Ty Cobb

1882

Primarily an outfielder, Rowe pitched a complete game on July 24, 1882, giving up 35 runs on 29 hits.

1884

The single his first time up gave him nine consecutive hits over three games, while his five homers in two games tied the record set by Cap Anson of the old Chicago NL team in 1884.

1886

Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed The Georgia Peach, was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder.

While he was known for often violent conflicts, he spoke favorably about black players joining the Major Leagues and was a well known philanthropist. ==Early life== Cobb was born in 1886 in Narrows, Georgia, a small rural community of farmers that was unincorporated.

1905

In August 1905, the management of the Tourists sold Cobb to the American League's Detroit Tigers for $750 (). On August 8, 1905, Cobb's mother fatally shot his father with a pistol that his father had purchased for her.

On August 30, 1905, in his first major league at bat, he doubled off Jack Chesbro of the New York Highlanders.

Although he hit only .240 in 41 games, he signed a $1,500 contract to play for the Tigers in 1905. Although rookie hazing was customary, Cobb could not endure it in good humor and soon became alienated from his teammates.

1906

She was acquitted on March 31, 1906.

He is going to be a great baseball player and I won't allow him to be driven off this club." The following year, 1906, Cobb became the Tigers' full-time center fielder and hit .316 in 98 games, setting a record for the highest batting average (minimum 310 plate appearances) for a 19-year-old (later bested by Mel Ott's .322 average in 124 games for the 1928 New York Giants).

1907

After being moved to right field, he led the Tigers to three consecutive American League pennants in 1907, 1908 and 1909.

Cobb did not get another opportunity to play on a pennant-winning team. In 1907, Cobb reached first and then stole second, third and home.

He finished the 1907 season with a league-leading .350 batting average, 212 hits, 49 steals and 119 runs batted in (RBI).

Reflecting on his career in 1930, two years after retiring, he told Grantland Rice, "The biggest thrill I ever got came in a game against the Athletics in 1907 [on September 30]...

As described in Smithsonian Magazine, "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." The "overly familiar greeting infuriated" Cobb, who attacked Cummings.

In 1908, Cobb attacked a black laborer in Detroit who complained when Cobb stepped into freshly poured asphalt; Cobb was found guilty of battery, but the sentence was suspended. In September 1907, Cobb began a relationship with The Coca-Cola Company that lasted the remainder of his life.

In the offseason between 1907 and 1908, Cobb negotiated with Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina, offering to coach baseball there "for $250 a month, provided that he did not sign with Detroit that season".

Despite not being known as a slugger, he led the AL in slugging percentage eight times in his 11 seasons from 1907-1917. He also ended his career with a rather dubious record.

1908

After being moved to right field, he led the Tigers to three consecutive American League pennants in 1907, 1908 and 1909.

In 1908, Cobb attacked a black laborer in Detroit who complained when Cobb stepped into freshly poured asphalt; Cobb was found guilty of battery, but the sentence was suspended. In September 1907, Cobb began a relationship with The Coca-Cola Company that lasted the remainder of his life.

In the offseason between 1907 and 1908, Cobb negotiated with Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina, offering to coach baseball there "for $250 a month, provided that he did not sign with Detroit that season".

In August 1908, Cobb married Charlotte ("Charlie") Marion Lombard, the daughter of prominent Augustan Roswell Lombard.

1909

After being moved to right field, he led the Tigers to three consecutive American League pennants in 1907, 1908 and 1909.

In the offseason, the couple lived on her father's Augusta estate, The Oaks, until they moved into their own house on Williams Street in November 1913. The Tigers won the AL pennant again in 1909.

In 1909, Cobb was arrested for assault for an incident that occurred in a Cleveland hotel.

1910

Conlon snapped the famous photograph of a grimacing Cobb sliding into third base amid a cloud of dirt, which visually captured the grit and ferocity of his playing style. ===1910: Chalmers Award controversy=== Going into the final days of the 1910 season, Cobb had a .004 lead on Nap Lajoie for the American League batting title.

