The real Ty Cobb?

[PSM]

A new biography of Cobb is out entitled Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty, by Charles Leershen. The PDF attached is from a speech that he gave at Hillsdale College in March.

Since most of us grew up hearing the "sharpened spikes" tale I'll post an excerpt:

What of the stories about him sharpening his spikes and injuring
opposing players? Cobb believed strongly that the runner had the right
of way in what he called “my little patch,” in front of the bag. The opposing
players who were asked to comment on him respected his ability and
consistency, and agreed with his “little patch” theory. “It was no fun putting
the ball on Cobb when he came slashing into the plate,” said Wally Schang,
who caught for almost every American League Club. “But he never cut me
up. He was too pretty a slider to hurt anyone who put the ball on him right.”
Infielder Germany Schaefer, a teammate of Cobb, called him “a game
square fellow who never cut a man with his spikes intentionally in his life, and
anyone who gets by with his spikes knows it.” And if Cobb could dish out
the punishment, he could also take it. Catcher Steve O’Neill of the Cleveland
Naps once favored Cobb with the greatest compliment a catcher can give: “He
came home on a base hit and I was blocking the plate. I got him in the
kidneys and knocked him out. When he came to he didn’t say a word. He just
got up and limped out to his position.”

There is a famous photograph that is often used to indict Cobb. It shows
Cobb and St. Louis Browns catcher Paul Krichell in 1912. Cobb appears to be flying
foot-first into Krichell’s crotch while the catcher squints in pained anticipation.
But there is a 1950s interview with Krichell, then a scout for the Yankees,
and by his own testimony, Cobb was aiming his foot at the ball in Krichell’s
glove, and succeeded in knocking it to the backstop. Here is Krichell’s account:
“The ball hit the grandstand on the fly. I was mad and stunned. Cobb was mad
and shaken. In a way it was really my fault. I was standing in front of the plate,
instead of on the side, where I could tag Ty as he slid in. But out of that mix-up I
learned one thing: never stand directly in front of the plate when Cobb was
roaring for home.”

He apparently even went to the League to get them to dull the spikes of all players so that he could shake this myth.

Perhaps Cobb joins a growing list of famous men who have been libeled in the past to include William Bligh and Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. Rest in peace, all.

Pat