War on the Basepaths Page 40

  Responding to the profuse vilification of his father, Ty’s son James told a reporter in 1995 that it was “like a vendetta.” The comments of Stump “hurt the family very much,” he admitted, and twisted the perception of Cobb into that of a villain.47 But all things considered, Cobb didn’t quite qualify as a scoundrel. In fact, some of the positive things he did might surprise even his most ardent critics. As a teammate, he was the kind of guy who’d go months without talking to someone he was at odds with, but the moment he saw one of his brethren being abused on the field by an opposing team, he was there with fire in his eyes. Oscar Vitt was a perfect example. The two didn’t speak for reportedly three years, but the instant Vitt had trouble with catcher Les Nunamaker, Cobb interjected, running full force into the backstop and nearly sending him from the game on a stretcher.48

  As a mentor, Cobb was determined to share his knowledge and experiences, and his guidance was helpful to innumerable ballplayers. He personally impacted four future Hall of Famers, Harry Heilmann, Heinie Manush, Charlie Gehringer, and Al Simmons, and continued to assist players well after his retirement. He sent insightful messages to the likes of Mickey Mantle and Casey Stengel, had Eddie Joost to his home for specialized baseball sermons during dinner, and was a relentless advisor to others. There were days when Cobb could be found behind the grandstand working with young boys on the proper way to toss a ball or giving lectures to up-and-comers, preaching teamwork and inspiring them to give their all. He donated his time to visiting hospitals and other causes, giving back to the community in any way he could.

  Cobb pushed for the inductions of Sam Crawford and Harry Heilmann into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, but didn’t necessarily want public acknowledgement for his actions. He gave financial advice to players up and down the baseball ranks, from rookies to executives, and later sent checks to friends in need without a second thought. One of his most striking gestures of goodwill came in 1952 when, at sixty-five years of age, he ventured to the Missouri Ozarks in incredible heat to coach at a small baseball camp. He could’ve gone anywhere in the world, but was determined to teach the youngsters at the school the tricks of the trade. As a role model, he lived up to the expectations of a baseball hero, and his generosity was palpable.

  Cobb, “The Georgia Peach,” got that nickname from sportswriter Joe Jackson in the infancy of his career, and was a legend in his home territory. A reporter for the Atlanta Constitution wrote, “Every Georgia adult knows the story of Ty Cobb and youngsters in every community in the state learn about him before they can read.”49 Today, fans can admire a statue depicting Cobb sliding at the home of the Atlanta Braves, Turner Field, alongside those of Hank Aaron and Phil Niekro. Many people don’t realize that there were two significant events in Cobb’s youth in Georgia that could have robbed baseball from his services altogether. The first happened when he was just a boy, not even a teenager. Carelessly handling his .22 rifle, he was accidentally shot in the collarbone. Taken to a hospital in Atlanta, physicians couldn’t locate the bullet, but he luckily survived the ordeal with nothing more than a bit of pain.50

  The other was Cobb’s choice of another path entirely and focusing on college instead of baseball like his father had wanted. He once said that if he could do it all over again, he’d choose medicine, and forgo the concerns of the diamond.51 Being a surgeon would’ve eliminated the worries over rowdy audiences, insults, and public scorn. But at the same time, he would have lost the international acclaim, the thrill of thousands cheering his name, and missed rising to the top of a profession in such a way that his legacy on the field remains significant a century later.

  The national pastime was his true calling, and, in 1948, he told a crowd in California, “I am supremely proud that I happened to be a ball player.”52

  For all the wicked narratives and condemnation, there are an equal number of tales describing his baseball feats and accomplishments. Cobb was an imperfect man, and his missteps make interesting reading, but to comprehend his full legacy, the entire story has to be taken into consideration. That includes the death of the most important person in his life, his father, the painful bullying he endured in his youth, and the loneliness he intermittently experienced. Often feeling isolated from the world around him, baseball was his savior, and had he stepped into another occupation, one can only wonder how he would’ve progressed. Baseball, as an outlet, gave him the opportunity to run, slash, and scrap his way into the record books. His personality needed that kind of avenue to channel his immense energy. He spent his days and nights laboring to improve his mental and physical skills, and worked immensely hard to gain the advantages necessary to be successful.

