Ty Cobb: Baseball, Cola, and the like

Ty Cobb, (aka The Georgia Peach),will always be remembered for his fiery temper, psychological games he would play on his opponents, and other antics, but nonetheless, he was also one of baseball's greatest players. During the inaugural year of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936, Cobb received the highest percentage of votes on a ballot at that time. His field position and managerial times were served with the Detroit Tigers (1905 - 1926), the Philadelphia Athletics (1927 - 1928), and as the Tiger's Manager (1921-1926). Yes, those were the days of the player/managers and when Cobb was in competition with Babe Ruth and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson.

In 1909, Cobb was able to steal two bases even though the batter was playing out of turn. Later, in 1912, Cobb was suspended for attacking a handicapped heckler after the heckler shouted obscenities at him. Cobb's team supported him in his decision and went out on strike for the season. While Cobb may have had a fiery temper, he was also a smart businessman. During his career, he invested in Coca-Cola, purchasing three bottling plants and a large sum of stocks. As he grew older, he donated $100,000 to build the Cobb Memorial Hospital, and established the Cobb Educational Fund to help needy Georgians attend college.

Professionally on the diamond, Cobb was an intimidator. During pitcher Walter Johnson's twenty-one year career, Cobb forced him over four hundred times, hitting .370. This was four points higher than his career batting average of .366. He also hit .400 plus three times (1911 - 1912, 1922), .350 plus sixteen times (1907, 1909 - 1919, 1921 - 1922, 1925, 1927). In addition, he let the American League in batting average nine years in a row (1907 -1915) and twelve out of thirteen years (1907 - 1915, 1917 - 1919). Because of these accomplishments, he was named #3 out of 100 in the Sporting News' 100 Greatest Players. Today the Ty Cobb museum in Royston, Georgia pays homage to one of baseball's greatest players. Some of Cobb's other records and statistics are as follows:

Games played - 3034 (ranks 5th overall)
At-bats - 11, 434 (ranks 5th overall)
Runs - 2246 (ranks 2nd overall)
Hits - 4189 (2nd overall)
Doubles - 724 (4th overall)
Triples - 295 (2nd overall)
Runs batted in - 1938 (5th overall)
Walks - 1249 (44th overall)
Batting average - .366 (1st overall)
On-base percentage - .433 (8th overall, tied with Todd Helton)
Slugging average - .512 (64th overall)
Stolen bases - 897 (4th overall)
On-base + slugging .945 (26th overall)
Games played in outfield - 2934 (1st overall)