Ty Cobb Essay -- essays research papers

Ty Cobb"Baseball," Ty Cobb liked to say, "is something like a war...Baseball is a red-blooded sport for red-blooded men. Its not pink tea, and mollycoddles had improve stay out of it. Its...a struggle for supremacy, a survival of thefittest" (Ward and Burns 64). Although Ty Cobb was possibly the greatest playerin baseball history, many people would consider him its hit person. TyrusRaymond Cobb was born December 18, 1886 in The Narrows, Georgia. His parentsnamed him after the ancient Phoenician city of Tyre, which stubbornly refused tosurrender to Alexander the Great. From the very beginning, he took after thecity and became champion of baseballs most stubborn and hated men. The Georgia Peach,so-called, was a creature of extremes. Ty Cobb is, by bald statistics,measurably the greatest hitter ever he was, by the tally of virtuallyeveryone who met him, personally the most despicable human being ever to gracethe National Pastime (Deford 56). Cobbs playing career, wit h the Detroit Tigersand the Philadelphia Athletics, was arguably the best anyone ever had. He wontwelve batting titles in thirteen years, including a record nine in a row. Healso holds the records for the most runs scored with 2,245 and the highestlifetime batting average at .367, a number nearly unreachable even in just oneseason by todays standards. Other records he order that have since been broken3,034 games played, 4,191 hits, 892 stolen bases, 392 outfield assists, 1,136extra base hits, and 1,961 runs batted in. He also struck out just 357 times in11,429 times at bat, a phenomenal achievement. After his career ended, in 1936,he was the leading vote-getter of the first class of the Baseball Hall of Fame,beating even Babe Ruth. However, Cobbs career was marred with statement andscandals. He was hated by nearly every player in the league, including his ownteammates. When he was first called up to play with Detroit, he was extremely less-traveled with his teammates. They locked him out of the bathroom, tore thecrown out of his straw hat and sawed in half the bat that had been especiallyfashioned for him by his hometown coffin maker. He did not take any of it withgood humor and could not bear to be the target of the mildest joke. He foughtback with his fists, refused to speak to his tormentors, developed ulcers, tookto sleeping with a revolver... ... Ty burn his fan mail forheat" (Kramer 31). As with all bad boys, there was a good side to Ty Cobb,although few ever saw it. Despite his inability to spend money on himself, hedid give a lot to others. He gave money to needy retired ballplayers, helpedbuild a new hospital in Royston, and started a fund for poor college students(Kramer 44). While giving money, Cobb still felt unliked and remained virtuallyalone for the rest of his life. What money he did spend on himself was mostexclusively towards the use of alcohol, which he became heavily dependent on.He said he would have given up his money if only h e could transplant the way playersfelt about him. He knew nobody forgot how nasty he always could be in hisplaying days (Kramer 45). Cobb died of cancer July 17, 1961, a grim and lonelyman. Only 400 people, most of them little-leaguers who only knew him as a namefrom baseballs past, showed up at his funeral. Just three ballplayers from hisera bothered to attend. airless the end of his life, Cobb commented to a callerthat if he had his life to live over again, "I would have done things a littledifferent...I would have had more friends" (Ward and Burns, 65).