Ty Cobb Museum

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Tomorrow I am going with my ex Air Force Buddy to the Ty Cobb Museum in Georgia. Hope to see all the old photographs will Cobb and the greats of the game during that era. Hope to also see all the gloves, uniforms, cleats, etc. the players used and wore. Cobb had a surly reputation for his temper and bad dispostion, but I think alot of that may have been the result of the times in which he played and problems in his personal life. He was said to be friends with Shoeless Joe Jackson so I hope to get some insight on the World Series Game Fixing Scandal during Jackson's career if the Museum Administrator can give me the lowdown. Should be an informative trip and well worth the hour and half drive from our area.
 

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Sounds like a fun afternoon, enjoy.
 

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Had a great time visiting the Ty Cobb Museum in Royston, Georgia this afternoon. He had to be one of if not the greatest baseball player who ever lived. Some information I got on Ty Cobb included: First Player ever elected to the Baseball Hall Of Fame in 1936 after playing from 1905-1926 with the Detriot Tigers and from 1927-1928 with the Philadelphia Athletics as a center and right fielder. In 24 seasons, he had a .367 batting average, 2246 Runs, 4189 Hits, 724 Doubles, 296 Triples, 117 Home Runs, 1938 RBI's, .433 on base percentage, .612 slugging percentage, and 897 stolen bases. My favorite fact was he batted .300 or better for 23 consecutive seasons, almost a quarter of a century. It was really interesting to see the old gloves, cleats, and even leggings the players used in that era of baseball. The glove was no bigger than my hand and it would be hard to me a least to try and catch a fly ball with such a small glove. He invested his money from baseball wisely in General Motors and Coca Cola and was considered a very wealthy man in his latter days. He died from Prostrate Cancer in 1961. If you are a fan of baseball in the early years of the game, this museum in Georgia is a must visit. The price of admission was only $5 and the Royston area itself is only about five minutes off of one of the main interstates in Northern Georgia. :103631605:103631605:103631605
 

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I heard Cobb was a shrewd businessman, a tough SOB that nobody could get over on.
 

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We even went to his grave sight which was only about 1.5 miles from the Museum. Somebody had left a Pint Of Southern Comfort Whiskey and a 12 Oz Coke as a remembrance gift. The administrator said he only turned to alcohol after he had gotten sick with cancer in his latter years. In the movie with Tommy Lee Jones, he is portrayed as having alcohol issues during his career. However, according to this source today, this was not the case. I am sure his aggressiveness on the field cared over into his business dealings and he probably had a Georgia Stubborn Streak 3 miles wide. So I would agree in that he probably was a gruff SOB to have dealt with at times. He also served our country in WW I as an Army Captain evidently in the Off Season. He had two boys who never reached adulthood as one died from a heart attack and another from a brain hemmorage. I found this to be the saddest fact about the man.
 

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We even went to his grave sight which was only about 1.5 miles from the Museum. Somebody had left a Pint Of Southern Comfort Whiskey and a 12 Oz Coke as a remembrance gift. The administrator said he only turned to alcohol after he had gotten sick with cancer in his latter years. In the movie with Tommy Lee Jones, he is portrayed as having alcohol issues during his career. However, according to this source today, this was not the case. I am sure his aggressiveness on the field cared over into his business dealings and he probably had a Georgia Stubborn Streak 3 miles wide. So I would agree in that he probably was a gruff SOB to have dealt with at times. He also served our country in WW I as an Army Captain evidently in the Off Season. He had two boys who never reached adulthood as one died from a heart attack and another from a brain hemmorage. I found this to be the saddest fact about the man.

Man, he had a rough personal life as when he was a teenager his mom shot his dad thinking he was an intruder. I always thought it was unfair that people say he was such a bad person. He is portrayed negatively in some baseball movies. I mean, he played over 100 years ago...who knows? Plus, you know there was some jealousy, since he was so much better than anyone else in that era. With the exception of Honus Wagner who was in the NL, of course.
 