  His personal finances blossomed much the same way. Taking the time to learn about stocks and bonds, the small-town athlete with no formal higher education developed his baseball income into a multimillion dollar estate. When he passed away, according to probate records, he left behind a net worth of over $4 million, including his personal effects, furnishings, and stock holdings.53 His biggest investment was Coca-Cola, of course, and he possessed 18,320 shares of common stock valued at $1.3 million, and another 380 shares of Coca-Cola International, also worth 1.3 million. He bequeathed 75 percent of his estate to his family and the other 25 to the Ty Cobb Educational Fund.54 The fund, as a result of its strong financial standing, remains a pivotal organization today and has issued over $15 million in scholarships to the students of Georgia.55 Ty’s father would have been proud.

  The Cobb Memorial Hospital matured as well, developing from a one-building structure into a “system” of facilities in both Royston and Hartwell, Georgia. In 2012, the two facilities united into a singular health care venue in Lavonia, known as the Ty Cobb Regional Medical Center. At Royston, the Ty Cobb Museum, which celebrates the career of the “Peach,” is open to visitors and enthusiasts can observe a wealth of memorabilia.56 Taking into consideration that 2015 is the 110th anniversary of Cobb’s major league debut, there is much to commemorate. The evolution of his reputation in the modern era continues to progress as fans of baseball learn and embrace the totality of his life story. No longer is it acceptable to pawn off the tired, sensationalistic notions as the truth, and the simple adjectives used to describe Cobb in the past are archaic. They certainly work in the tabloid environment, but not in the respected culture of baseball history.

  Reflecting on his career, Cobb delivered many exciting moments to the sporting world. His inner drive to be the best was unceasing and the generation that watched him in motion was privileged to see a one-of-a-kind ballplayer who could never be duplicated in mind, heart, or spirit. Babe Ruth, the great slugger of 714 home runs and Cobb’s most natural adversary, said: “Ty Cobb is my idea of the greatest ball player that ever lived. Most guys are dangerous only when at bat. Cobb was dynamite at the plate, and when he got on base, he was plenty worse. Nobody ever could figure out what he was going to do.”57 Ray Schalk, a Hall of Famer for the Chicago White Sox, saw no limits of Cobb’s athleticism, especially being a catcher. The two were good friends for many years, and in 1961, a few months after Cobb’s passing, he said: “The great things he did on the field probably will never be forgotten. I loved the guy.”58

  In all his years, Cobb never lost sight of baseball’s most crucial element, the lifeblood of the sport, and he was always cognizant of who really paid the bills. At the tail end of a series of articles he contributed to in 1927, he wrote, “In closing, I want to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to every baseball fan in the country. Without them there wouldn’t be any game.”59 There is little doubt that baseball would have endured had Cobb chosen to go into medicine, but it is hard to imagine the sport without the massive footprint he left behind. His contributions to the game are still being felt a century after some of his greatest achievements, and will unquestionably be felt for as long as the game is played.

  ENDNOTES

  INTRODUCTION:

  1 The Sporting News, February 13, 1936, p. 4. Cobb
achieved a vote percentage of 98.23. In the seventy-eight years since 1936, only three players in history have been acknowledged by greater vote margins: Tom Seaver in 1992 (98.84), Nolan Ryan in 1999 (98.79), and Cal Ripken Jr. in 2007 (98.53).

  2 New York Times, February 3, 1936, p. 23.

  3 The Sporting News, February 16, 1939, p. 4.

  4 The 1910 batting championship has been in dispute for decades. Read more about it in Chapter 8.

  5 The Sporting News, September 21, 1939, p. 1.

  6 Cobb admitted to trying to spike only two players in his career. The Sporting News, March 2, 1955, p. 20.

  7 Boston Daily Record, September 22, 1959, p. 38.

  8 The Sporting News, September 2, 1959, p. 1.

  9 New York Times, April 17, 1959, p. 33.

  10 Letter from Cobb to Joseph Hauck dated April 4, 1959, Joseph Hauck Papers (1914–1965), Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, California.

  11 San Diego Union, November 9, 1959, p. 26. Cobb reportedly saw physicians attached to the Scripps Medical system.

  12 Boston Evening American, December 17, 1959, p. 62. Two photos of Cobb in the hospital were sent across the Associated Press wire, and in both pictures, Cobb was smiling. One appeared in this Boston Evening American edition and the other in the New York Times, December 18, 1959, p. 38; in this one he was holding a baseball.

