Ty Cobb

Ty Cobb (1886-1961), American professional baseball player, considered one of the greatest all-around players in the history of the game. The Detroit Tigers outfielder established several major league records, including a career batting average of .367 that still stands as the highest ever.

Tyrus Raymond Cobb was born in Narrows, Georgia. He began his major league baseball career in 1905 as a center fielder with the Tigers of the American League (AL). Nicknamed the Georgia Peach, Cobb soon took the league by storm. Beginning in 1907 he captured nine consecutive batting titles and he led the AL in hits seven times between 1907 and 1917. By 1919 Cobb added three more batting titles and posted three batting averages above .400, while maintaining a fielding average of .944 and higher.

Although Cobb was an extremely talented player, he was also known as a fierce competitor. He used several tactics to intimidate opponents including sharpening his cleats in plain view before a game and a physical style when sliding into bases. His bad temper and outspoken demeanor also resulted in fist fights with opponents, umpires, and teammates. Cobb remained with the Tigers through the 1926 season and although he helped the club to three consecutive AL pennants from 1907 through 1909, his team never won a World Series. His last two seasons were spent with the Philadelphia Athletics, also an AL club.

In addition to his career batting average mark, Cobb established many major league and AL records during his 24 years of play. These included the most career hits (4,191), a record broken by Pete Rose in 1985; career runs (2,245), broken by Rickey Henderson in 2001; and most stolen bases in a season (96 in 1915), a record first eclipsed by Maury Wills, who stole 104 bases in 1962. Cobb was one of the first five players elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936. In 1969 a panel of baseball writers named him one of the greatest outfielders in the 100-year history of the sport.