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I also saw a ticket stub from a game played in Philadelphia in 1928 approximately one year before the stock market crashed. It had an admission price of $1.10 on it. We thought that to be extremely high for 1928, but maybe money was in circulation more abundantly in 1928 vs roughly 365 days after this game in Philadelphia when people were jumping out of windows after they had lost their fortunes. Another picture I saw was from the First World Series ever played between the Boston Pilgrams from the American League and the Pittsburgh Pirates from the National League. I think the year was 1902 on the enlarged picture but I would have to verify this date with a MLB historical website. Another enlarged picture was of a formal dinner with about 250 people attending Ty Cobbs retirement party. The picture just said Cadillac Hotel on it and 1929. It was a real ritzy place and all the stars and celebrities of the day were included in the photograph. We assumed the Cadillac Hotel was in Detriot because that is where Cobb spent most of his career, but we were not sure since no state was listed.
 

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Man, he had a rough personal life as when he was a teenager his mom shot his dad thinking he was an intruder. I always thought it was unfair that people say he was such a bad person. He is portrayed negatively in some baseball movies. I mean, he played over 100 years ago...who knows? Plus, you know there was some jealousy, since he was so much better than anyone else in that era. With the exception of Honus Wagner who was in the NL, of course.

He was very jealous of Babe Ruth.

At death, he was worth over $11 Mil. He owned a lot of GE and Coca Cola stock.

Pretty interesting facts about his life -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ty_Cobb
 

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Saw another Photgraph will Ty Cobb, Lou Gerhig, and Babe Ruth all standing together. Cobb and Gerhig looked to be still somewhat youthful in apperance, but Babe Ruth appeared old and haggarded. Only much latter in his career did Cobb finally begin to show signs of age. Cobb also donated $100,000 to help fund the building of a new hospitial in Georgia. He also started a scholarship fund for students who could not afford to go to college. Many many young people received an opportunity for an education due to Cobb's generosity. These men were THE celebrities of their day. Professional Baseball Players and Professional Boxers along with The President Of The United States were the most celebrated men in the land.
 

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$1.10 in 1928 had about the same buying power as $13.73 in 2010.Annual inflation over this period was about 3.13%.

Definitely one of the most intriguing historical sports figures. A few well reviewed biographies out about him, should look to pick one up this summer

Have him near the bottom of the top 10 best players in history, maybe just outside
 

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jb
you sound like you are into all the fatcs/artifacts of the game.
Have you been to Cooperstown to the BHOF?? This sounds right up your alley.
The whole family goes once a year-my son and I could be in there for days computing stats and comparing eras.
 

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I would love to make it to Cooperstown someday. Heck Wannade, you can get lost in Baseballreference.com for days too.

John - If you are interested in baseball history, I recommend
http://www.sabr.org/

I am a member of SABR. They have their main convention in Atlanta this year. It sounds like you would really enjoy it.
 

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Take the time to make it there-I guarantee you will enjoy it. They have their own baseball library where people go for days.
The plaques/artifacts are what makes it special. I would have LOVED to attend the games back when they played for the love of the game.
Not much around Cooperstown to do-but it is a quaint town and like I said you would enjoy.
 

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stopped by the Baseball HOF on my way back from Boston one year...only had a couple hours to spend there...could've spent a couple days for sure! wish we would've planned atleast a day there.
Cooperstown is out in the middle of bum eff egypt too.
 

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I have never had the pleasure to visit Cooperstown but maybe someday. I think what intrigued me most was how the game was so authentic back then. Say back before the Steroid Scandal, The Strikes and problems between management and the players union, etc. The old photogarphs really depicted what America must have been like in The Roaring Twenties before most folks lost it all in the stock market crash. Baseball was even played by troops from both The Union and Confederacy during the Civil War. I have read numerous books that have accounts of the men playing baseball between the battles. One award I noticed was Sports Illustrated Named Ty Cobb as the Greatest Athlete from the State of Georgia in the 20th century. With the exception of Michael Jordan, he may have been voted THE Greatest Athlete of the 20th Century.
 

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What exactly do you get out of SABR-do you go to meetings??

I just joined it this year, but have been familiar with them for years. They do have regional chapters you can join. The research tools they have on there are great. Their publications are second-to-none. They have many different links like this http://sabr.org/sabr.cfm?a=lnk&m=3&s=180
 

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A baseball cap from the museum cost $25. An adult T Shirt was $20 and most of the books were $20. They even had a gumball machine that had baseball looking gumballs for $.25. The cheapest souvenir was a poster for $6 and it really was not that big at all. The prices of the gifts from the gift shop are the only negative comment I have to say about the museum.
 

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