  13 The Sporting News, December 16, 1959, p. 21.

  14 Otsego Farmer & Republican, July 20, 1961, p. 1.

  15 The Sporting News, February 10, 1960, p. 6.

  16 Boston Daily Record, December 19, 1959, p. 16.

  17 The Sporting News, February 10, 1960, p. 6, 16.

  18 The Sporting News, June 22, 1960, p. 11.

  19 The Sporting News, May 5, 1938, p. 4.

  20 The Sporting News, February 17, 1960, p. 10.

  21 Ibid.

  22 Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 13, 1960, p. 23.

  23 The Sporting News, March 18, 1953, p. 22.

  24 Ty Cobb: Safe at Home by Don Rhodes, 2008, p. 162.

  25 The Sporting News, June 22, 1960, p. 11.

  26 New York Times, December 18, 1995.

  27 Portland Oregonian, June 26, 1946, p. 21.

  28 Stump’s version of events was chronicled in True—The Man’s Magazine, December 1961, p. 38–41, 106–115. The article was entitled “Ty Cobb’s Wild, 10-Month Fight to Live.”

  29 Cobb’s drinking was corroborated by his friend Pope Welborn, in his interview in Ty Cobb: Safe at Home by Don Rhodes, 2008, p. 171–179. Also by Stump in his article, plus in the court documentation for Elbert D. Felts v. Tyrus R. Cobb, Case No. 29889, Superior Court of the State of California, County of Butte, 1954–56.

  30 Evening Star, Washington, D.C., July 18, 1961, p. 21.

  31 Omaha World Herald, July 21, 1961, p. 21.

  32 Omaha World Herald, September 24, 1961, p. 49.

  33 Evening Star, Washington, D.C., September 24, 1961, p. 43.

  34 Gregory also wrote, “By long odds, it’s the best, most interesting, most informative baseball book ever written.” Portland Oregonian, October 8, 1961, p. S1, S4.

  35 Ibid.

  36 Springfield Republican, October 1, 1961, p. 4D.

  37 The Seattle Times, November 25, 1954, p. 62.

  38 The Sporting News, January 3, 1962, p. 18, 22.

  39 Ibid.

  40 The Sporting News, December 6, 1961, p. 15.

  41 Jamestown Post Journal, February 6, 1960, p. 18.

  42 Fort Wayne News and Sentinel, September 17, 1918, p. 3.

  43 Evening Star, Washington, D.C., July 8, 1962, p. 37.

  44 St. Louis Post Dispatch, May 9, 1909, p. 1S.

  CHAPTER ONE: “DON’T COME HOME A FAILURE”

  1 Genealogical information provided by the Cherokee County Historical Museum, Murphy, North Carolina. Sarah Ann Elizabeth Waldroup was originally from Macon County, North Carolina, which was just east of Cherokee County. Cobb’s enlistment may have been tied to the First Conscription Act, which was passed by the Confederate Congress in April 1862.

  2 U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861–1865, ancestry.com.

  3 Genealogical information provided by the Cherokee County Historical Museum, Murphy, NC.

  4 The county seat in Cherokee County was Murphy and by 1870, just over 8,000 people lived in the area. The region was considered part of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Notla Township was spelled “Notala” in the 1880 Census.

  5 Ty Cobb: My Life in Baseball by Ty Cobb with Al Stump, 1993, Bison Books edition, p. 34.

  6 Greensboro News and Record, January 13, 1985, p. E3.

  7 1880 U.S. Federal Census, ancestry.com.

  8 The Herald and News, Newberry, South Carolina, August 16, 1921, p. 2.

  9 U.S. Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles and Civil War Prisoner of War Records, 1861–1865, ancestry.com.

  10 The actual Cobb-Chitwood marriage document is featured in the Georgia Marriage Records, ancestry.com. In publications circulating for the past few decades, there have been a few discrepancies surrounding her age, including a completely erroneous claim that they were married around 1882 when she was twelve years of age. Unfortunately, this mistake was initially published and then continued to be referenced in succeeding books without any evidence proving its credibility. None of the authors who attributed the information cited any verifiable source. According to the 1880 U.S. Federal Census, her age was cited as eighteen, which was another error, and an examination of the actual census document appears to show her age to be either sixteen or ten. Ancestry.com. The birth date of “January 15, 1871” was printed on the wall of the Cobb Family mausoleum.

