A KINDER...GENTLER...TY COBB

I'm guessing the vast majority of you don't know...and don't care...but this caught my eye...with mention to Ty Cobb.

In my younger years, I had a baseball game that I played and the players I could select from were the 'big name' players of the past...Babe Ruth, Tris Speaker, Harmon Killebrew...to name a few...and included Ty Cobb.

I read some history about Tyrus Raymond Cobb and found him to be quite an interesting character. Basically that character was he was a 'mean SOB'. He was born in Georgia and was known as 'The Georgia Peach'. He played professional baseball...mostly for the Detroit Tigers...in the early 1900s, retiring in 1928.

He was known for his hitting abilities...he batted over .300 (which is very good) every year and was the only player to get more than 4000 hits in their career (until Pete Rose did it in the 1980s). Babe Ruth was known for home runs, drinking, eating and womanizing. Ty Cobb was known for getting base hits to get on base, then stealing the next base...and the next one...and the next one. Rumors state that he would sharpen his metal cleats on his shoes so they were 'knife' sharp. When he would slide into base, he'd have 1 foot lifted ready to 'stab' the player trying to tag him out. He was respected...but unliked by most every other player in the league...even his own teammates.

The respect was proven in 1936 when he was voted into the first Hall of Fame selection with the most votes of any player...even more than Babe Ruth who was voted in that same year.

He was also a smart man. At the time of his death, his personal wealth was equivalent to over $80 million dollars...in 'todays' dollars...and this is in a time when baseball players weren't paid that well...unlike today.

The article I read today...speaks of a 'soft side' of Ty Cobb.

Even rough...old...SOBs...can be nice guys sometimes...when you get to know them.


Dan