Ty Cobb

He married Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Marion Lombard, in August 1908. The couple lived on her father’s estate and then moved to their own house, five years later.

In 1930, he moved with his family into a Spanish ranch estate in a millionaires’ municipality. Around the same time, his wife filed for divorce and the couple split in 1947, after 39 years of marriage. They had three sons and two daughters. It is believed that he was very difficult as a father and as a husband.

Towards the end of his life, he indulged in other pursuits including fishing, golfing and polo. He also became a heavy smoker and an alcoholic.

Tyrus Raymond Cobb was born December 18, 1886 to William Herschel Cobb and Amanda Chitwood Cobb in Narrows, Georgia.

From very early on, his father had a great influence on his life and encouraged him to join organized baseball teams like the Royston Rumpers, Royston Reds, Augusta Tourists and the Anniston Steelers.

After joining the Steelers for a monthly salary of $50, he started getting noticed for his incredible baseball talent. He was eventually sold to the American League team, the ‘Detroit Tigers’ for a salary of $750, in August 1905.

An incident on August 8, 1905, changed Cobb’s outlook towards life and his personality forever. He sometimes attributed his violent on-field behavior to this particular incident which shook him. His father was shot dead by his mother in a freak incident, when his father suspected Cobb’s mother of infidelity and decided to sneak up on her in the bedroom to catch her in the ‘act’.

Believing her husband to be someone else after seeing his outline, she picked up the revolver and killed him in an act of self-defense. She was later charged with murder and acquitted the following year.

Three weeks after his father was killed, he debuted with the ‘Detroit Tigers’ on August 30, 1905, at the age of 18—the youngest player in the league ever. His success with his debut match gained him a money-spinning deal with the Tigers for $1,500 for the next year.

His volatile temperament alienated his teammates from him and he was being targeted by expert players. In 1906, he became the team’s permanent center fielder and hit an average of .316 in 98 games, the second-highest batting average for a 19 year old.

With his talent and sheer hard work, he led the Tigers’ to three consecutive wins from 1907 to 1909. At the age of 20, he became the youngest player to have won a ‘batting championship’.

From 1908 to 1909, he agreed to coach the baseball team of the Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina for a fee of $250 per month. However, this did not materialize.

In 1908 season, the ‘Detroit Tigers’, finished ahead of the Chicago White Sox and he once again, won the batting title, with a batting average of .324.

In 1911, he was selected the American League MVP.

He was bestowed a Chalmers car, for being voted the American League MVP by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, in 1936.