Ty Cobb My Life In Baseball (7)

Ty Cobb My Life in Baseball (6) With Al Stump Read 9/21/2020 Ty Cobb one of the greatest baseball players ever, and one of the best Tigers ever. Much malined and till controiversal 100 years later. The sub title to the book is The True Record. Written in 1960 about a year before he died this was Cobb's attempt to refubut all his critics and have the last word on seemingly every disagreement he ever had. It was exactly what I expected. He was still very bitter after all those years. First thing that surprised me was they he was born into a highly respected and educated family. His father, a US Senator was disapointed he didnt study law, and instead played ball. Over all the book was a bit tedious with lots of very specific information about games, people etc. If you were a baseball fanatic I am sure this is gold. He talks glowingly about teammates and opponents alike. He lived and breathed baseball, and has some intersting stories about some of the greatest players of the game. The one thing that stuck me was he talking about how great a pitcher Cy Young was and how he had trouble hitting him... We forget he was an ACTUAL pitcher, one of the best, and not just an award at the end of the season. He didnt have anything good to say about the modern (1960's) game, thought the players were soft and did not like the long ball. While bitter a lot of what he said still rings true. The coddling of pitchers, and players in general... the length of the games... the moving around of players that breaks the traditional rivalaries and appeal of the teams, and the leagues. I am sure he would be discusted at the present game... but so are some of the fans, myself included. In closing I think he was a complex man. One of great skill that attracted people that wanted to tear him down. I dont think he was a saint but I also dont believe all the wild rumors you hear about him either. Those rumors were there when he played too, and I think he kept quiet or promoted them as an imtimataion factor against his opponenets.