Sunday, 22 December 2024

Ty Cobb

Contest: The US Athletic Hall of Fame - Athletes 2024
Embed from Getty Images
Sport(s): Baseball
Statistics: 1 MVP (1911)
1 Triple Crown (1908)
12 Batting Titles (1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1917, 1918 & 1919)
1 Home Run Title (1909)
4 RBI Titles (1907, 1908, 1909 & 1911)
.366 Batting Average
4,191 Hits
117 Home Runs
1,938 Runs Batted In
892 Stolen Bases
Member of the Baseball Hall of Fame
Name honored by the Detroit Tigers
Named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team
Just how good was Ty Cobb?

When the Baseball Hall of Fame named their first class in 1936, it was Cobb who received the most votes, defeating such luminaries as Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson.

Cobb is regarded as one of the best hitters that the game of baseball has ever produced. “The Georgia Peach” led the league in batting twelve times, and he amassed 4,191 hits, a record that remained intact until it was broken by Pete Rose in 1985. While that record fell, his lifetime Batting Average of .366 looks to be untouchable.

He is still in the top five all-time in runs scored (2,245, 2nd), Doubles (724, 4th), triples (295, 2nd), and stolen bases (897, 4th).

However, Cobb was an unpopular player with his teammates and known for his bouts of violence and racist behavior, which was abhorrent even in that era, though some baseball historians have claimed that his bad conduct was widely exaggerated. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that Cobb was one of the best baseball players who ever lived.

We are proud to nominate Ty Cobb for the United States Athletic Hall of Fame.

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