Peach: Ty Cobb in His Time and Ours

As author Richard Bak points out Ty Cobb was a complex personality. The traumatic death of his father when Tyrus was 19 years old, having been shot by his Ty's mother who maintained she thought he was a burgler entering a window of the house at night would be enough to traumatize anyone, let alone a 19 year old boy. This, in addition to the hazing from teammates, may well have scarred his personality to an extent that he saw the devil in whoever he met. Cobb was determined to succeed when he found himself in such circumstances. It is undoubtedly true that he was a racist. However, most major league players were from the south during this time period and held equally racist attitudes, hall of famers such as Speaker, Hornsby, and Anson included. Author Richard Bak makes a convincing case regarding Al Stump's not knowing Ty Cobb as well as he claimed to know him when writing Cobb's life story, "My Life in Baseball: The True Record". That Cobb was not well liked by many players is undoubtedly true, but he had his sentimental side as well. His two wives divorced him and his children didn't feel close to him and even feared his temper rages. One anecdote: Neal Conway, the head groundskeeper in Detroit, idolized Ty Cobb and saw to it that every one of his needs were met. At the end of the season Conway was invited to join Cobb downtown to accept a gift of Cobb's appreciation. The admirer was given a box the size of which suggested a wrist watch. Cobb had to leave immediately for Georgia. Neal quickly opened the gift and found a tube of Colgate toothpaste. I feel the author presented both sides of Ty Cobb, but I found a glaring error that really is inexcusable. On page 107 the author states "Speaker (Tris) was good enough to join Ty in the Hall of Fame's inaugural class of inductees." Cobb was a charter member of the Hall of Fame along with Ruth, Wagner, Mathewson, and Johnson. These five were elected in 1936. Speaker was elected in 1937. I have to knock off a star for this error.

Richard Bak is one of the best sportwriters working today, and his other books on early 20th-century baseball show his comprehensive knowledge and remarkable insight into the era and its players. (He's even done an illustrated history of Casey Stengel--now, that's deep history.) This book has some wonderful images, and the writing is up to Mr. Bak's standards, which is to say, excellent. Cobb's story is an amazing one, and Mr. Bak tells it well. This book was hard to put down once I started reading it. It's been rumored that he's been working on a long-awaited book on the Dead Ball era, and I for one can't wait.

Peach: Ty Cobb In His Time And Ours is a coffee table biography of one of baseball's greatest players, who hit .367 over 24 seasons (1905-1928), won a dozen batting titles, and was the first man elected to baseball's Hall of Fame. Ty Cobb was well known for his intense and changeable personality, rivalries, and petty jealousies; but author Richard Bak reveals a side of Ty Cobb less discussed... a man who came to the aid of down-and-out ballplayers, founded a hospital system and educational foundation which remain successful after a half-century, and who came to terms with his own tarnished legend. Published to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Ty Cobb's baseball debut, and featuring over 150 rarely seen black-and-white photographs, Peach: Ty Cobb In His Time And Ours is a slice of unforgettable sports history and a "must-have" for fans of great baseball figures throughout history.