Ty Cobb was one of the most famous baseball players who every lived. The author puts Cobb into the context of his times, describing the very different game on the field then, and successfully probes Cobb's complex personality.

Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 - July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball center fielder. Born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the last six as the team's player-manager, and 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%). Conside...

Veteran sports writer S. A. Kramer recounts the on-the-field triumphs and off-the-field troubles of the tormented "Georgia Peach," perhaps the most hated man ever to play baseball.

"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." – Ty Cobb"Cobb is a prick. But he sure can hit. God Almighty, that man can hit." – Babe RuthAs one of America’s oldest and most beloved sports, baseball has long been touted as the national pastime, but of all the millions of people who have played it over the last few centuries, few have influenced Major League Baseball like Ty Cobb, whose career spanned o...

Ty Cobb called baseball a “red-blooded game for red-blooded men,” warning that “molly coddles had better stay out.” By this, Cobb meant that baseball was the ultimate expression of the masculine ideal – a game of aggression, rivalry, physical and mental dexterity, self-reliance, and primal honor. For over twenty years, Cobb expressed his fierce brand of manhood in ballparks throughout the American Northeast, gaining for himself a level of celebrity that was unsurpassed in the early twentie...

Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker are both legendary Hall of Fame baseball players. The men were icons in the early 20th Century sports world where baseball was truly the national pastime and the biggest sport of them all in America. In the summer and fall of 1926 a former major league pitcher, Hubert Dutch Leonard, came forward with letters that had been sent to him by Ty Cobb, his former manager. Cobb and Leonard had a tempestuous relationship that culminated with the pitcher being sent back to t...

"Highly successful in knitting together this story of the life of a most remarkable and dedicated player—perhaps the most spirited baseball player ever to have graced the diamond."—Library Journal

The grandson of the legendary baseball player reveals another side of "a fascinating, severely flawed sports icon" ( Booklist).Ty Cobb's grandson Herschel saw a side of him that very few others did. While baseball fans were familiar with Cobb's infamously cold, competitive nature—and his relationship with his own children was deeply difficult—Cobb, in his later years, embraced the opportunity to form a loving bond with his grandchildren during their summer...

The Deadball Era (1901–1920) is a baseball fan's dream. Hope and despair, innocence and cynicism, and levity and hostility blended then to create an air of excitement, anticipation, and concern for all who entered the confines of a major league ballpark. Cheating for the sake of victory earned respect, corrupt ballplayers fixed games with impunity, and violence plagued the sport.At the same time, endearing practices infused baseball with lightheartedness, kindness, and laughter. Fa...

The Deadball Era (1901û1920) is a baseball fanÆs dream. Hope and despair, innocence and cynicism, and levity and hostility blended then to create an air of excitement, anticipation, and concern for all who entered the confines of a major league ballpark. Cheating for the sake of victory earned respect, corrupt ballplayers fixed games with impunity, and violence plagued the sport. Spectators stormed the field to attack players and umpires, ballplayers charged the stands to pummel hecklers, ...

Mid-20th Century “Huckleberry Finn” Arises in Oklahoma As a Baby, Did He Really See an Escaped Bear + Did He Swallow His Candy Money (Nickel & Two Pennies) + Did He Grab an Oscar in First Grade as “Best Shepard” + Was He King of Prairie Dog Town + Did He Bale 1,000s of Hay Bales with a New Holland Machine + Did he Get Caught Speeding with a Ford Tractor at Age 9 + Did He Sleep at the Police Station + After Being Bitten, Did He Outrun a Crazed Dog + Did He Dodge Polio + Did He Become a Zebr...

As one of America’s oldest and most beloved sports, baseball has long been touted as the national pastime, but of all the millions of people who have played it over the last few centuries, the first name that many associate with Major League Baseball is Babe Ruth, whose career spanned over 20 years on the way to becoming the sport’s biggest legend. The Bambino came onto the scene as a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, only to be infamously sold to the rival New York Yankees, where he went on...