1911

but I knew he was watching me, and I never let him down." In 1911, Cobb moved to Detroit's architecturally significant and now historically protected Woodbridge neighborhood, from which he would walk with his dogs to the ballpark prior to games.

Cobb was pursued by demons." Cobb was having a tremendous year in 1911, which included a 40-game [streak].

He was awarded another Chalmers car, this time for being voted the AL MVP by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. On May 12, 1911, playing against the New York Highlanders, he scored from first base on a single to right field, then scored another run from second base on a wild pitch.

That year, he also won his ninth consecutive batting title, hitting .369. In 1917, Cobb hit in 35 consecutive games, still the only player with two 35-game hitting streaks (including his 40-game streak in 1911).

1912

By unexpectedly altering his own baserunning tendencies, he was able to surprise Chase and score the winning run of the game in question. On May 15, 1912, Cobb assaulted a heckler, Claude Lucker (often misspelled as Lueker), in the stands in New York's Hilltop Park where the Tigers were playing the Highlanders.

1913

In the offseason, the couple lived on her father's Augusta estate, The Oaks, until they moved into their own house on Williams Street in November 1913. The Tigers won the AL pennant again in 1909.

However, recent scholarship has shown that all parties involved were white. In 1913, Cobb signed a contract worth $12,000 for the six-month season (), making him likely the first baseball player in history to be paid a five-figure salary. ===1915–1921=== In 1915, Cobb set the single-season record for stolen bases with 96, which stood until Dodger Maury Wills broke it in 1962.

1915

However, recent scholarship has shown that all parties involved were white. In 1913, Cobb signed a contract worth $12,000 for the six-month season (), making him likely the first baseball player in history to be paid a five-figure salary. ===1915–1921=== In 1915, Cobb set the single-season record for stolen bases with 96, which stood until Dodger Maury Wills broke it in 1962.

1917

That year, he also won his ninth consecutive batting title, hitting .369. In 1917, Cobb hit in 35 consecutive games, still the only player with two 35-game hitting streaks (including his 40-game streak in 1911).

He had six hitting streaks of at least 20 games in his career, second only to Pete Rose's eight. Also in 1917, Cobb starred in the motion picture Somewhere in Georgia for a sum of $25,000 plus expenses (equivalent to approximately $ today ).

1918

Broadway critic Ward Morehouse called the movie "absolutely the worst flicker I ever saw, pure hokum". In October 1918, Cobb enlisted in the Chemical Corps branch of the United States Army and was sent to the Allied Expeditionary Forces headquarters in Chaumont, France.

1919

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 managed by Cobb. Leonard accused former pitcher and outfielder Smoky Joe Wood and Cobb of betting on a Tiger-Indian game played in Detroit on September 25, 1919, in which they allegedly orchestrated a Tiger victory to win the bet.

1920

Aged 34 at the time, he is still the youngest ballplayer to reach that milestone, and in the fewest at-bats (8,093). By 1920, Babe Ruth, sold to the renamed New York Yankees from the Boston Red Sox, had established himself as a power hitter, something Cobb was not considered to be.

Caught Stealing is not shown comprehensively because the stat was not regularly recorded until 1920. {| border="1" cellpadding="2" |- | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | TB | SH | HBP |- | 3,034 | 11,440 | 2,245 | 4,189 | 724 | 295 | 117 | 1,944 | 897 | 212 | 1,249 | 680 | .366 | .433 | .512 | 5,854 | 292 | 94 |} Cobb's old, incorrect records still (as of 2021) published by Major League Baseball Enterprises, Inc.

1921

All of these men were assigned to the Gas and Flame Division, where they trained soldiers in preparation for chemical attacks by exposing them to gas chambers in a controlled environment, which was eventually responsible for Mathewson's contracting tuberculosis, leading to his premature death on the eve of the 1925 World Series. On August 19, 1921, in the second game of a doubleheader against Elmer Myers of the Boston Red Sox, Cobb collected his 3,000th hit.

