Product Description
Chapters: Ty Cobb, Albert Spalding, Leo Durocher, Jimmy Collins, Joe Torre, Honus Wagner, Connie Mack, Jimmy Mcaleer, Cap Anson, Rogers Hornsby, John Mcgraw, Tris Speaker, George Gore, King Kelly, Donie Bush, Bob Ferguson, John Montgomery Ward, Fred Hutchinson, George Wright, Heinie Groh, Ben Chapman, Harry Stovey, Lip Pike, Jimmy Dykes, Jack Glasscock, Gavvy Cravath, Hank Bauer, Fred Clarke, Patsy Donovan, Kid Elberfeld, Charles Comiskey, Nap Lajoie, Hugh Duffy, George Sisler, Clark Griffith, Hal Chase, Mordecai Brown, Tom Brown, Bill Mckechnie, Bill Dahlen, Jack Doyle, Deacon White, Wilbert Robinson, Eddie Collins, Lave Cross, Harry Lord, Bucky Harris, Harry Wright, Bill Craver, Roger Connor, George Davis, Harry Walker, Jim Mccormick, Eddie Stanky, Charlie Gould, Bob Addy, Joe Cronin, Wild Bill Donovan, Bob Caruthers, Bucky Walters, Jimmie Wilson, Stuffy Mcinnis, Bill Dickey, Jim O'rourke, Roger Bresnahan, Cal Mcvey, Charlie Sweasy, Phil Cavarretta, Ned Hanlon, Jack Clements, Bill Terry, Charlie Buffinton, Luke Sewell, Johnny Evers, Marty Marion, Frank Chance, Eddie Joost, George Stallings, Arthur Irwin, Alex Mckinnon, Nat Hicks, Ted Lyons, Bill Killefer, Jimmy Wood, Buck Ewing, Harry Lumley, Tim Murnane, Sam Barkley, Cub Stricker, Tommy Bond, Doug Allison, Jim Bottomley, Charlie Morton, Pop Snyder, Kid Nichols, Charlie Grimm, Billy Herman, Joe Tinker, Chief Zimmer, Deacon Mcguire, Harry Davis, Ted Sullivan, Pud Galvin, Bob O'farrell, Tommy Mccarthy, Marty Mcmanus, George Wood, Jack O'connor, John Hatfield, Pie Traynor, Joe Kelley, George Bradley, Tommy Holmes, Lena Blackburne, Gabby Street, Miller Huggins, Charlie Pabor, Jimmy Austin, Bobby Wallace, Bill Holbert, Joe Start, Dick Higham, Mike Griffin, Denny Mack, Mike Mcgeary, Harry Wheeler, Phonney Martin, Rabbit Maranville, Lon Knight, Robert Eenhoorn, Jack Crooks, Warren White, Roger Peckinpaugh, Tommy Dowd, Jack Barry, Sam Crane, Billy Barnie, Don Kessinger, Jack Chapma...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=31586 ... Read more

Product Description
Published in 1914, Busting 'Em was the first of three books credited to Ty Cobb as the author. Though in fact it was ghostwritten by John N. Wheeler, who also penned Mathewson's Pitching in a Pinch, the book fascinates with its insights into Cobb as a public figure. The reader is presented Cobb's explanation of the beating incident at Hilltop Park, the Baker spiking, and his contentious relationship with teammates. His thoughts - or those he sanctioned - of umpires, his contemporaries, crowds, and strategy are also shared. This book, long out of print and increasingly hard to find, is essential reading for those who would understand Cobb's awareness of and investment in the shape of his public image. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Original Press Release from August 2002
Marietta, Georgia
August 15, 2002

Dr. William R. Cobb today announced that he has edited and published a new book titled "Memoirs of Twenty Years in Baseball," by Ty Cobb. These Memoirs were originally written in 1925, after Ty Cobb had completed 20 years in professional baseball with the Detroit Tigers. This entirely new edition is a 168 page paperback book with 36 chapters, plus a foreword, appendix, index and other additions, including commentary by the editor. It is professionally printed in 5.5 by 8 inch format. All profits from this edition are being donated to the Ty Cobb Museum in Royston, Georgia.

