“The American League has never had a more honest player, a harder fighter, a cleaner sportsman, a greater drawing card, a more colorful performer, nor a greater athlete than Ty!”
SVERRE O. BRAATHEN SAYS GEORGIA PEACH HAS KEEN MIND
It is hard to believe that Cobb’s career must come to a close sometime. For twenty-three years he has been the idol of baseball fandom. For twenty-three consecutive years he has been the headline player of the American League. Baseball will not seem like the good old game when Cobb passes out of the picture. Possibly, Ty Cobb will always be connected with the great American game in one way or another. But when he lays aside his uniform, baseball will have lost its greatest human asset.
No man has done more for the American League than Tyrus Raymond Cobb. He has given his all to this organization. The American League has never had a more honest player, a harder fighter, a cleaner sportsman, a greater drawing card, a more colorful performer, nor a greater athlete than Ty.
Tyrus Cobb is a wonderful man personally. He is very democratic, kind hearted, generous, hospitable and courteous. He is a very well-read man and has an exceptionally keen mind. Although he has obtained practically every batting and base running record and has been honored by hundreds of thousands of people, he has never become conceited nor egotistical, but has always remained the same old lovable Ty.
If one were attempted to relate all of Cobb’s achievements on the diamond, it would require many volumes. It has been something of a problem to confine the book to one of moderate size.
Years ago they named Cobb the “Georgia Peach.” One base ball writer said that in one sense of the word this title was a misnomer because of the fact that no peach ever was so long in bloom, so consistently sweet in its characteristics, or so much the flower of the base ball world. Nevertheless, the cognomen has stuck, though the nickname “Ty” has vied with it for popularity.
Baseball, Ty Cobb’s chosen profession, is truly the great American game. It is rightfully called the national pastime. It is played by thousands and is observed by millions all over this broad land of ours. It is played by young and old in every walk of life. Youngsters play it on vacant lots; youth play it on its “sandlots;” professional and business men play it in their “knife and fork” leagues. Every college and high school has its baseball team. Nearly every village and hamlet boasts of its local nine. Baseball affords the principal amusement for millions during the summer months from New York to San Francisco and from Jacksonville to Seattle.
Tyrus Raymond Cobb made his big league debut in a Detroit uniform on August 30th, 1905, before a home crowd of less than 1200 people, with the New York club as the opposition. How little did any one of the twelve hundred fans who saw Ty Cobb make the two-bagger on that August day in 1905 realize that he had witnessed the first hit of the man who was destined to become the greatest ball player of all time.
Ty in his 23 years has obtained practically every batting and base-running record that it is possible to hold. He has been consistent throughout his entire career. His records are a result of his natural ability, speed of foot, keen eyesight and keen mind, coupled with his determination, his powers of concentration and his almost perfect co-ordination of mind and muscle.