TW Hit List - Ty Cobb

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

Ty Cobb was known as one of the fiercest competitors in the earlier days of the game. He was and is widely acclaimed for his obvious talent, but just as widely criticized for his all-out, win-at-all-costs attitude that tended to alienate him from fans and teammates. He was considered mean. Every photo you might find of him, he has a glare and a snarl. He always looked as if he was out to get someone. Williams says that some might say he played like a man possessed. Naturally, he’s one of my favourites. In the den of my house, a framed photo captures his grit and sheer delight in getting dirty. He was the quintessential “old school” ballplayer. The great Branch Rickey said about him, “Cobb lived off the field as though he wished to live forever. He lived on the field as though it was his last day."

And yes, he was also a great hitter. Williams mentions having several conversations with Cobb and strongly disagreeing with some of Cobb’s hitting ideas. Cobb notoriously held the bat with his two hands several inches apart from each other, which he claimed helped him control the ball better. He also said he moved to the outside/inside depending on the pitch. Williams was stunned. How do you move when the pitch is on the way? The feet need to be planted and the hands must do the work of adjusting. I’m inclined to agree with Williams, and yet one can’t argue with results. And the results are impressive. (If you want to see a list of Cobb’s batting tips, here is one place. Remember Cobb was a lefthanded batter.)

Cobb won the batting title ten times and hit over .400 three times. He batted over .300 in 23 of 24 seasons! He finished with the highest career total in runs scored and hits and batting average. Pete Rose passed him for hits only in 1985, and then in 2001, Rickey Henderson passed him for runs scored, but each mark held for over half a century. And he remains the all-time batting leader at .366 for his career. He also stole home plate a record 54 times and in fact, stole second base, third base, and home plate in the same inning on four separate occasions. Williams makes much of Cobb’s intelligence for the game along with his natural talent. He does suggest that Cobb was certainly one of the game’s greatest natural hitters. (Interestingly, Cobb himself called Shoeless Joe the greatest natural hitter ever.)

Cobb is also the subject of one of my favourite pieces of baseball lore:

Decades after he retired from the game, a sportswriter asked him, “Mr. Cobb, what do you think you’d hit if you were playing these days?” Cobb said, “Oh, if I played today I’d hit .290, maybe .300.” The reporter, somewhat stunned, asked, “You are the game’s all-time hitter and you’d maybe hit .300? Are today’s pitchers that much better than the ones you faced?” Cobb replied, “You’ve got to remember – I’m 73.”

"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."