Ty Cobb was determined to make it as a professional baseball player from the time of his early youth in Georgia. Against his parents’ wishes, he signed with the minor league Augusta baseball team at the age of 17 and immediately became a stand-out player. A famous sportswriter of the time dubbed him the “Georgia Peach†which would become one of Ty Cobb’s many nicknames. The following year, Cobb signed with the major leagues and went to work for the Detroit Tigers. Ty Cobb was mainly known for his exceptional batting averages. In 1907, he hit .350 and led his team to the World Series. His highest batting average happened in 1911 when he hit .420 (this means Cobb hit the ball 42% of the time at bat). To this day, Ty Cobb’s name shows up on the list of 100 highest batting averages in a single season a whopping 10 times – more than any other player in history! He still holds the all-time career record at .367; a nearly impossible statistic to break. Known as a fierce competitor, Cobb dominated the game of his time and became the biggest attraction in baseball. He was truly considered a baseball genius and he mastered every aspect of his craft. As one of the first inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936, he was voted the best all-around player of all time ahead of the legendary Babe Ruth. Admired for his baseball prowess was he, although Cobb was not as loveable as Babe Ruth. He had a reputation for ruthlessness and a “rotten dispositionâ€. He was argumentative, fiercely competitive, a bully and a loner. Even he himself said: “When I began playing the game, baseball was about as gentlemanly as a kick in the crotch.”
