died a month later, on July 17, 1961.
+
He checked into Emory Hospital for the last time in June 1961, bringing with him a paper bag with approximately one million dollars in securities and his Luger pistol. His ex-wife, Charlie, his son Jimmy, and other family members came to be with him for his final days. He died a month later on July 17, 1961.
  
Cobb's funeral was perhaps the saddest event associated with Cobb. From all of baseball, the sport that he had dominated for over 20 years, baseball's only representatives in his funeral were three old players, [[Ray Schalk]], [[Mickey Cochrane]], and [[Nap Rucker]], along with [[Sid Keener]] from the Hall of Fame.<ref>[http://www.bookrags.com/history/popculture/cobb-ty-18861961-bbbb-01/ Cobb, Ty (1886–1961)] Retrieved May 6, 2006</ref> Also there were his first wife, Charlie, his two daughters, his surviving son, Jimmy, his two sons-in-law, his daughter-in-law, Mary Dunn Cobb, and her two children.  The relatively sparse attendance was in great contrast to the hundreds of thousands of mourners who had turned out at [[Yankee Stadium]] and [[St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York]] to bid farewell to Cobb's great rival, Babe Ruth, in 1948.
+
Cobb's funeral was perhaps the saddest event associated with Cobb. From all of [[baseball]], the sport that he had dominated for over 20 years, baseball's only representatives in his funeral were three old players, Ray Schalk, Mickey Cochrane, and Nap Rucker, along with Sid Keener from the [[Baseball Hall of Fame]].<ref> Charles C. Alexander, ''Ty Cobb'' (Oxford University Press, 1984 ISBN 0195035984), 235.</ref> The relatively sparse attendance was in great contrast to the hundreds of thousands of mourners who had turned out at [[Yankee Stadium]] and [[St. Patrick's Cathedral]] to bid farewell to Cobb's great rival, [[Babe Ruth]], in 1948.
  
In his will, Cobb left a quarter of his estate to the Cobb Educational Fund, and the rest of his reputed $11 million he distributed among his children and grandchildren. Cobb is interred in the Royston, Georgia town cemetery. As of 2005 the Ty Cobb Educational Foundation has distributed nearly $11 million in scholarships to needy Georgians.<ref> http://www.tycobbfoundation.com </ref>
+
In his will, Cobb left a quarter of his estate to the Cobb Educational Fund, and the rest of his reputed $11 million he distributed among his children and grandchildren. Cobb is interred in the Royston, Georgia town cemetery. As of 2005, the Ty Cobb Educational Foundation has distributed nearly $11 million in scholarships to needy Georgians.<ref>[http://www.tycobbfoundation.com Ty Cobb Educational Foundation.] Retrieved June 19, 2007. </ref>
  
 
===Legacy===
 
===Legacy===
Efforts to create a Ty Cobb Memorial in Royston initially failed, primarily because most of the artifacts from his life were in Cooperstown, and the Georgia town was viewed as too remote to make a memorial worthwhile. However, on [[July 17]] 1998, on the 37th anniversary of his death, the [[Ty Cobb Museum]] opened its doors in Royston. The time had become right to honor the man in his own hometown.  On [[August 30]] 2005, his hometown hosted a 1905 baseball game to commemorate 100 years since Ty Cobb played his first game.  Players in the game included many of Ty's descendants as well as many citizens from his hometown of Royston, Georgia.  Another early-1900s baseball game was played in his hometown at Cobb Field on September 30, 2006. Players in this game also included Ty's descendants as well as citizens from Royston. Ty's personal bat boy from his major league years was there to throw out the first pitch and witness the game.
+
Efforts to create a Ty Cobb memorial in Royston initially failed, primarily because most of the artifacts from his life were in Cooperstown, and the Georgia town was viewed as too remote to make a memorial worthwhile. However, on July 17, 1998, on the 37th anniversary of his death, the Ty Cobb Museum opened its doors in Royston. On August 30, 2005, his hometown hosted a 1905 baseball game to commemorate 100 years since Ty Cobb played his first game.
  