  11 Ty Cobb: My Life in Baseball by Ty Cobb with Al Stump, 1993, Bison Books edition, p. 34.

  12 Atlanta Constitution, May 21, 1944, p. A1.

  13 Ty Cobb: My Life in Baseball by Ty Cobb with Al Stump, 1993, Bison Books edition, p. 32. New York Times, December 18, 1983, p. A96.

  14 Correspondence with Mark McCoy from July 2014.

  15 North Georgia Agricultural College annual catalogues were reviewed from 1887 to 1892. digitalcommons.northgeorgia.edu/collegestate_collections.

  16 The article claimed Cobb graduated as the adjutant, meaning he was the assistant to the senior officer, but no corroboration was found in the college catalogues. Cobb was said to have been a “first honor man.” Atlanta Constitution, June 12, 1892, p. 18.

  17 Macon Telegraph, July 4, 1891, p. 3.

  18 Atlanta Constitution, February 23, 1913, p. 7.

  19 The Athens Banner, September 12, 1893, p. 6.

  20 John Paul was born on February 23, 1889, and Florence Leslie on October 29, 1892.

  21 Franklin County Press, March 10, 1900, p. 1. Franklin County Press, September 29, 1899, p. 3.

  22 Carnesville High School bulletin, 1891–92, History of Franklin County, Georgia, The Franklin County Historical Society, 1986, p. 185.

  23 A modern two-story schoolhouse was built in Royston in 1895. History of Franklin County, Georgia, The Franklin County Historical Society, 1986, p. 373.

  24 Franklin County Press, June 16, 1899, p. 3.

  25 Athens Weekly Banner, February 7, 1919, p. 2.

  26 Ty Cobb: My Life in Baseball by Ty Cobb with Al Stump, 1993, Bison Books edition, p. 37.

  27 Ty Cobb: My Life in Baseball by Ty Cobb with Al Stump, 1993, Bison Books edition, p. 280.

  28 Atlanta Constitution, February 23, 1913, p. 7.

  29 New Orleans Times-Picayune, July 28, 1912, p. 46. Also Ty Cobb: My Life in Baseball by Ty Cobb with Al Stump, 1993, Bison Books edition, p. 37.

  30 Atlanta Journal, October 25, 1907, p. 18.

  31 Baseball Magazine, March 1912, p. 1–5. Ty Cobb: My Life in Baseball by Ty Cobb with Al Stump, 1993, Bison Books edition, p. 39.

  32 Baseball Magazine, March 1912, p. 1–5. Ty Cobb: My Life in Baseball by Ty Cobb with Al Stump, 1993, Bison Books edition, p. 32.

  33 Ty Cobb: My Life in Baseball by Ty C
obb with Al Stump, 1993, Bison Books edition, p. 37–38.

  34 The Rotarian Magazine, July 1947, p. 10–12.

  35 Atlanta Constitution, August 3, 1899, p. 4.

  36 The 31st District included Franklin, Habersham and Hart Counties. The newspaper indicated there was a large turnout to vote. Atlanta Constitution, July 28, 1900, p. 3.

  37 History of Franklin County, Georgia, The Franklin County Historical Society, 1986, p. 373, 382.

  38 Toccoa News, June 11, 1886.

  39 Hartwell Sun, July 6, 1900.

  40 Augusta Chronicle, August 7, 1904, p. 5.

  41 Boston Herald, February 11, 1912, p. 34.

  42 Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 13, 1908, p. 21.

  43 New York Evening World, August 12, 1911, p. 7.

  44 Baseball Magazine, March 1912, p. 1–5.

  45 New York Evening World, August 12, 1911, p. 7.

  46 Ty Cobb: My Life in Baseball by Ty Cobb with Al Stump, 1993, Bison Books edition, p. 39–40.

  47 Some historians, like Fred Lieb have referred to the team Cobb played with while a teenager as the “Royston Rompers.” Baseball As I Have Known It by Fred Lieb, 1977, p. 49. Cobb called the team, the Royston “Reds.” Ty Cobb: My Life in Baseball by Ty Cobb with Al Stump, 1993, Bison Books edition, p. 38, 41. The “Rompers” may have been a secondary squad made up of younger players, a team Cobb was a member of prior to joining the senior “Reds,” but the names of the two teams have often been interchangeable in historical pieces on Cobb.