[No one has] the combined power and eye of Ruth." ===Cobb as player/manager=== Tiger owner Frank Navin tapped Cobb to take over for Hughie Jennings as manager for the 1921 season, a deal he signed on his 34th birthday for $32,500 (equivalent to approximately $ in today's funds).

1922

The Tigers had also finished third in 1922, but 16 games behind the Yankees.

In fact, he had saved money by hiring Cobb to both play and manage. In 1922, Cobb tied a batting record set by Wee Willie Keeler, with four five-hit games in a season.

1924

Although Cobb was a legendary player, he was disliked throughout the baseball community, even by his own teammates. The closest Cobb came to winning another pennant was in 1924, when the Tigers finished in third place, six games behind the pennant-winning Washington Senators.

On May 10, 1924, Cobb was honored at ceremonies before a game in Washington, D.C., by more than 100 dignitaries and legislators.

1925

All of these men were assigned to the Gas and Flame Division, where they trained soldiers in preparation for chemical attacks by exposing them to gas chambers in a controlled environment, which was eventually responsible for Mathewson's contracting tuberculosis, leading to his premature death on the eve of the 1925 World Series. On August 19, 1921, in the second game of a doubleheader against Elmer Myers of the Boston Red Sox, Cobb collected his 3,000th hit.

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. On May 5, 1925, Cobb told a reporter that, for the first time in his career, he was going to try to hit home runs, saying he wanted to show that he could hit home runs but simply chose not to.

He received 21 books, one for each year in professional baseball. At the end of 1925, Cobb was again embroiled in a batting title race, this time with one of his teammates and players, Harry Heilmann.

Louis Browns on October 4, 1925, Heilmann got six hits to lead the Tigers to a sweep of the doubleheader and beat Cobb for the batting crown, .393 to .389.

1926

Cobb and Browns player-manager George Sisler each pitched in the final game, Cobb pitching a perfect inning. ===Move to Philadelphia=== Cobb announced his retirement after a 22-year career as a Tiger in November 1926, and headed home to Augusta, Georgia.

1927

Speaker denied any wrongdoing. On January 27, 1927, Judge Landis cleared Cobb and Speaker of any wrongdoing because of Leonard's refusal to appear at the hearings.

Speaker signed with the Washington Senators for 1927, and Cobb with the Philadelphia Athletics.

Cobb said he had come back only to seek vindication and 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 110–44 1927 Yankees, returning to Detroit to a tumultuous welcome on May 10 and doubling his first time up to the cheers of Tiger fans.

1928

He is going to be a great baseball player and I won't allow him to be driven off this club." The following year, 1906, Cobb became the Tigers' full-time center fielder and hit .316 in 98 games, setting a record for the highest batting average (minimum 310 plate appearances) for a 19-year-old (later bested by Mel Ott's .322 average in 124 games for the 1928 New York Giants).

Speaker then joined Cobb in Philadelphia for the 1928 season.

On July 18, Cobb became the first member of the 4,000 hit club when he doubled off former teammate Sam Gibson, still pitching for the Tigers, at Navin Field. Cobb returned for the 1928 season but 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.

1930

Reflecting on his career in 1930, two years after retiring, he told Grantland Rice, "The biggest thrill I ever got came in a game against the Athletics in 1907 [on September 30]...

It was performances like this that led Branch Rickey to say later that Cobb "had brains in his feet". Describing his gameplay strategy in 1930, he said, "My system was all offense.

Even so, when asked in 1930 by Grantland Rice to name the best hitter he'd ever seen, Cobb answered, "You can't beat the Babe.

He was a major stockholder in the Coca-Cola Corporation, which by itself would have made him wealthy. In the winter of 1930, Cobb moved into a Spanish ranch estate on Spencer Lane in the affluent town of Atherton located south of San Francisco, California on the San Francisco Peninsula.

then entered Yale University and became captain of the tennis team while improving his academics, but was then arrested twice in 1930 for drunkenness and left Yale without graduating.