==[[Baseball statistics|Regular season stats]]==
+
==Regular season stats==
 
{| border="1" cellpadding="2"
 
{| border="1" cellpadding="2"
 
|-
 
|-
| [[Games played|G]]
+
| G
| [[At bat|AB]]
+
| AB
| [[Run (baseball statistics)|R]]
+
| R
| [[Hit (baseball statistics)|H]]
+
| H
| [[Double (baseball)|2B]]
+
| 2B
| [[Triple (baseball)|3B]]
+
| 3B
| [[Home run|HR]]
+
| HR
| [[Runs batted in|RBI]]
+
| RBI
| [[Stolen bases|SB]]
+
| SB
| [[Caught stealing|CS]]
+
| CS
| [[Base on balls|BB]]
+
| BB
| [[Strikeout|SO]]
+
| SO
| [[Batting average|BA]]
+
| BA
| [[On base percentage|OBP]]
+
| OBP
| [[Slugging percentage|SLG]]
+
| SLG
| [[Total bases|TB]]
+
| TB
| [[Sacrifice hits|SH]]
+
| SH
| [[Hit by pitch|HBP]]
+
| HBP
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 3,035
 
| 3,035
 
| 11,434
 
| 11,434
 
| 2,246
 
| 2,246
| 4,189
+
| 4,191
 
| 724
 
| 724
 
| 295
 
| 295
Line 220: Line 175:
 
|}
 
|}
  
==See also==
+
== Notes ==
* [[Al Stump]]
+
 
* [[Charles M. Conlon#The Cobb photo|Ty Cobb's Conlon Photo]]
+
<references />
* [[3000 hit club]]
 
* [[List of MLB individual streaks]]
 
* [[Ty Cobb Museum]]
 
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
<references />
 
  
* Charles Alexander, ''Ty Cobb'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1984).
+
* Alexander, Charles C. 1984. ''Ty Cobb.'' Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195035984
* Richard Bak, ''Ty Cobb: His Tumultuous Life and Times'' (Dallas, Tex.: Taylor, 1994).
+
* Bak, Richard. 1994. ''Ty Cobb: His Tumultuous Life and Times.'' Taylor. ISBN 0878338705
* David Pietrusza, Matthew Silverman & Michael Gershman, ed. (2000). Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia. Total/Sports Illustrated.  
+
* Pietrusza, David, Matthew Silverman, and Michael Gershman, eds. 2000. ''Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia.'' Total/Sports Illustrated. ISBN 1892129345
* Al Stump, ''Cobb: A Biography'' (Chapel Hill, N.C.: Algonquin, 1994).
+
* Stump, Al. 1994. ''Cobb: A Biography.'' Algonquin. ISBN 1565121449
* {{imdb title | id = 0109450 | name = Cobb}}
 
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
* {{baseball-reference|id=c/cobbty01}}
+
All links retrieved May 30, 2013.
* [http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/hofer_bios/cobb_ty.htm baseballhalloffame.org/ Baseball Hall of Fame]
+
*[http://baseballhall.org/hof/cobb-ty Ty Cobb at National Baseball Hall of Fame]  
* [http://www.cmgworldwide.com/baseball/cobb/index.html Official site]
+
* [http://www.tycobbmuseum.org/ The Ty Cobb Museum]  
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=210 Find-A-Grave]
+
* [http://www.tycobbfoundation.com Ty Cobb Educational Foundation.]  
* [http://ngeorgia.com/people/cobbt.html ngeorgia.com] - Biography page
+
* [http://www.thebaseballpage.com/players/cobbty01 Ty Cobb at TheBaseballPage.com]  
* [http://www.thebaseballpage.com/past/pp/cobbty/default.htm The Baseball Page]
+
* [http://www.tycobb.org The Unofficial Home of The Georgia Peach]  
* [http://www.tycobbmuseum.org/ Ty Cobb Museum]
 
* [http://www.tycobb.org tycobb.org - Fan site]
 
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=cobb&GSfn=ty&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSob=n&GRid=210& Ty Cobb's Gravesite]
 
 
 
{{start box}}
 
{{succession box | title=[[List of Major League Baseball Batting Champions|American League Batting Champion]] | before=[[George Stone (baseball outfielder)|George Stone]] | years=1907-1909 | after= [[Nap Lajoie]]}}
 
{{succession box | title=[[List of Major League Baseball RBI champions|American League RBI Champion]] | before=[[Harry Davis (baseball player)|Harry Davis]] | years=[[1907]]-[[1909]]| after= [[Sam Crawford]]}}
 
{{succession box | title=[[List of Major League Baseball home run champions|American League Home Run Champion]] | before=[[Sam Crawford]] | years=[[1909]]| after= [[Jake Stahl]]}}
 
