us, Died: As mentioned, Cobb was a brawler, as were many players in his era. On May 5, 1925 in a game versus the St. Louis Browns played at Sportsman's Park III in St. Louis, the then 38 year-old Ty Cobb went 6 for 6 at the plate with three homeruns, one double and two singles. [64], The Tigers won the AL pennant again in 1909. The signing surprised the baseball world. "He didn't outhit and he didn't outrun them, he out thought them," said Hall of Fame teammate Sam Crawford. (Voted by BBWAA on 222/226 ballots) Many historical player head shots courtesy of David Davis. "Sure, I know you, Ty" replied Jackson, "but I wasn't sure you wanted to know me. [5] It was performances like this that led Branch Rickey to say later that Cobb "had brains in his feet."[71]. Cobb announced to his wife, Amanda, that he was headed to the family farm and would not be back that night. [157] As a result of the movie Cobb, which starred Tommy Lee Jones, there are many myths surrounding Cobb's life, including one that he sharpened his spikes to inflict wounds on opposing players. Cobb announced his retirement after a 22-year career as a Tiger in November 1926, and headed home to Augusta, Georgia. All these years after his death, as his personal legacy continues to be batted back and forth, Cobb remains an utterly fascinating figure. Those five legends made up the first class voted into the Hall on Jan. 29, 1936. [145] Baseball's only representatives at his funeral were three old-time players, Ray Schalk, Mickey Cochrane and Nap Rucker, along with Sid Keener, the director of the Baseball Hall of Fame, but messages of condolences numbered in the hundreds and included notes from Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams. [156] This accusation was common for many decades before the movie was released. "[163], Sam Crawford and Ty Cobb were teammates for parts of thirteen seasons. As described in Smithsonian, "In 1907 during spring training in Augusta, Georgia, a black groundskeeper named Bungy Cummings, whom Cobb had known for years, attempted to shake Cobb's hand or pat him on the shoulder. ", Cobb was having a tremendous year in 1911, which included a 40-game hitting streak. [174] Retrosheet gives Cobb the same number of hits in five more at-bats (11,439),[175] and Baseball Reference and the Baseball Hall of Fame add one more at-bat (11,440). Although Cobb was a legendary player, he was disliked throughout the baseball community, even by his own teammates.[113]. In fact, he had saved money by hiring Cobb to both play and manage. Do you know who was the first player to lead the junior circuit in all three of those baseball statistics during the same season? [39] Other sources may have slightly different figures. 3. On August 30, 1905, in his first major league at bat, he doubled off Jack Chesbro of the New York Highlanders. Ex-Trump Lawyer Says Congress Already Has Evidence That Should - Yahoo He had led them to a respectable 79-75 record that year while hitting .339/.408/.511 in part-time play. Self-guided tour or VIP experience. (AP). The greatness of Ty Cobb was something that had to be seen, and to see him was to remember him forever, said fellow Hall of Famer George Sisler. That means Rose actually broke the record three days earlier at. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. Ty Cobb weighed 175 lbs (79 kg) when playing. He declared Cobb the rightful owner of the title, but car company president Hugh Chalmers chose to award one to both Cobb and Lajoie. I'll show you something new. He had a winning record as a manager. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? [152] Russo wrote, "There is no denying that Cobb ranks as one of baseball's greatest players, if not the game's fiercest competitor. "I never could stand losing, he said. After being grabbed by the neck by another man, the man had pulled a knife and stabbed him in the back before he forced him away and returned to his car to continue driving to the station for the game. At the time of his retirement, he was attributed as the holder of more than 90 career or season records, including the all-time batting average mark of .366. As of April 2021, the Ty Cobb Educational Foundation has distributed $19.2 million in college scholarships to needy Georgians.[149]. The drive to please his father remained with Cobb long after his fathers death and contributed to his intense drive to be the best. During the fight, Cobb produced a penknife and slashed the watchman across the hand. It was a deal, I signed the contract, and I hit .408. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. But even still, because of the illegitimate means by which Lajoie reached .383, Cobbs .382 average is, to this day, officially recognized as the best in the AL in 1910. Could Ty Cobb have been a big-time home run hitter had he decided to? At the end of the sixth inning, after being challenged by teammates Sam Crawford and Jim Delahanty to do something about it, Cobb climbed into the stands and attacked Lucker, who it turned out was handicapped (he had lost all of one hand and three fingers on his other hand in an industrial accident). . Bryan, Wright, "Clemson: An Informal History of the University 18891979," The R. L. Bryan Company, Columbia, South Carolina, 1979, Library of Congress card number 79-56231, Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina, Major League Baseball Players