1936

In 1936, Cobb received the most votes of any player on the inaugural Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, receiving 222 out of a possible 226 votes (98.2%); no other player received a higher percentage of votes until Tom Seaver in 1992.

from the Medical College of South Carolina and practiced obstetrics and gynecology in Dublin, Georgia, until his premature death at 42 on September 9, 1952, from a brain tumor, his father remained distant. 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 only others to earn the necessary 75% of votes to be elected that first year.

1940

In 1998, Sporting News ranked him as third on the list of 100 Greatest Baseball Players. Of major league stars of the 1940s and 1950s, he had positive things to say about Stan Musial, Phil Rizzuto, and Jackie Robinson, but few others.

He was instrumental in helping Joe DiMaggio negotiate his rookie contract with the New York Yankees. According to sportswriter Grantland Rice, he and Cobb were returning from the Masters golf tournament in the late 1940s and stopped at a Greenville, South Carolina, liquor store.

1946

Crawford learned about the letter in 1946 and accused Cobb of being a "cheapskate" who never helped his teammates.

1947

The couple eventually divorced in 1947 after 39 years of marriage; the last few years of which Mrs.

1949

A lot of them don't." Cobb was mentioned in the poem "Line-Up for Yesterday" by Ogden Nash: ===Later life=== At the age of 62, Cobb married a second time in 1949.

1950

In 1998, Sporting News ranked him as third on the list of 100 Greatest Baseball Players. Of major league stars of the 1940s and 1950s, he had positive things to say about Stan Musial, Phil Rizzuto, and Jackie Robinson, but few others.

1952

from the Medical College of South Carolina and practiced obstetrics and gynecology in Dublin, Georgia, until his premature death at 42 on September 9, 1952, from a brain tumor, his father remained distant. 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 only others to earn the necessary 75% of votes to be elected that first year.

Let me say also that no white man has the right to be less of a gentleman than a colored man; in my book that goes not only for baseball but in all walks of life." Using even stronger language, Cobb told the Sporting News in 1952 that "the Negro should be accepted and not grudgingly but wholeheartedly." In 1953, black newspapers cited his praise for Brooklyn Dodgers' catcher Roy Campanella, who Cobb said was "among the all-time best catchers" in baseball.

1953

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 (equivalent to approximately $ in current year dollars ). He knew that another way he could share his wealth was by having biographies written that would both set the record straight on him and teach young players how to play.

Let me say also that no white man has the right to be less of a gentleman than a colored man; in my book that goes not only for baseball but in all walks of life." Using even stronger language, Cobb told the Sporting News in 1952 that "the Negro should be accepted and not grudgingly but wholeheartedly." In 1953, black newspapers cited his praise for Brooklyn Dodgers' catcher Roy Campanella, who Cobb said was "among the all-time best catchers" in baseball.

1955

At age 20, he was the youngest player to win a batting championship and held this record until 1955, when fellow Detroit Tiger Al Kaline won the batting title while twelve days younger than Cobb had been.

1956

Their childless marriage also failed, ending with a divorce in 1956.

John McCallum spent some time with Cobb to write a combination how-to and biography titled The Tiger Wore Spikes: An Informal Biography of Ty Cobb that was published in 1956.

1959

In December 1959, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, diabetes, [blood pressure], and Bright's disease. 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.

1961

Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed The Georgia Peach, was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder.

I have no right to be regretful of what I did." He was taken to Emory University Hospital for the last time in June 1961 after falling into a diabetic coma.

He died there on July 17, 1961, at age 74. Approximately 150 friends and relatives attended a brief service in Cornelia, Georgia, and drove to the Cobb family mausoleum in Royston for the burial.

A noted case is the book written by sportswriter Al Stump in the months after Cobb died in 1961.

1962

However, recent scholarship has shown that all parties involved were white. In 1913, Cobb signed a contract worth $12,000 for the six-month season (), making him likely the first baseball player in history to be paid a five-figure salary. ===1915–1921=== In 1915, Cobb set the single-season record for stolen bases with 96, which stood until Dodger Maury Wills broke it in 1962.