{{succession box | before = [[Nap Lajoie]]|title = American League [[Triple crown (baseball)|Triple Crown]]| years = 1909 | after = [[Jimmie Foxx]]}}
 
{{succession box | before = First AL MVP | title = [[MLB Most Valuable Player award|American League Most Valuable Player]]| years = 1911 | after = [[Tris Speaker]]}}
 
{{succession box | title=[[List of Major League Baseball RBI champions|American League RBI Champion]] | before=[[Sam Crawford]] | years=[[1911]]| after= [[Frank Baker]]}}
 
{{succession box | title=[[List of Major League Baseball Batting Champions|American League Batting Champion]] | before=[[Nap Lajoie]] | years=1911-1915 | after= [[Tris Speaker]]
 
}}
 
{{succession box | title=[[List of Major League Baseball Batting Champions|American League Batting Champion]] | before=[[Tris Speaker]] | years=1917-1919 | after= [[George Sisler]]
 
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Revision as of 15:16, 30 May 2013

Tyrus Raymond Cobb
Ty Cobb
Ty Cobb
Personal Info
Birth December 18, 1886, Narrows, Georgia
Death: July 17, 1961, Atlanta, Georgia
Professional Career
Debut August 30, 1905, Detroit Tigers
Team(s) As Player

Detroit Tigers (1905–1926)
Philadelphia A's (1927–1928)
As Manager
Detroit Tigers (1921–1926)

HOF induction: 1936
Career Highlights

All-Time Records
  • Career batting average (.367)
  • Career steals of home (54)
  • Career batting titles (12)
Notable Achievements
  • Batted over .320 for 22 straight seasons
  • Batted over .400 three times (1911, 1912, 1922)
  • Won the Triple Crown in 1909
  • One of the inaugural members of the Hall of Fame


Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "The Georgia Peach," was a Hall of Fame baseball player. When he retired in 1928, he was the holder of 43 major league records.[1] Cobb also received the most votes of any player on the 1936 inaugural Hall of Fame ballot.[2]

Cobb currently holds the records for highest major-league career batting average of .366 and most career batting titles at 12. He led the American Leage in stolen bases six times, with his 1915 record of 96 stolen bases lasting until 1962. Cobb also held for decades the record for most career major league hits (4,191), which was broken by Pete Rose, and the most career runs (2,245), which was broken by Rickey Henderson.[3] Upon his death in 1961, the New York Times editorialized, "Let it be said that Cobb was the greatest of all ballplayers."

The greatest star during his playing prime before the emergence of Babe Ruth, Cobb's legacy as an athlete has sometimes been overshadowed by his surly temperament, racist attitudes, and aggressive on-field reputation, which was described by the Detroit Free Press as "daring to the point of dementia."[4] So great was his fellow players' disdain toward Cobb, that when the legendary ballplayer died in 1961, only three representatives from all of baseball attended his funeral. Yet some connoisseurs of the national pastime claim that Cobb played the game the way it should be played—with an all-out tenacity and a driving passion to win.

Early life and baseball career

Ty Cobb was born in Narrows, Georgia, as the first of three children to Amanda Chitwood Cobb and William Herschel Cobb. His early career was hardly illustrious. Ty spent his first years in baseball as a member of the Royston Rompers, the semi-pro Royston Red, and the Augusta Tourists of the Sally League. However, the Tourists cut Cobb two days into the season. He then went to try out for the Anniston Steelers of the semi-pro Tennessee–Alabama League, with his father's stern admonition still ringing in his ears: "Don't come home a failure."

Cobb promoted himself by sending several postcards to Grantland Rice, the sports editor of the Atlanta Journal under several different aliases. Eventually, Rice wrote a small note in the journal that a "young fellow named Cobb seems to be showing an unusual lot of talent."[5] After about three months, Ty returned to the Tourists. He finished the season hitting .237 in 35 games. In 1905, the Tourists' management sold Cobb to the American League's Detroit Tigers for $750.[6]

On August 8, 1905, Ty's father was tragically shot to death by Ty's mother. William Cobb suspected his wife of infidelity and was sneaking past his own bedroom window to catch her in the act. She only saw the silhouette of what she presumed to be an intruder, and shot twice, killing William Cobb.[7] Cobb's father would never witness his son's major league success.

