Ty Cobb (1936)


Date of Birth: 12/18/1886
Date of Death: 7/17/1961
Birthplace: Narrows, Georgia

Ty Cobb, undoubtedly one of the best players in baseball history, played with the Detroit Tigers for 22 years (1905-1926) and with the Philadelphia Athletics for two years (1927-1928). He also managed the Tigers from 1921 through 1926.

Cobb started playing baseball as a child, and as a teenager, he tried out for local teams. In 1904, he began his professional career in the minor leagues with the Southern Atlantic League and with the Tennessee-Alabama League. He continued to play with the Southern Atlantic League in 1905, until his contract was purchased by the Tigers in August, 1905.

Detroit Tigers

Cobb first joined the Tigers for 41 games in 1905. The following season, he batted .316 in 98 games. He had 113 hits, 15 doubles, and 23 stolen bases in 1906.

Cobb led the AL in batting average, hits, stolen bases, and OPS in 1907. He had 212 hits, 28 doubles, 14 triples, 49 stolen bases, and a .350 batting average in 150 games. His OPS that year was .848. The following season, he again led the league in batting average with .324. He also led in hits, doubles, triples, and OPS. He finished the 1908 season with 188 hits, 36 doubles, 20 triples, 39 stolen bases, and an OPS of .848 in 150 games.

Cobb played in a career high 156 games in 1909. He led the AL in hits, stolen bases, batting average, on-base percentage, and OPS. He had 216 hits, 33 doubles, 76 stolen bases, and a .377 batting average. His on-base percentage was .431 and his OPS was .948. He again led the league in on-base percentage (.456) and OPS (1.007) in 1910. He finished the season with 194 hits, 35 doubles, 13 triples, 65 stolen bases, and a .382 batting average in 140 games.

In 1911, Cobb won the American League MVP award, and he led the league in doubles, triples, stolen bases, batting average, and OPS. He had career highs in hits (248), doubles (47), triples (24), batting average (.420), and OPS (1.086). He had 83 stolen bases in 146 games.

Cobb continued to dominate the AL offensively in 1912 and 1913. He led the league in hits (226), batting average (.409), and OPS (1.040) in 1912. The following season, he led the league in batting average (.390) and on-base percentage (.467).

Cobb played in just 98 games in 1914, and he still led the AL in batting average with .368, on-base percentage with .466, and OPS with .979. He had 127 hits, 22 doubles, and 35 stolen bases that year.

Cobb had another outstanding season in 1915, once more leading the AL in hits, stolen bases, batting average, on-base percentage, and OPS. He played in a career high 156 games and he also had career highs in stolen bases with 96, walks with 118 to just 43 strikeouts, and on-base percentage with .486. He finished the season with 208 hits, 31 doubles, 13 triples, a .369 batting average, and an OPS of .973.

Although Cobb had another strong season in 1916, he only led the AL in stolen bases that year. He had 201 hits, 31 doubles, 68 stolen bases, 39 strikeouts to 78 walks, and a .371 batting average in 145 games. He had an even better season in 1917, when he led the league in hits (225), doubles (44), triples (a career high of 24), stolen bases (55), batting average (.383), on-base percentage (.444), and OPS (1.014). He played in 152 games that season.

Cobb played in only 111 games in 1918. He led the AL in triples with 14, batting average with .382, and on-base percentage with .440. In 1919, he led the AL in hits for the eighth and final time and in batting average for the eleventh and final time. He finished the season with 191 hits, 36 doubles, 13 triples, 28 stolen bases, and a .384 batting average in 124 games.

In 1920, Cobb batted .334 in 112 games. The following season, he had a .389 batting average in 128 games. He finished the 1921 season with 197 hits, 37 doubles, 16 triples, a career high 12 home runs, 22 stolen bases, and 101 RBIs. In 1922, he batted over .400 for the last time in his career. That season, he had 211 hits, 42 doubles, 16 triples, 99 RBIs, and a .401 batting average in 137 games.

Cobb continued to play well in 1923 and 1924, batting .340 with 189 hits in 145 games in 1923, and batting .338 with 211 hits in 155 games the following year.

Cobb led the AL in OPS for a final time in 1925. He finished that season with an OPS of 1.066, 157 hits, 31 doubles, 12 triples, a career high 12 home runs, 102 RBIs, and a .378 batting average in 121 games. He played in just 79 games in 1926, and he batted .339 with 79 hits.

Philadelphia Athletics

In 1926, Cobb, along with Tris Speaker, was forced into retirement due to a game-fixing scandal. However, both were cleared and Cobb returned in 1927 to the Philadelphia Athletics. That season, he batted .357 with 175 hits, 32 doubles, and 93 RBIs in 134 games.

Cobb played in just 95 games in 1928. He batted .323 with 114 hits, 27 doubles, and 40 RBIs. He voluntarily retired at the end of the season.

Awards and MLB Records

  • AL Triple Crown (1909)
  • AL MVP (1911)
  • Led AL in batting average (11 times)
  • Led AL in hits (8 times)
  • Led AL in doubles (3 times)
  • Led AL in triples (4 times)
  • Led AL in stolen bases (6 times)
  • Led AL in RBIs (4 times)
  • Led AL in on-base percentage (7 times)
  • Led AL in OPS (10 times)

Career Statistics

Statistics for Cobb in 24 seasons (1905-1928) in the major leagues include:

  • 18 seasons with over 150 hits, with a high of 248 in 1911
  • 15 seasons with 30 or more doubles, with a high of 47 in 1911
  • 17 seasons with 10 or more triples, with a high of 24 in 1911 and 1917
  • 7 seasons with over 100 RBIs, with a high of 127 in 1911
  • 8 seasons with over 50 stolen bases, with highs of 76 in 1909, 83 in 1911, and 96 in 1915
  • 19 seasons with a batting average over .300, with a high of .420 in 1911

Career batting statistics for Cobb include:

  • 3,034 games played
  • 4,189 hits
  • 724 doubles
  • 295 triples
  • 897 stolen bases
  • .366 batting average
  • .433 on-base percentage
  • .944 OPS

Career fielding statistics for Cobb as a center fielder include:

  • 2,096 games played
  • 4,978 putouts
  • 202 errors
  • .963 fielding percentage

Postseason statistics for Cobb include:

  • 3 postseasons
  • 17 games played
  • 65 at-bats
  • 17 hits
  • 4 doubles
  • 1 triple
  • 4 stolen bases
  • 9 RBIs
  • 7 strikeouts to 3 walks
  • .262 batting average

Post Playing Years

Cobb was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1936 on the first ballot with 98.2% of the vote.

Sources for Information
Wikipedia - Ty Cobb
ESPN - Ty Cobb
Baseball Reference - Ty Cobb

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