1974

He retained many other records for almost a half century or more, including most career hits until 1985 (4,189 or 4,191, depending on source), most career runs (2,245 or 2,246 depending on source) until 2001, most career games played (3,035) and at bats (11,429 or 11,434 depending on source) until 1974, and the modern record for most career stolen bases (892) until 1977.

1977

He retained many other records for almost a half century or more, including most career hits until 1985 (4,189 or 4,191, depending on source), most career runs (2,245 or 2,246 depending on source) until 2001, most career games played (3,035) and at bats (11,429 or 11,434 depending on source) until 1974, and the modern record for most career stolen bases (892) until 1977.

Hampton says that Leerhsen "succeeds in debunking the myth of Cobb that Stump created, but he spawned a new myth by conflating Stump's shortcomings to depict Cobb as an egalitarian". In 1977, a statue of Ty Cobb, designed by the sculptor Felix de Weldon, was installed outside the Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium.

1985

He retained many other records for almost a half century or more, including most career hits until 1985 (4,189 or 4,191, depending on source), most career runs (2,245 or 2,246 depending on source) until 2001, most career games played (3,035) and at bats (11,429 or 11,434 depending on source) until 1974, and the modern record for most career stolen bases (892) until 1977.

1992

In 1936, Cobb received the most votes of any player on the inaugural Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, receiving 222 out of a possible 226 votes (98.2%); no other player received a higher percentage of votes until Tom Seaver in 1992.

The current post-1900 record for most hits in a nine-inning game is 31, set in 1992 by the Milwaukee Brewers against Toronto; however, the Blue Jays used six pitchers. The strike ended when Cobb urged his teammates to return to the field.

His 98.2% stood as the record until Tom Seaver received 98.8% of the vote in 1992.

1994

One of these later books was used as the basis for the 1994 film Cobb (a box office flop starring Tommy Lee Jones as Cobb and directed by Ron Shelton).

1998

In 1998, Sporting News ranked him as third on the list of 100 Greatest Baseball Players. Of major league stars of the 1940s and 1950s, he had positive things to say about Stan Musial, Phil Rizzuto, and Jackie Robinson, but few others.

1999

In 1999, the Sporting News ranked Ty Cobb third on their list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players". Cobb is widely credited with setting 90 MLB records during his career.

2001

He retained many other records for almost a half century or more, including most career hits until 1985 (4,189 or 4,191, depending on source), most career runs (2,245 or 2,246 depending on source) until 2001, most career games played (3,035) and at bats (11,429 or 11,434 depending on source) until 1974, and the modern record for most career stolen bases (892) until 1977.

2007

Major League Baseball, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit upholding a 2007 judgement by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, ruled that baseball statistics, as being mere facts, are in the public domain are not the property of Major League Baseball Enterprises, Inc.

2010

In 2010, an article by William R.

2012

The 16 total bases set a new AL record, which stood until May 8, 2012 when Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers hit four home runs and a double for a total of 18 bases.

2017

It would later be relocated to his hometown of Royston in 2017. ===Views on race=== Cobb's father was a noted advocate for racial equality. Stories of Cobb's racial intolerance during his playing days were embellished and falsified by his biographers Al Stump and Charles Alexander.

2019

He still holds several records as of the end of the 2019 season, including the highest career batting average (.366) and most career batting titles with 11 (or 12, depending on source).

2020

He accomplished the feat four times during his career, still an MLB record as of 2020.

As of April 2020, the Ty Cobb Educational Foundation has distributed $18.6 million in college scholarships to needy Georgians. ==Legacy== The historian Steven Elliott Tripp has explored the public's reaction to Cobb as a pioneer sports celebrity and "a player fans loved to hate".

2021

Caught Stealing is not shown comprehensively because the stat was not regularly recorded until 1920. {| border="1" cellpadding="2" |- | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | TB | SH | HBP |- | 3,034 | 11,440 | 2,245 | 4,189 | 724 | 295 | 117 | 1,944 | 897 | 212 | 1,249 | 680 | .366 | .433 | .512 | 5,854 | 292 | 94 |} Cobb's old, incorrect records still (as of 2021) published by Major League Baseball Enterprises, Inc.




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