Tyrus Raymond Cobb Sr (1886 - 1961)

Born 18 Dec 1886 in Narrows, Banks, Georgia, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Charlie Marion (Lombard) Cobb — married 6 Aug 1908 (to about 1947) in Augusta, Columbia, Georgia, United States

Descendants

Died 17 Jul 1961 at age 74 in Atlanta, Fulton, Georgia, United States

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Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb, nicknamed The Georgia Peach, was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder. He spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers and is widely credited with setting 90 MLB records during his career.

Biography

Ty Cobb Sr is Notable.

Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb, nicknamed "The Georgia Peach," was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder^[1]. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the last six as the team's player-manager, and finished his career with the Philadelphia Athletics^[1]. In 1936 Cobb received the most votes of any player on the inaugural Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, receiving 222 out of a possible 226 votes.^[1]

Cobb was born December 18, 1886 in The Narrows, Georgia^[2][3][4], a small rural community of farmers that was not an official city or village at the time. He was the first of three children born to William Herschel Cobb (1863-1905) and Amanda Chitwood Cobb (1871-1936).^[1]

Ty grew up in the city of Royston^[5], and played and followed baseball there passionately. When he was old enough, he played for the Royston Rompers, the Royston Reds, and briefly for the Augusta Tourists.^[1] Once he joined the Anniston Steelers, he began promoting himself by sending anonymous postcards to the local writer that talked about his great skills as an up-and-coming player. He was eventually to return to the Tourists, and then have his contract sold to the Detroit Tigers in August 1905.^[1]

On August 8, 1905, in the same month he was to begin playing for the Tigers, his mother accidentally fatally shot and killed her husband. This act spurred young Ty along to play harder than ever before, claiming that he was doing it for his father, since his dad never got to see him play professional baseball.^[1]

Ty was immediately thrust into center field, and as his skills increased through the years, so did his salary. He was a tremendous player, batting well and stealing bases like no other. He was known for occasionally stealing third and even home plate when the opportunity presented itself. He was also known for his short temper which quickly turned to violence, even from time to time upon his own teammates.^[1] However, according to a new biography (2016), his reputation was unfairly maligned for decades, and he was not the cartoon racist portrayed in earlier biographies.^[6]

In August 1908, Ty married his first wife, Charlotte "Charlie" Marion Lombard.

They would end up having five children, Tyrus Raymond Jr. (born 1910 in Georgia), Shirley Marion (born 1911 in Michigan), Herschel Roswell (born 1917 in Georgia)^[7], Beverly (born 1919 in Georgia), and James Howell (born 1921 in Georgia).^[8][9]

Ty registered for the World War I draft.^[2] He is listed as a ball player and was exempt from service due to dependents. He was playing for Detroit at the time. In 1918 he served on the Western Front as a captain in the Chemical Warfare Service, 1st Gas Regiment.

Ty passed away 17 July 1961 in Dekalb, Georgia.^[10][4] He is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, Royston, Franklin, Georgia.^[4]

In 2009 the Calhoun County Commission & the City of Anniston, Alabama erected a Historical Marker on the site where Ty lived while playing minor league baseball for the Anniston Steelers. The inscription reads:

"In 1904, 18 year old Tyrus Raymond Cobb lived in a boarding house on this site while playing minor league baseball for the Anniston Steelers. From nearby Scarbrough Drug Store on Noble Street he wrote letters, using fictitious names, to sports writer Grantland Rice, describing what a great baseball player Cobb was in Anniston. These letters resulted in a scout from the Detroit Tiger organization coming to Anniston and discovering Ty Cobb, who became the greatest baseball player of all time."

The marker is located at 33° 39.432′ N, 85° 49.622′ W in Anniston, Alabama, in Calhoun County, at the intersection of East 10th Street and Quintard Avenue, on the right when traveling west on East 10th Street.

Baseball Stats

Other sources may have slightly different figures. Caught Stealing is not shown comprehensively because the stat was not regularly recorded until 1920.

