Ty Cobb

He was the first of three children born to William Herschel Cobb (1863–1905) and Amanda Chitwood Cobb (1871–1936).

Cobb's father was a state senator.

When he was still an infant, his parents moved to the nearby town of Royston, where he grew up.

By most accounts, he became fascinated with baseball as a child, and decided he wanted to play professional ball one day; his father was vehemently opposed to this idea, but by his teen years, he was trying out for area teams.

He played his first years in organized baseball for the Royston Rompers, the semi-pro Royston Reds, and the Augusta Tourists of the South Atlantic League, who released him after only two days.

He then tried out for the Anniston, Alabama based Anniston Steelers of the semipro Tennessee–Alabama League, with his father's stern admonition ringing in his ears: "Don't come home a failure!"

After joining the Steelers for a monthly salary of $50, Cobb promoted himself by sending several postcards written about his talents under different aliases to Grantland Rice, the Atlanta Journal sports editor.

Eventually, Rice wrote a small note in the Journal that a "young fellow named Cobb seems to be showing an unusual lot of talent."

After about three months, Cobb returned to the Tourists and finished the season hitting .237 in 35 games.While with the Tourists he was mentored and coached by George Leidy, who emphasized pinpoint bunting and aggression on the basepaths.

Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder.

He was 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.

Cobb was born in 1886 in Narrows, Georgia, a small, unincorporated rural community of farmers.

In August 1905, the management of the Tourists sold Cobb to the American League's Detroit Tigers for $750.

On August 8, 1905, Cobb's mother, Amanda, fatally shot his father, William, with a pistol that William had purchased for her.

Court records indicate that William Cobb had suspected Amanda of infidelity and was sneaking past his own bedroom window to catch her in the act.

She saw the silhouette of what she presumed to be an intruder and, acting in self-defense, shot and killed her husband.

Amanda Cobb was charged with murder and released on a $7,000 recognizance bond.

On August 30, 1905, in his first major league at bat, he doubled off Jack Chesbro of the New York Highlanders.

Chesbro had won 41 games the previous season.

Cobb was 18 years old at the time, the youngest player in the league by almost a year.

Although he hit only .240 in 41 games, he signed a $1,500 contract to play for the Tigers in 1905.

As a rookie, Cobb was subject to severe hazing by his veteran teammates, who were jealous of the young prospect.

She was acquitted on March 31, 1906.

Ty Cobb later attributed his ferocious play to his late father, saying, "I did it for my father. He never got to see me play ... but I knew he was watching me, and I never let him down."

Cobb was initiated into Freemasonry in 1907, earning the 32nd degree in 1912.

In 1911, Cobb moved to Detroit's architecturally significant and now historically protected Woodbridge neighborhood, from which he would walk with his dogs to the ballpark prior to games.

The Victorian duplex in which Cobb lived still stands.

Three weeks after his mother killed his father, Cobb debuted in center field for the Detroit Tigers.

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.

He retained many other records for almost a half century or more, including most career hits until 1985 (4,189 or 4,191, depending on source), most career runs (2,245 or 2,246 depending on source) until 2001, most career games played (3,035) and at bats (11,429 or 11,434 depending on source) until 1974, and the modern record for most career stolen bases (892) until 1977.

He still 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.

Cobb ranks fifth all time in number of games played, and committed 271 errors, the most by any American League (AL) outfielder.

Cobb's legacy, 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, primarily stemming from a couple of mostly discredited biographies that were released following his death.

Cobb's reputation as a violent man was fanned by his first biographer, sportswriter Al Stump, whose stories about Cobb have been discredited as sensationalized, and have largely proven to be fictional.

While he was known for often violent conflicts, he spoke favorably about black players joining the Major Leagues and was a well-known philanthropist.

In 1999, the Sporting News ranked Cobb third on its list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players."

Cobb is widely credited with setting 90 MLB records during his career.

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.

He still holds several records as of the end of the 2022 season, including the highest career batting average (.366) and most career batting titles with 11 (or 12, depending on source).