On this day, July 17 (the anniversary of his death in 1961) BaseballBigMouth is proud to offer our readers a small tribute to the man who many feel to still be the greatest hitter of all-time — and still the possessor of the best all-time batting average at .367 — famed Detroit Tiger, Tyrus Raymond Cobb. Forget the lurid controversies and such, God knows there has been plenty written on those tidbits, today we celebrate the career of man with few peers.

A rookie Cobb embarks on a storied career, 1905

Born Saturday, December 18, 1886, in Narrows, Georgia, Cobb was a mere 18-years-old when he broke in with the Detroit Tigers in 1905. “The Georgia Peach” would go on to play 22 seasons with the Tigers and two more with the Philadelphia Athletics, amassing an amazing 4,191 hits along the way and 892 stolen bases. To this day, almost 80-years after his retiremnet, Cobb’s marks in those categories – two of just 90 MLB records he established in his illustrious career — have been passed only once each (Pete Rose besting Ty’s hit total with 4,256 and Rickey Henderson passing his stolen base mark with 1270).

Famously-odd wide-gripped stance - a thing of beauty

Some other great facts about Ty Cobb . . .

1. Cobb is one of only two people to hit a home run before his 20th birthday as well as after his 40th birthday
2. owns the record for most steals of home all-time with 54
3. won 12 batting titles, best-ever
4. first-ever player selected to the Hall of Fame, 1936
5. first baseball player to star in a movie: “Somewhere in Georgia” by Grantland Rice
6. had numerous endorsements, including a chewing gum, suspenders and underwear
7. golfed with President William Taft
8. renowned for his investment in a small soda pop company called Coca Cola that reaped him a fortune, Cobb actually earned ten-times that amount in his General Motors investment
9. even Cobb’s dentures held value, sold for $7,475 at an auction
10. as of 2005, the Ty Cobb Educational Foundation has distributed more than $11 million to needy Georgians

One of most-famous action shots ever: Cobb spikes NY’s Austin 

Some great Ty Cobb quotes:

1. “I have observed that baseball is not unlike a war, and when you come right down to it, we batters are the heavy artillery.”

2. “The base paths belonged to me, the runner. The rules gave me the right. I always went into a bag full speed, feet first. I had sharp spikes on my shoes. If the baseman stood where he had no business to be and got hurt, that was his fault.”

3. “When I began playing the game, baseball was about as gentlemanly as a kick in the crotch.”

4. “I had to fight all my life to survive. They were all against me… but I beat the bastards and left them in the ditch.”

5.  ”The great trouble with baseball today is that most of the players are in the game for the money and that’s it. Not for the love of it, the excitement of it, the thrill of it.”

CLICK HERE for a rare glimpse at Ty Cobb - playing for Cleveland?!?

Visit the official Ty Cobb Memorial Site by clicking here

For Ty Cobb’s official MLB statistics, click here

Photo used with permission of Early Era Baseball Photos.com

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 17th, 2007 at 12:01 am and is filed under Baseball Biographies, Baseball History, MLB photos, Waxing Nostalgic, Baseball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.