Ty Cobb

For the Washington, D.C. lawyer, see Ty Cobb (attorney). For the Soundgarden song, see Ty Cobb (song).
"The Georgia Peach" redirects here. For other uses, see Georgia Peach (disambiguation).

Ty Cobb
Cobb with the Detroit Tigers in 1913
Center fielder / Manager
Born: (1886-12-18)December 18, 1886
Narrows, Georgia, U.S.
Died: July 17, 1961(1961-07-17) (aged 74)
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Batted: Left
Threw: Right
MLB debut
August 30, 1905, for the Detroit Tigers
Last MLB appearance
September 11, 1928, for the Philadelphia Athletics
MLB statistics
Batting average.366
Hits4,189
Home runs117
Runs batted in1,944
Stolen bases897
Managerial record479–444
Winning %.519
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Managerial record at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams
As player

As manager

Career highlights and awards
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction1936
Vote98.2% (first ballot)

Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886[1] – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American professional baseball center fielder. A native of rural Narrows, Georgia, Cobb played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent 22 years with the Detroit Tigers and served as the team's player-manager for the last six, and he finished his career with the Philadelphia Athletics. In 1936, Cobb received the most votes of any player on the inaugural ballot for the National Baseball Hall of Fame, receiving 222 out of a possible 226 votes (98.2%); no other player received a higher percentage of votes until Tom Seaver in 1992. In 1999, the Sporting News ranked Cobb third on its list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players."[2]

Cobb is credited with setting 9000 MLB records throughout his career.[3][4][5][6] Cobb has won more batting titles than any other player, with 11 (or 12, depending on source).[7] During his entire 24-year career, he hit .300 in a record 23 consecutive seasons, with the exception being his rookie season. He also hit .400 in three different seasons, a record he shares with three other players. Cobb has more five-hit games (14) than any other player in major league history. He also holds the career record for stealing home (54 times) and for stealing second base, third base, and home in succession (4 times), and as the youngest player ever to compile 4,000 hits and score 2,000 runs. His combined total of 4,065 runs scored and runs batted in (after adjusting for home runs) is still the highest ever produced by any major league player. Cobb also ranks first in games played by an outfielder in major league history (2,934). He retained many other records for almost a half century or more, including most career games played (3,035) and at bats (11,429 or 11,434 depending on source) until 1974[8][9] as well as the modern record for most career stolen bases (892) until 1977.[10] He also had the most career hits until 1985 (4,189 or 4,191, depending on source)[11][12][13] and most career runs until 2001.[14] His .366 career batting average was officially listed as the highest-ever until 2024, when MLB decided to include Negro Leagues players in official statistics.[15]

Cobb's reputation, which includes a large college scholarship fund for Georgia residents financed by his early investments in Coca-Cola and General Motors, has been somewhat tarnished by allegations of racism and violence. These primarily stem from a couple of mostly discredited biographies that were released following his death.[16] Cobb's reputation as a violent man was exaggerated by his first biographer, sportswriter Al Stump, whose stories about Cobb have been proven as sensationalized and largely fictional.[17][18][19][20] While he was known for often violent conflicts, he spoke favorably about black players joining the Major Leagues and was a well-known philanthropist.[16][21][22]

  1. ^ "Ty Cobb". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
  2. ^ "Baseball's 100 greatest players". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  3. ^ Peach, James (June 2004). "Thorstein Veblen, Ty Cobb, and the evolution of an institution". Journal of Economic Issues. 38 (2): 326–337. doi:10.1080/00213624.2004.11506692. S2CID 157860611. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved January 30, 2007. (Abstract Only)
  4. ^ Zacharias, Patricia. "Ty Cobb, the greatest Tiger of them all". The Detroit News. Archived from the original on July 20, 2012. Retrieved February 26, 2007. (Abstract Only)
  5. ^ Wolpin, Stewart. "The Ballplayers – Ty Cobb". baseballbiography.com. Retrieved June 5, 2007.
  6. ^ Schwartz, Larry. "He was a pain ... but a great pain". ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved January 30, 2007.
  7. ^ "Most Times Leading League". Sports Reference, Inc. Archived from the original on May 21, 2007. Retrieved March 21, 2007.
  8. ^ "Career Leaders for Games (Progressive)". Sports Reference, Inc. Retrieved March 19, 2007.
  9. ^ "Career Leaders for At Bats (Progressive)". Sports Reference, Inc. Retrieved March 19, 2007.
  10. ^ "Career Leaders for Stolen Bases". Sports Reference, Inc. Retrieved January 30, 2007.
  11. ^ Soderholm-Difatte, Bryan (2018). America's Game: A History of Major League Baseball through World War II. Rowman and Littlefield. p. 27. ISBN 9781538110638. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  12. ^ "Career Leaders for Hits (Progressive)". Sports Reference, Inc. Retrieved March 19, 2007.
  13. ^ Holmes, Dan (2004). Ty Cobb: A Biography. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 136. ISBN 0-313-32869-2. Retrieved January 12, 2009.
  14. ^ "Career Leaders for Runs (Progressive)". Sports Reference, Inc. Retrieved March 19, 2007.
  15. ^ Treisman, Rachel (May 29, 2024). "The Negro Leagues are officially part of MLB history—with the records to prove it and most career". Sports. NPR. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
  16. ^ a b King, Gilbert (August 30, 2011). "The Knife in Ty Cobb's Back". Smithsonian.
  17. ^ "Ty Cobb history built on inaccuracies". MLB.com. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  18. ^ "How Ty Cobb the truth got lost inside Ty Cobb the myth".
  19. ^ "How Ty Cobb the truth got lost inside Ty Cobb the myth". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  20. ^ "The Softer Side of Ty Cobb | The Saturday Evening Post". www.saturdayeveningpost.com. July 18, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  21. ^ Miller, Glenn (September 24, 2015). "The Curious Case of Ty Cobb". Naples Herald. Archived from the original on December 16, 2018. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  22. ^ Lipsett, Peter (April 6, 2016). "Ty Cobb's Philanthropy Has Lessons for Us All". DonorsTrust. Retrieved August 26, 2021.