Cobb's career totals from Baseball Reference are as follows. ^[11]

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	TB	SH	HBP
3,034	11,440	2,245	4,189	724	295	117	1,944	897	212	1,249	680	.366	.433	.512	5,854	292	94

Cobb's career totals published by Major League Baseball Enterprises, Inc. are shown below: ^[12]

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	TB	SH	HBP
3,035	11,429	2,246	4,191	723	297	117	1,938	892	---	1,249	357	.367	.433	.513	5,859	295	94

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7} Wikipedia contributors, "Ty Cobb," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (accessed 26 June 2023).
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, database with images, FamilySearch, Tyrus R Cobb, 1917-1918; citing Augusta City no 2, Georgia, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1509 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,556,956.
3. ↑ United States World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942, database with images, FamilySearch, Tyrus Raymond Cobb, 1942; citing NARA microfilm publication M1936, M1937, M1939, M1951, M1962, M1964, M1986, M2090, and M2097 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Find A Grave Index, database, FamilySearch, Ty Cobb, 1961; Burial, Royston, Franklin, Georgia, United States of America, Rose Hill Cemetery; citing record ID 210, Find A Grave Memorial# 210
5. ↑ United States Census, 1900, database with images, FamilySearch, Tyrus R Cobb in household of William H Cobb, Militia Districts 370, 1363, Manley, West Bowersville Royston town, Franklin, Georgia, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 30, sheet 5B, family 97, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,197.
6. ↑ Bill Littlefield, "Was Baseball Great Ty Cobb Really A Racist? New Biography Says No, WBUR (16 May 2016).
7. ↑ California, County Marriages, 1850-1952, database with images, FamilySearch, Tyrus Raymond Cobb in entry for Herschel Roswell Cobb and Marjorie Rose Brogan, 18 Mar 1940; citing Los Angeles, California, United States, county courthouses, California; FHL microfilm 2,114,369.
8. ↑ United States Census, 1920, database with images, FamilySearch, Tyrus R Cobb, Augusta Ward 6, Richmond, Georgia, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 106, sheet 10B, line 73, family 252, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 276; FHL microfilm 1,820,276.
9. ↑ United States Census, 1930, database with images, FamilySearch, Tyrus R Cobb, Augusta, Richmond, Georgia, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 36, sheet 9A, line 47, family 234, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 383; FHL microfilm 2,340,118.
10. ↑ Georgia Death Index, 1933-1998, database, FamilySearch, Tyrus R Cobb, 17 Jul 1961; from Georgia Deaths, 1919-98, database, Ancestry 2001; citing DeKalb, Georgia, certificate number 17910, Georgia Health Department, Office of Vital Records, Atlanta.
11. ↑ ["Ty Cobb Career Statistics"]. "Ty Cobb Career Statistics". Sports Reference, Inc. Retrieved May 19, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
12. ↑ "Historical Player Stats: Ty Cobb". Major League Baseball. Retrieved June 26, 2023.

• The Historical Marker Database (https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=106606)

• California, San Francisco Passenger Lists, 1893-1953, database with images, FamilySearch, Ty Cobb, 1928; citing San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1410 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 2,381,031.

• Hawaii, Honolulu Passenger Lists, 1900-1953, database with images, FamilySearch, Ty Cobb, 1928-1929; citing Ship, NARA microfilm publication A3422 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1957, database with images, FamilySearch, Ty Cobb, 1929; citing Immigration, New York, New York, United States, NARA microfilm publication T715 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• United States Census, 1940, database with images, FamilySearch, Tyrus Cobb, East Fork Township, Douglas, Nevada, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 3-1, sheet 10B, line 63, family 251, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 2276.

See also:

• Wikidata: Item Q552828

• Ty Cobb Biography

• Ty Cobb Museum

• Article in Smithsonian Magazine

• San Francisco Chronicle

• Georgia Encyclopedia article

• Society for American Baseball research

• Charles Leerhsen's new biography (2016)

• For a full list of every trading card with images and stats see direct link at the TradingCardDatabase