Major League Career

The early years

Early Ty Cobb baseball cards fetch top dollar on today's market.

Cobb played center field for the Detroit Tigers. On August 30, 1905, in his first major league at-bat, Cobb doubled off the New York Highlanders's Jack Chesbro. That season, Cobb managed to bat only .240 in 41 games. Nevertheless, he showed enough promise as a rookie for the Tigers to give him a lucrative $1,500 contract for 1906.

Although rookie hazing was customary, Cobb could not endure it in good humor, and he soon became alienated from his teammates. He later attributed his hostile temperament to this experience: "These old-timers turned me into a snarling wildcat."[8]

The following year (1906) he became the Tigers' full-time center fielder and hit .316 in 98 games. He would never hit below that mark again. Cobb, firmly entrenched in center field, led the Tigers to three consecutive American League pennants from 1907 to 1909. Detroit would lose each World Series, however, with Cobb's post-season numbers falling much below his career standard. In one notable 1907 game, Cobb reached first, stole second, stole third, and then stole home on consecutive attempts. He finished that season with a league-high .350 batting average, 212 hits, 49, steals and 119 runs batted in (RBI).

Despite great success on the field, Cobb was no stranger to controversy off it. At spring training in 1907, he got in a fight with a black groundskeeper who he thought was drunk and had called him the wrong name. When the groundskeeper’s wife started yelling at Cobb, Cobb started choking her.[9]

In September 1907, Cobb began a relationship with the Coca-Cola Company that would last the remainder of his life. By the time he died, he owned three bottling plants and over 20,000 shares of stock. He was also a celebrity spokesman for the product.

The following season, the Tigers bested the Chicago White Sox for the pennant. Cobb again won the batting title; he hit .324 that year.

Cobb signs contract for 1908.

Despite another loss in the World Series, Cobb had something to celebrate. In August 1908, he married Charlotte "Charlie" Marion Lombard, the daughter of prominent Augustan Roswell Lombard.

The Tigers won the American League pennant again in 1909. During the World Series, Cobb stole home in the second game, igniting a three-run rally, but that was the high point for Cobb. He ended batting a lowly .231 in this, his last World Series, as the Tigers lost in seven games. Although he performed poorly in the post-season, Cobb won the Triple Crown by hitting .377 with 107 RBI and 9 home runs—all inside-the-park home runs. Cobb thus became the only player of the modern era to lead his league in home runs in a given season without hitting a ball over the fence.

The 1910 Chalmers Award controversy

In 1910, Cobb and Nap Lajoie were neck-and-neck for the American League batting title. Cobb was ahead by a slight margin going into the last day of the season. The prize for the winner of the title was a Chalmers automobile.

Cobb and Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie.

Cobb sat out the game to preserve his average. Lajoie, whose team was playing the St. Louis Browns, notched eight hits in a doubleheader. Six of those hits were bunt singles that fell in front of the third baseman. It turned out that Browns’ manager, Jack O'Connor, had ordered third baseman Red Corriden to play deep, on the outfield grass, so as to allow the popular Lajoie to win the title. The Browns disliked Cobb and did not want to see him win the title. When a “ninth” hit by Lajoie was ruled a fielder’s choice, Browns’ coach Henry Howell attempted to bribe the scorekeeper to change the ruling to a hit. The scorekeeper refused, and a few days later, AL president Ban Johnson declared all batting averages official, with Cobb hanging on to win, .384944 to .384084. O’Connor and Howell were fired after news about their scheming got around. They would never work in organized baseball again.[10]

The 1911 season and 1912 fight

File:Cobb Jackson.jpg
Ty Cobb and Joe Jackson in Cleveland.

Cobb was having a typically fine year in 1911, which included a 40-game hitting streak. Still, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson had a .009 point lead on him in batting average. Near the end of the season, Cobb’s Tigers had a long series against Jackson and the Cleveland Naps. Fellow Southerners, Cobb and Jackson were personally friendly both on and off the field. However, Cobb suddenly ignored Jackson whenever Jackson said anything to him. When Jackson persisted, Cobb snapped angrily at Jackson, making him wonder what he could have done to enrage Cobb. As soon as the series was over, Cobb unexpectedly greeted Jackson and wished him well. Cobb felt that it was these mind games that caused Jackson to "fall off" to a final average of .408, while Cobb himself finished with a .420 average.[11]