Here is the description of the book from the back cover:

"In the fall 1925, Ty Cobb put pen to hand and wrote his personal memoirs. In thirty-six individual chapters, Ty detailed the good and bad experiences of his first 20 years in baseball. Unlike his 1914 book "Busting `Em", and his 1961 autobiography, "My Life in Baseball," both of which were ghost written, this effort was Ty's very own. These "Memoirs" were syndicated by the Christy Walsh Syndicate, and published serially in the New York Evening Journal over several months, beginning in December 1925. They have been buried in library stacks and microfilm ever since. Reprinted here for the first time in seventy-five years, they have been carefully transcribed from very old copies of the Evening News articles, then indexed and reprinted in book form, along with supplemental material and commentary by the Editor.

In these Memoirs you can read, for the first time since the original 1925 publication, Ty's own description of the key milestones of his career. Find out what really happened in the Claude Lueker incident, when Ty entered the grandstand and fought with an abusive fan, was suspended from the league, and caused the first Professional Baseball Strike. Read Ty's own description of his relationship with his Detroit teammates, and how this strike profoundly changed that relationship. Get the straight story on who was, and who wasn't, spiked by Ty Cobb, and whether it was intentional. Find out about Ty's friendship with Dutch Leonard, who a year later would go public with betting allegations that ultimately cost Ty his job at Detroit, and almost end his career.

Ever the one to hand out advice and criticism of the game and its players, Ty held nothing back in writing these Memoirs. He offered advice to players and prospects on almost every aspect of the game - mental and physical. His careful analysis of his contemporary players lead to his personal selection of All Star teams for both American and National Leagues.

For the Ty Cobb fan or critic, this is must reading. There is nothing else like it. The perspective that Ty offers in these Memoirs should not be overlooked by anyone who wishes to truly understand this great and complex man."
... Read more

Product Description
A New York Times Notable Book; Spitball Award for Best Baseball Book of 1994; Basis for a major Hollywood motion picture. Now in paperback, the biography that baseball fans all across the country have been talking about. Al Stump redefined America's perception of one of its most famous sports heroes with this gripping look at a man who walked the line between greatness and psychosis. Based on Stump's interviews with Ty Cobb while ghostwriting the Hall-of-Famer's 1961 autobiography, this award-winning new account of Cobb's life and times reveals both the darkness and the brilliance of the "Georgia Peach." "The most powerful baseball biography I have read."--Roger Kahn, author of THE BOYS OF SUMMERAmazon.com Review
Not long before his death, Ty Cobb, as complex and haunted ahuman being as ever stepped onto a diamond, tapped a young writernamed Al Stump to collaborate with him on his autobiography. Theresult, My Life inBaseball: The True Record, never came close to reaching firstbase; with Cobb (holder of the game's highest lifetime batting averageand lowest lifetime reputation) calling the signals, it was anantiseptic whitewash, as false as its titular claim would have youbelieve otherwise. Hidden between the lines was the living hell thatCobb--reclusive, bitter, ravaged with cancer, in great pain, andshunned by the baseball community--put Stump through to make sure hisdemon-filled story was properly sanitized.

Some 30 years later,Stump brilliantly wrought his revenge with the best tool a writer canwield: absolute honesty. In Cobb, he rectifies his earliercover-up and paints an unforgettable portrait of an unforgettablecharacter: The Georgia Peach--pits and all. Not only does Stumppainstakingly assemble the disparate pieces of Cobb's tangledpersonality and storied career, he also recounts in scrupulous detailthe literal wild ride that comprised his months in the company of thedying baseball legend. It is, from its opening inscription ("Toget along with me," Cobb told Stump, "don't increase mytension"), a tour de force, as good a sports biography as exists,and an altogether riveting telling of a riveting life. --JeffSilverman ... Read more

Customer Reviews (43)

Very questionable book
Unfortunately, some bad news has come out on Al Stump.He seems to have stolen memorabilia from Cobb and forged quite a few Cobb documents.These activities, at the very least, call into question the accuracy of this biography.For details on Stump, check out Rob Neyer's SweetSpot blog entry (Friday Filberts) for August 6, 2010 posted to the site of the world-wide leader in sports. [I don't think I'm allowed to name the site or post a link.] Or do a search on William R. Cobb and The Georgia Peach and you can find the relevant article.

simply awesome
this biography by stump is extremely easy to read and follow and the details are excellent and you can picture yourself seeing cobb in real life. this book gives great insight on the life of a man who had personal issues and still managed to bethe greatest baseball player ofall time. 5 stars

A lasting impression
Al Stump's book about Ty Cobb is a must for all baseball loving fans.
That book made a lasting impression on me, and made me look at Ty differently.
On one side, the brutal, bloody fight in the Detroit clubhouse between Ty and umpire Billy Evans with Ty Jr watching reveals the dark side of Coob.

