The Unstoppable Ty Cobb

In this video I tell Ty Cobb's life story. Ty Cobb is often considered one of the best baseball players ever, but he has been much maligned as a human being. He certainly had a crazy life and was pretty intense, but perhaps the common misconception of him needs to soften.

Error 1: At 2:33 I say that Ty Cobb's mother 'shot and murdered' his father. Based on her acquittal of murder I should say that she 'shot and killed' his father instead.

[markrussell]

The craziest Ty Cobb stat is this: he could've gone hitless in his last 2300 at bats and still finished with a .300 average. Insane

[SharonElizabethWhitfield]

My great grandfather went to school with Ty Cobb in Royston, Georgia. They were close friends. They played baseball together before he played for the Detroit Tigers. In 1902, my great grandparents got married in a Ford Model A, which was a gift from Ty Cobb. It was given to my great grandfather before it was even available to the public. Only 1, 750 were made.

[Diogenes-tyyy]

My paternal grandfather was 81 when he passed away in 1962 and there were only 3 players' names he spoke of reverentially: Tris Speaker, Ty Cobb, and Honus Wagner. I always thought that he felt Cobb was the best as he would always talk of Cobb stealing bases or throwing out runners at first on balls hit to right field. I also remember that grandpa heard that Cobb had called Roger Maris a "busher" and grandpa also felt home runs were overrated. I still miss my grandpa and his stories about players he'd seen so long ago.

[colinmclean]

Ty Cobb would excel today. Twitter would hate him

[tommymadden]

He wasn't a demon nor was he a saint. He was just a man who played baseball. I love that statement.

[olathestanwalker]

I'm an avid baseball fan and always admired Cobb's records. I'm glad to hear the, if not totally good, at least not negative things about him. Sad that most of what we know about Cobb is from Stump's accounts, which appear to be false. Thanks for this video and clearing up some of the myth.

[Checkmate]

not only did he win the triple crown, he's the only man in baseball history to lead the league in batting, hits, homeruns, stolen bases and rbi

[tkearns]

When Cobb was on I've Got a Secret, at the end of his appearance he went over to shake the hands of the 4 stars on the panel. The first guy had his hand out to shake Cobb's hand, but Cobb walked by him to make sure he shook hands with the 2 ladies first before shaking the other 2 guys hands. He showed in that moment what a true gentleman he really was.

[TheBatugan]

He drove in nearly 2000 runs, scored more than 2000, and drove in 144 one year with a dead ball and far deeper fences. Amazing.

[kenkaplan]

In 1916, Cobb faced Ruth 13 times. In 11 AB, (two walks), he hit .273, OBP.385, slugging .273. OPS .657, one SO. That year Ruth led league in ERA .175, shutouts 9, 23 complete games. 0 opponent HR and 170 SO. One of the greatest pitching years ever, bar none.

[PatriotTheTree]

I love how this video was written. It was written, so that anyone, not just baseball fans can understand, but narrated without sounding like he was talking to children. Very well done.

[johnclark]

I saw the movie about his life and best thing he said was when asked how he would do against today’s pitching and he said he’d hit in 290’s and the reporter who asked the question said that you would only hit 290 and Cobb said well I’m 70 years old.

[onthelam]

Whenever Ty's story is told they should always mention Al Stump's lies. I too at one time believed those lies. Thank you for setting the record straight on one of the greatest baseball players to ever live. He was no saint but he sure as hell was no devil.

[stevejohnson]

I'm 66 and have always viewed the man through a harsh lens of myth. But it's never too late and now I see a different man like you said, with respect. Thank you for a thoughtful well done video.

[lvnx]

3:45 In today’s game, a single ball is only used for about 3-4 pitches before being replaced on average. And there’s a stringent process that each ball must go through over something like a 24 hour period.
That’s just one of the many differences between Cobb’s era and today, which makes it impossible to compare players of such different eras in my opinion.
I read Cobb’s biography (called “Cobb”, I think) and he was a fascinating character.

[robertbruce]

Thank you for this take on the best ballplayer in the history of my beloved Tigers.

I grew up with the Al Stump story, believing it to be the case. Like with the movie “JFK”, inaccuracies and plain lies will color the next generation, thanks to the movie “Cobb”.

The fact is that Cobb’s upbringing was very liberal for late 1800’s Georgia. He praised the Negro League players, and was a fan of Willie Mays. This was no klansman. He had extremely high standards for ball players, which hurt him as a Manager. But, they were applied consistently.

[sixsentsoldiers]

If players of the last 50 years played with half the passion as Cobb and Rose, we would have some very good things to talk about.

[dennismiddlebrooks]

He played his first major league game just 40 years after the Civil War ended. Many of the older fans would have been Union veterans, often disabled. Also, most of the players at the time were Northerners. and I am sure many had fathers and uncles who fought in the war. The memories of the conflict were still fresh. As a Georgian, the young Cobb would have taken a lot of hostile treatment from fans and players alike. He certainly proved he would not take crap from anyone.

[taatrs]

Great to see an honest video about arguably the greatest of all time.

[linak]

Thank you for the retraction. There is a difference between 'murder' and 'killing'.

Tyrus Cobb ⚾️ A disciplined and talented baseball player. He was great at his game but loudy off the field.