Cobb led the AL that year in numerous categories besides batting average, including hits (248), runs scored (147), RBIs (127), stolen bases (83), doubles (47), triples (24), and slugging average (.621). The only major offensive category in which Cobb did not finish first was home runs, where Frank Baker surpassed him 11-8. Cobb's dominance at the plate is suggested by the following statistic: he struck out swinging only twice during the entire 1911 season. He was voted the AL MVP by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

The game that may best illustrate Cobb's unique combination of skills and attributes occurred on May 12, 1911. Playing against the New York Yankees, Cobb scored a run from first base on a single to right field, then scored another run from second base on a wild pitch. In the seventh inning, he tied the game with a 2-run double. The Yankee catcher began vociferously arguing the call with the umpire, going on at such length that the other Yankee infielders gathered nearby to watch. Realizing that no one on the Yankees had called time, Cobb strolled unobserved to third base, and then casually walked towards home plate as if to get a better view of the argument. He then suddenly slid into home plate for the game's winning run.[12]

On May 15, 1912, Cobb assaulted Claude Lueker, a heckler, in the stands in New York. Lueker and Cobb traded insults with each other throughout the first three innings, and the situation climaxed when Lueker called Cobb a "half-nigger." Cobb then climbed into the stands and attacked the handicapped Lueker, who due to an industrial accident had lost all of one hand and three fingers on his other hand. When onlookers shouted at Cobb to stop because the man had no hands, Cobb reportedly replied, "I don't care if he has no feet." The league suspended him, and his teammates, though not fond of Cobb, went on strike to protest the suspension prior to the May 18 game in Philadelphia.[13]

1915-1921

Sources say this photograph was taken specifically July 23, 1910. New York Highlanders' (now Yankees) third baseman Jimmy Austin attempts to avoid Ty Cobb's spikes on a stolen base attempt at Hilltop Park.Photgraph by Charles M. Conlon.

In 1915, Cobb set the single season steals record when he stole 96 bases. That record stood until Maury Wills broke it in 1962. Cobb’s streak of five batting titles ended the following year when he finished second (.371) to Tris Speaker’s .386.

In 1917, Cobb hit in 35 consecutive games; he remains the only player with two 35-game hitting streaks to his credit (he also had a 40-game hitting streak in 1911). Over his career, Cobb had six hitting streaks of at least 20 games, second only to Pete Rose's seven.

By 1920, Babe Ruth had established himself as a power hitter, something Cobb was not. When Cobb and the Tigers showed up in New York to play the Yankees for the first time that season, writers billed it as a showdown between two stars of competing styles of play. Ruth hit two homers and a triple during the series while Cobb got only one single in the entire series.

Babe Ruth (left) and Ty Cobb.

As Ruth's popularity grew, Cobb became increasingly hostile toward him. Cobb saw Ruth not only as a threat to his style of play, but also to his style of life. While Cobb preached ascetic self-denial, Ruth gorged on hot dogs, beer, and women. Perhaps what angered him the most about Ruth was that despite Ruth's total disregard for his physical conditioning and traditional baseball, he was still an overwhelming success and brought fans to the ballparks in record numbers to see him break Cobb's own records.

After enduring several years of seeing his fame and notoriety usurped by Ruth, Cobb decided that he was going to show that swinging for the fences was no challenge for a top hitter. On May 5 1925, Cobb began a two-game hitting spree that topped any even Ruth had unleashed. He was sitting in the dugout talking to a reporter and told him that, for the first time in his career, he was going to swing for the fences. That day, Cobb went 6 for 6, with two singles, a double, and three home runs. His 16 total bases set a new AL record. The next day he had three more hits, two of which were home runs. A single his first time up gave him 9 consecutive hits over three games. His five homers in two games tied the record set by Cap Anson of the old Chicago NL team in 1884. Cobb wanted to show that he could hit home runs when he wanted, but simply chose not to do so. At the end of the series, 38-year-old Cobb had gone 12 for 19 with 29 total bases, and then went happily back to bunting and hitting-and-running. For his part, Ruth's attitude was that "I could have had a lifetime .600 average, but I would have had to hit them singles. The people were paying to see me hit home runs."

On August 19 1921, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox, Cobb collected his 3,000th hit.