Association, SABR (the Society for American Baseball Research), United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, List of Major League Baseball stolen base records, List of Major League Baseball hit records, List of Major League Baseball single-game hits leaders, List of Major League Baseball player-managers, List of Major League Baseball individual streaks, List of Major League Baseball record holders, "Thorstein Veblen, Ty Cobb, and the evolution of an institution", "Ty Cobb, the greatest Tiger of them all", "Career Leaders for At Bats (Progressive)", "Ty Cobb's label as racist is undeserved, baseball historian says", "How Ty Cobb the truth got lost inside Ty Cobb the myth", "The Softer Side of Ty Cobb | The Saturday Evening Post", "Ty Cobb's Philanthropy Has Lessons for Us All", "Who was Ty Cobb?The history we know that's wrong", "Cobb still revered, reviled 100 years after first game", "1905 American League Awards, All-Stars, & More Leaders", "August 30, 1905: Ty Cobb Plays His First Game As Detroit Tiger | MSU Libraries", "Batting Leaders Before, During and After Age 19", "Facts and Figures Baseball batting champions", "Ty Cobb Sold Me a Soda Pop: Hall of Fame Outfielder Ty Cobb and Coca-Cola", "First Five: The Original Members of the Hall of Fame", National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, "Press Democrat 13 August 1912 California Digital Newspaper Collection", "Detroit Tigers vs New York Highlanders Box Score: August 13, 1912", "Los Angeles Herald 19 April 1913 California Digital Newspaper Collection", "St. Louis Browns vs Detroit Tigers Box Score: April 19, 1913", "Remembering baseball hall of famers who served in the Chemical Corps", "Detroit Tigers vs New York Yankees Box Score: May 24, 1920", "Detroit Tigers vs New York Yankees Box Score: May 25, 1920", "Detroit Tigers vs New York Yankees Box Score: May 26, 1920", "Fat phenoms: are hot dogs and beer part of your training regimen? But one thing is for sure: Cobb had a burning desire to win. the official stats partner of the NBA, NHL and MLB. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. Cobb refused to speak any further of the issue. Year 3B Rank; By the time he died, he held over 20,000 shares of stock and owned bottling plants in Santa Maria, California, Twin Falls, Idaho, and Bend, Oregon. [51] Cobb later attributed his hostile temperament to this experience: "These old-timers turned me into a snarling wildcat. Ty Cobb Was Not A Racist. Ty Cobb - Wikipedia According to him, this incident led to the formation of a players' union, the "Ballplayers' Fraternity" (formally, the Fraternity of Professional Baseball Players of America), an early version of what is now called the Major League Baseball Players Association, which garnered some concessions from the owners. So, as the legend goes, he took time in St. Louis to show that, if he had wanted to, he could hit a lot of homers, too. Cobb, named him after Tyre, an ancient city in what is now modern-day Lebanon. Prior to the game against the Browns on May 5 of that year, the Georgia Peach supposedly told St. Louis Star Sports Editor Sid Keener and Detroit News Sports Editor Harry Salsinger: Gentlemen, pay close attention today. Did you know that Ty, his nickname, still has the highest career batting average in baseball history, the most batting titles in baseball history (including the most consecutive batting titles), the most hits in a career in the American League, and if you search his name, The Georgia Peach appears on more than 3,000 other pages? [120] He was a major stockholder in the Coca-Cola Corporation, which by itself would have made him wealthy. Year Team League; 1936: Detroit Tigers: AL: League Rankings. The following day Cobb hit two more homeruns and was 3 for 6 at the plate . His marks for hits, runs, runs batted in, and stolen [33] While with the Tourists he was mentored and coached by George Leidy, who emphasized pinpoint bunting and aggression on the basepaths. In all Cobb collected a total of 16 bases, establishing a new major league record for most bases in a single game. All images are property the copyright holder and are displayed here for informational purposes only. I had a fire in my belly.". This streak is as safe as Cal Ripken Jr.s consecutive games played record in terms of its inability to be broken. He was named AL MVP. Cobb was mentioned in the poem "Line-Up for Yesterday" by Ogden Nash: C is for Cobb,Who grew spikes and not corn,And made all the basemenWish they weren't born. [78] For that one game, Detroit fielded a replacement team made up of hastily recruited college and sandlot players plus two Tiger coaches and lost 242, thereby setting some of Major League Baseball's modern-era (post-1900) negative records, notably the 26 hits in a nine-inning game allowed by Allan Travers, who pitched one of the sport's most unlikely complete games. [107][108][109] Perhaps what angered him the most about Ruth was that despite Babe'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 challenge his own slugging records. Also achieved by Ty Cobb (1909-1911), Eddie Collins (1912-1914), Ted Williams (1940-1942), and Mickey Mantle (1956-1958) That guy was superhuman, amazing," said Hall of Fame manager Casey Stengel. [44] Cobb later attributed his ferocious play to his late father, saying, "I did it for my father. [69] Cobb used that friendship to his advantage.