Ty Cobb: Another Good Reason for Despising the Media

By Rich Kozlovich

Those of you who've been reading P&D know I don't do sports or entertainment, except when there's an underlying social commentary. This is one of those exceptions.

On December 14, Will Brewster posted this article, Was Baseball Legend Ty Cobb Really a Murderous Maniac?, on the American Thinker web site saying:

"He was the first inductee into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame and the sport's first national icon"..........."He is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished and electrifying athletes ever to live. His name is Ty Cobb, and despite his hard work, winner mentality, and legendary achievements on the field, he is remembered as being an anti-social racist, bigot, dirty player, and downright awful human being."

"Every student of the game knows the old stories.  Ty Cobb once stabbed a black waiter to death just because of his skin color and got away with it.  Ty Cobb would get drunk after ballgames, take to the streets, and pistol-whip every black person he came across. Ty Cobb intentionally ended the careers of other players, spiking them hard in the legs, often leaving them with lower leg injuries they could not come back from. In fact, Ty Cobb would sharpen his spikes before games for the sole purpose of harming opposing infielders. In short, Ty Cobb was mean-spirited, hated humanity, and had no friends by his side."

The only problem with these scurrilous stories promoted by a corrupt media is - they're not true!

Brewster goes on to say: "he is portrayed as a racist, wife-beater, and drunk whom everyone despised – even his own teammates", and then goes on to ask: ..... " Where is the evidence for these damning allegations? These infamous stories about the terrible Ty Cobb cannot be found in any newspaper articles, police reports, census reports, personal letters to or from friends and family, or any other literature throughout his 23-year baseball career, from 1905-1928."

History is the great leveler of truth and none of the terrible stories about Cobb being a bigoted racist, murderer, etc.,  are true.  In spite of his Southern upbringing history shows his family believed in abolition and civil rights with his grandfather refusing to fight for the South, and his father breaking up lynch mobs.
 
As for Cobb himself, he once told a reporter, "The negro should be accepted wholeheartedly. ... [T]he Negro has the right to play professional baseball, and who's to say he has not?".  Cobb "also worked out with black ballplayers in the off season, and he had the honor of throwing out the first pitch at many Negro League games."

He didn't kill a black waiter, he didn't sharpen his spikes to permanently hurt other players and in fact promoted blunting their spikes to prevent injuries.

The author goes on to say:

"Ty Cobb was the most competitive and aggressive player in baseball, often screaming at teammates and talking trash to opposing teams, but it cannot be denied that he was well respected as a ballplayer. Was Ty Cobb perfect? Hardly. Primary accounts from baseball in the early 20th century reveal that he was easily offended; was way too confrontational; and didn't get along with those who lacked his passion, tenacity, and work ethic. "

"But a racist? A murderer? A dirty player?  These accusations are undoubtedly false." 

He was probably a greater player than many of the celebrated players of his time, "but as his reputation lies in ruins over fake news". "Where do these accusations come from then" the author asks?

It appears at the end of Cobb's life "a man named Al Stump, hungry for fame, started writing fake stories about the baseball legend.  Cobb threatened to sue, but he passed away before any legal action could be taken."

Unfortunately the constant repetition of these lies by the media made these lies "truth" to society, destroying a good man's reputation.  His detractor never listed sources for his accusations and was finally banned from "publication for fraud", but it was too late and too little to save Cobb's reputation, and the media cares not one whit for truth, justice or the American Way. 

That has been demonstrated to nth degree in today's national politics.  People's lives have been destroyed by partisan political hacks and a corrupt media for political gain, and too few people care.  

Let's get this clear, before this I believed all that scurrilous filth spewed out about Cobb because I never heard or saw anyone say otherwise, and if it wasn't for the Internet, neither I or most of the rest of us would have never known the truth. 

And for those who will undoubtedly say:  Maybe it's Brewster that's lying.  Well, if Brewster's lying, then let's see the evidence!  I invite you to read the comments.