War on the Basepaths
The Definitive Biography of Ty Cobb
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
During his twenty-four-year career, Ty Cobb was an MVP, Triple Crown-winner, twelve-time batting champion, and was elected in the inaugural ballot for the National Baseball Hall of Fame (along with Honus Wagner, Babe Ruth, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson). As someone who retired from the game over eighty-five years ago, he is still the leader for career batting average, second in runs, hits, and triples, and a mainstay in dozens of other categories.
However, when most people think of “The Georgia Peach,” they’re reminded of his reputation as a “dirty” player. It was said that got so many of his steals because he would sharpen his metal cleats and “spike” the second basemen if they would try to tag him out. It’s also said that he was rude, nasty, a racist, and hated by peers and the press alike.
As author Tim Hornbaker did for Charles Comiskey in Turning the Black Sox White, War on the Basepaths is an unbiased biography of one of the greatest players to ever grace a baseball diamond. Based on detailed research and analysis, Tim Hornbaker offers the full story of Cobb’s life and career; some of which has been altered for almost a century. While he retired in 1928 and passed away in 1961, War on the Basepaths will show how Ty Cobb really was and place readers in the box seats of his incredible life.
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PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In a 24-year career in pro baseball, Cobb, "the Georgia Peach," did everything asked of a superstar in his sport: he was an 11-time batting champ, an MVP Triple Crown winner, and a Hall of Famer. Sports historian Hornbaker (Turning the Black Sox White) fills in the impressive achievements of Tyrus Raymond Cobb, who established 90 baseball records in his career, with a .367 batting average, 4,191 hits, 2,244 runs, and 892 stolen bases. Described by his mother as "impetuous and headstrong," the young man was a fierce competitor, a student of the game, making failure not an option when he signed as a rookie with the Detroit Tigers. Cobb's mother allegedly murdered his state senator father, an act that bedeviled his family with sensational rumors, despite her acquittal, and may have contributed to Cobb's emotional turbulence. Hornbaker briefly addresses Cobb's reputation, both as a hothead who would hurt opposing players and beat up fans in the stands, and as a white son of the South who tolerated no criticism from "the colored." The author effectively chronicles the ups and downs of Cobb's long career with the Detroit Tigers and brief time with the Philadelphia Athletics until his departure in 1928. Hornbaker attempts to elevate Cobb as "an imperfect man" with a solid sports legacy, despite evidence of the star's reckless and cruel nature, but to no avail.