Cobb as player/manager

For the 1921 season, Frank Navin, the Detroit Tigers owner, signed Cobb to take over for Hughie Jennings as manager. Cobb signed the deal on his 34th birthday for $32,500. Universally disliked (even by the members of his own team) but a legendary player, Cobb's management style left a lot to be desired. He expected as much from his players as he gave, and most of the men did not meet his standard.

The closest he came as a manager to winning the pennant race was in 1924, when the Tigers finished in third place, six games behind the pennant-winning Washington Senators. The Tigers had finished second in 1922, but were 16 games behind the Yankees.

Cobb blamed his lackluster managerial record (479–444) on Navin, who was arguably an even bigger skinflint than Cobb. Navin passed up a number of quality players that Cobb wanted to add to the team. In fact, Navin had saved money by hiring Cobb to manage the team.

Also in 1922, Cobb tied a batting record set by Wee Willie Keeler, with four five-hit games. This has since been matched by Stan Musial, Tony Gwynn, and Ichiro Suzuki.

At the end of 1925, Cobb was once again embroiled in a batting title race, this time with one of his teammates, Harry Heilmann. In a doubleheader against the St. Louis Browns on October 4, Heilmann got six hits, leading the Tigers to a sweep of the doubleheader and beating Cobb for the batting crown, .393 to .389. Cobb and Browns’ manager George Sisler each pitched in the final game. Cobb pitched a perfect inning.

Cobb moves to Philadelphia

Cobb finally called it quits after a 22-year career as a Tiger in November 1926. He announced his retirement and headed home to Augusta, Georgia. Shortly thereafter, Tris Speaker also retired as player-manager of the Cleveland team. The retirement of two great players at the same time sparked some interest, and it turned out that the two were coerced into retirement because of allegations of game-fixing brought about by Dutch Leonard, a former pitcher of Cobb's Detroit Tigers.

Leonard was unable to convince either Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis or the public that the two had done anything for which they deserved to be kicked out of baseball. Landis allowed both Cobb and Speaker to return to their original teams, but each team let them know that they were free agents and could sign with whomever they wished. Cobb signed with the Philadelphia Athletics. Speaker then joined Cobb in Philadelphia for the 1928 season. Cobb reportedly said he came back only to seek vindication and so that he could leave baseball on his own terms.

Cobb played regularly in 1927 for a young and talented team that finished second to one of the greatest teams of all time, the 1927 New York Yankees. He returned to Detroit on May 11, 1927. Cobb doubled in his first at bat, to the cheers of Tiger fans. On July 18, 1927, Cobb became the first player to enter the 4,000-hit-club when he doubled off former teammate Sam Gibson of the Detroit Tigers at Navin Field.

Cobb returned again in 1928. He played less frequently due to his age and the blossoming abilities of the young A's, who were again in a pennant race with the Yankees. It was against those Yankees in September that Cobb had his last at-bat, a weak pop-up behind third base. He then announced his retirement, effective at the end of the season. Ironically, had he stuck with the A's in some capacity for one more year, he might have finally got his elusive World Series championship ring. But it was not to be. Cobb ended his career with 23 consecutive seasons batting .300 or better. The only season his batting average was under .300 was his rookie season, a Major League record that remained unbroken ever since.

Post-professional career

File:Ty Cobb HOF plaque new.jpg
Cobb's plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

On account of his Coca-Cola deal, Cobb retired a very rich and successful man. He spent his retirement pursuing his off-season activities of hunting, golfing, and fishing, full-time. He also traveled extensively, both with and without his family. His other pastime was trading stocks and bonds, increasing his immense personal wealth.

In the winter of 1930, Cobb moved into a Spanish ranch estate on Spencer Lane in the millionaire's community of Atherton, California, outside San Francisco. At that same time, his wife Charlie filed the first of several divorce suits. Charlie finally divorced Cobb in 1947, after 39 years of marriage, the last few of which she lived in nearby Menlo Park.

In February 1936, when the first Hall of Fame election results were announced, Cobb had been named on 222 of 226 ballots, outdistancing Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson, the first year's induction class. His 98.2 percentage stood as the record until Tom Seaver received 98.8 percent of the vote in 1992 (Nolan Ryan and Cal Ripken have also surpassed Cobb, with 98.79 percent and 98.53 percent of the votes, respectively). People may have disliked him personally, but they respected the way he played and what he accomplished. In 1998, the Sporting News ranked him as third on the list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players.

