Ty Cobb
By: John Walcutt
Biography
Tyrus Raymond Cobb was born December 18, 1886 in Narrows, Georgia to William Herschel Cobb and Amanda Chitwood. He played baseball in a sandlot where he grew up, in Royston, Georgia. By 1904, he started to be noticed as he had been signed to the Augusta baseball team. During 1905, his mother had killed his father with a shotgun. Yet in court, she was acquitted when she told how she believed that it was an intruder on the roof porch. Cobb joined the Detroit Tigers in 1905 and was about to change the game. By his second season, he won the AL batting championship (hitting .350) and took the Detroit Tigers to the World Series. Sadly he would never win a World Series as a player or manager. Yet he would continue to be a competitor against pitchers, hitting .300 or better for 23 years in a row and .400 three times. Not only would he be a great hitter, but he lead both leagues in bases stolen, RBI's, bases, and home runs. This era was considered the "Cobbian Game." Sadly his era and career would come to an end with the Philadelphia A's. As more power and less skill was needed, and he began to get older, his need wasn't as high. Even though he was a great player, he wasn't a great man. He wasn't a good father or husband and had a tendency to fight, and didn't remain friends with many teammates for many years. His life did come to an end in Atlanta, Georgia on July 17, 1961 and was worth $12 million by then. Even though he was not liked, he was admired everywhere.
"The base paths belonged to me, the runner. The rules gave me the right. I always went into a bag full speed, feet first. I had sharp spikes on my shoes. If the baseman stood where he had no business to be and got hurt, that was his fault."
-Ty Cobb
Cobb the Brawler
He was a real big fighter, especially during a time that where arguments were settled with fights. Even before he became friends with Babe Ruth, he came close to exchanging punches with him. This was due to his southern honor and had a very short fuse.
Hall of Fame
In 1936 he was made known as the best all around player as he was voted to be first inducted out of five to the Hall of Fame. He was voted over Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson.
Cobb's Stats
When he retired, he had 43 records. Even to today he still holds one, his lifetime batting average of .367. He also had a total of 2246 runs with 117 being home runs, 1938 RBI's, and 892 stolen bases.
Ty Cobb - Baseball Hall of Fame Biographies
Sources
Information:
- http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/BiographiesDetailsPage/BiographiesDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&display-query=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Biographies&limiter=&u=lees33148&currPage=&disableHighlighting=true&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&search_within_results=&p=BIC1&action=e&catId=GALE%7CAAA000042156&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%7CK1631001449
- http://m.mlb.com/player/112431/ty-cobb
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNt3DAd1xv0