However, you'll learn that Cobb wasn't all mad, and he could do very nice things when opportunities presented themselves.

A truly remarquable man, Ty Cobb.

Engaging bio of the Georgia Peach
I like baseball but I wouldn't call myself a huge fan, so I wasn't sure how interested I'd be in this book. Cobb was a well known sourpuss and I figured reading about him would be a dull, downer of an experience. It turned out to be the exact opposite, this book is lively as hell. Cobb wasn't an admirable character, but he certainly was a character (possibly crazy) and the book is filled with compelling anecdotes about his life and times. It's a powerful and entertaining book about a man possessed.

The author of this book was hired by Cobb to ghost write his autobiography, which he did. He spent time with Cobb and got to know him. (Once Cobb threw a bottle of whiskey at his head.) They worked on that book at Cobb's California mansion, which was lit by a single bulb using power stolen from the neighbors with a power cord. Cobb thought the power company had tried to rip him off on a bill so he stopped paying them.

In brief Cobbs life goes like this - Cobb was born in the South after the Civil War. He was an excellent baseball player back at the turn of the 20th century. He was fanatically competitive, grudge holding, and abrasive. He was the first person inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Note - don't confuse this book with the movie. I thought the movie was terrible even though I love the book.

Definitive Cobb
Ty Cobb is one of the more perplexing icons in the history of baseball.His talent in baseball is matched by the stories of his often maniacal behavior.Al Stump was originally tapped to ghost write the autobiography of Ty Cobb, shortly before Cobb's death.The sanitary product he produce was "My Life in Baseball".More than thirty years later, he improved his work with "Cobb"."Cobb" is an unflinching look at the life of the greatest hitter baseball had before the modern era.

Some may suggest that the early hazing experienced as a young player may have caused his antagonistic behavior on the diamond.Yet an even greater cause was the mysterious death of Cobb's father shortly before Cobb's major league debut.Though he never talked about the death, it seems as though it was something he could not move past.It is a statment about the quality of Stump's writing that he does not overstep his bounds and try to analyze and explain Cobb's behavior.Though it may seem that Cobb was not psychologically healthy, readers purchased this book to read about the life and career of Cobb not read opinion.

Even today, many of Cobb's records are staggering.No player will ever steal home as many times as Cobb did.After Pete Rose, no player may even touch his career hits tally.His career average and collection of batting titles may also be untouchable.

While it is easy to focus on the negatives, Al Stump also notes the positive side of Cobb.Not only did Cobb support several unnamed disabled players, but he also paid the college tuition of some Georgians.He was able to do this because of the skill with which he played the stock market.

Baseball historians can delight in this fast paced story about the early days of baseball.One need not even like the Tigers to appreciate the book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A beautiful, brilliant biography
This book is one of the best baseball biographies ever written.Bak's narrative is superb.He avoids the Cobb caricature that has become his legacy and replaces it with a thorough, insightful record of the life of one of baseball's all-time best players and most interesting characters.Combine that with extensive statistical data and an amazing collection of photographs spanning all of Cobb's life, and you have a biography that any baseball fan will enjoy.

The Georgia Peach in action.
The best things about this book were the ease of reading, the excellent photos from various stages of Cobb's life, and the concise focus on the man and his career. It is a fine book for a quick overview of the "Georgia Peach" even if it lacks details on the many personal aspects of his lifethat can be found in Stump and Alexander's books. The focus is more on his baseball career and statsthan on the man himself. The numerous photos of TY were reason enough for me to get the book. ... Read more

Product Description
Probably the most volatile, fear-inspiring presence in baseball history, Ty Cobb was one of the most brilliant players in the game during his twenty-four-year career in the major leagues. Drawing on primary sources and personal interviews, Alexander brings Ty Cobb and his era vividly to life, showing the profound changes that took place in the sport of baseball during the tumultuous first half of the twentieth century.