Death

In his last days, Cobb spent some time with the movie comedian Joe E. Brown, talking about the choices Cobb had made in his life. He told Brown that he felt that he had made mistakes, and that he would do things differently if he could. He had played hard and lived hard all his life, and had no friends to show for it at the end, and he regretted it. Publicly, however, Cobb claimed not to have any regrets.

He checked into Emory Hospital for the last time in June 1961, bringing with him a paper bag with approximately one million dollars in securities and his Luger pistol. His ex-wife, Charlie, his son Jimmy, and other family members came to be with him for his final days. He died a month later on July 17, 1961.

Cobb's funeral was perhaps the saddest event associated with Cobb. From all of baseball, the sport that he had dominated for over 20 years, baseball's only representatives in his funeral were three old players, Ray Schalk, Mickey Cochrane, and Nap Rucker, along with Sid Keener from the Baseball Hall of Fame.[14] The relatively sparse attendance was in great contrast to the hundreds of thousands of mourners who had turned out at Yankee Stadium and St. Patrick's Cathedral to bid farewell to Cobb's great rival, Babe Ruth, in 1948.

In his will, Cobb left a quarter of his estate to the Cobb Educational Fund, and the rest of his reputed $11 million he distributed among his children and grandchildren. Cobb is interred in the Royston, Georgia town cemetery. As of 2005, the Ty Cobb Educational Foundation has distributed nearly $11 million in scholarships to needy Georgians.[15]

Legacy

Efforts to create a Ty Cobb memorial in Royston initially failed, primarily because most of the artifacts from his life were in Cooperstown, and the Georgia town was viewed as too remote to make a memorial worthwhile. However, on July 17, 1998, on the 37th anniversary of his death, the Ty Cobb Museum opened its doors in Royston. On August 30, 2005, his hometown hosted a 1905 baseball game to commemorate 100 years since Ty Cobb played his first game.

Regular season stats

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG TB SH HBP
3,035 11,434 2,246 4,191 724 295 117 1,937 892 178 1,249 357 .366 .433 .512 5,854 295 94

Notes

  1. James Peach, “Thorstein Veblen, Ty Cobb, and the Evolution of an Institution,” Journal of Economic Issues 38, no. 2 (June 2004): 328.
  2. National Baseball Hall of Fame, History of BBWAA Hall of Fame Voting: 1936 Election. Retrieved June 18, 2007.
  3. Major League Baseball, Historical Leaders, MLB.com. Retrieved June 18, 2007
  4. New Georgia Encyclopedia, s.v. Ty Cobb (1886–1961). Retrieved June 18, 2007.
  5. Ty Cobb with Al Stump, My Life in Baseball: The True Record (Garden City: Doubleday, 1961), 48.
  6. Baseball-Reference.com, Tyrus Raymond Cobb (The Georgia Peach). Retrieved June 19, 2007.
  7. Charles C. Alexander, Ty Cobb (Oxford University Press, 1984 ISBN 0195035984), 21.
  8. Joseph Durso, The Days of Mr. McGraw (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1969), 69.
  9. Charles C. Alexander, Ty Cobb (Oxford University Press, 1984 ISBN 0195035984), 50.
  10. Charles C. Alexander, Ty Cobb (Oxford University Press, 1984 ISBN 0195035984), 95–96.
  11. Stewart Wolpin, Ty Cobb, BaseballLibrary.com. Retrieved June 19, 2007.
  12. Stewart Wolpin, Ty Cobb, BaseballLibrary.com. Retrieved June 19, 2007.
  13. Charles C. Alexander, Ty Cobb (Oxford University Press, 1984 ISBN 0195035984), 105–106.
  14. Charles C. Alexander, Ty Cobb (Oxford University Press, 1984 ISBN 0195035984), 235.
  15. Ty Cobb Educational Foundation. Retrieved June 19, 2007.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Alexander, Charles C. 1984. Ty Cobb. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195035984
  • Bak, Richard. 1994. Ty Cobb: His Tumultuous Life and Times. Taylor. ISBN 0878338705
  • Pietrusza, David, Matthew Silverman, and Michael Gershman, eds. 2000. Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia. Total/Sports Illustrated. ISBN 1892129345
  • Stump, Al. 1994. Cobb: A Biography. Algonquin. ISBN 1565121449

External links

All links retrieved May 30, 2013.

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