"Impressive. A fascinating analysis of Cobb's personality."-The New York Times

"Alexander has performed that magical feat of creating Ty Cobb, warts and all. A wonderful, wonderful book."-Newsday

"Ty Cobb is a sociology of a time as well as a biography of the greatest and nastiest player of them all."-Stephen Jay Gould, The New York Review of Books

"Impeccably researched . . . reads like a novel. A fine book."-Lawrence Ritter, author of The Glory of Their Times

Originally published by Oxford University Press in 1984. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Alexander's Cobb biography--the BEST
I received this book as a gift from a friend in 1985. Each year, at the start of the baseball season, I ritually read the Ty Cobb biography by professor Charles C. Alexander. This is ***HANDS DOWN*** the greatest biography written on the driven and complex "Georgia Peach."Alexander,a (recentlyretired) history professor from Ohio University, is both a skilled researcher and a gifted story teller.He tells the tragic story of Cobb's early life in Georgia and then places the reader in Cobb's era of baseball (1905-1929).Alexander intertwines absorbing baseball anecdotes,
with solid examples of Cobb's fiery personality (on and off the field)and his relationship with the the fans, who either loved or passionately hated the Detroit Tiger outfielder.Despite his nasty and violent nature and amidst the likes of players such as Honus Wagner, Joe Jackson, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson, Cobb became the greatest player of his day.He remained at the apex of Major League baseball stardom until the emergence of the New York Yankee's Babe Ruth in the early 1920s.

If you love baseball--if you want to have a window into American society as it was at the turn of the century--if you want an exciting narrative regarding the golden days of baseball--if you are bored with reading about many of baseball's current day overrated prima donnas--BUY Ty Cobb by Charles C. Alexander.It will become a permanent part of your library and like me,you will reach for this book at the start of each baseball season.

Deftly researched and highly readable
Now featuring a new afterword by author Charles C. Alexander (Professor Emeritus Of History at Ohio University), Ty Cobb is the classic biography of one of baseball's most brilliant, volatile, and intimidating presences. An inset section of black-and-white photographic plates illustrate this chronicle of not only Ty Cobb's robust life, but also the startling transformations taking place during twentieth-century baseball. A fascinating, deftly researched and highly readable "must-have" for fans of baseball legends.

TY COBB BY CHARLES C. ALEXANDER (1984)
TY COBB BY CHARLES C. ALEXANDER (1984)

Audio book review

Charles C. Alexander's Ty Cobb is an illuminating review of the legendary early Twentieth Century baseball superstar.This audio book, read by Walter Zimmerman, is written more like historical biography than a baseball book
Alexander dispels many long-held Cobb myths.Cobb was mean and nasty, but not nearly the ogre of legend.In fact, Cobb was a devout Christian (Baptist), very well spoken, a man who cared about his public image, and engaged himself in many acts of on and off-field kindness.Caricatured as a savage racist by revisionist history, Cobb actually was kindly in his relations with the many black people he grew up with in Georgia, some of whom worked for his family.He had no patience for blacks he considered uppity.He was not Branch Rickey, but he was not the Grand Dragon of the K.K.K., either.Miserly?Sometimes, but without fanfare he took care of players who had hit the skids.A spikes-sharpened demon?You bet, but Ty also shook hands with his combatants after the dust settled, and performed various acts of dovish peacemaking for the benefit of hostile fans.
Alexander is not a psychiatrist, but it is obvious that the fact that Cobb's mother killed his father in what may not have been an accident, during an incident that occurred because Mr. Cobb suspected Mrs. Cobb of having an affair, shaped Ty's combative nature.What has been lost over the years is that Cobb became friendly with Babe Ruth (common legend holding that he always hated him).Cobb was a shrewd millionaire investor who never needed to work after baseball, therefore separating himself from regular contact with people while living in huge mansions that were too big for him, after his wife left.Most telling is the relationship Cobb had with his two male children.He raised them strictly, and because of baseball travel left much of the child rearing to his wife.When he retired, they were grown up and on their own, and Cobb had genuine regrets for "missing" their childhood's.He wished he had been a doctor, so he could have been home for his kids, and when one of his sons went into medicine, Cobb lamented that if he, too, were a doctor they would have something in common.With all that baggage in tow, Cobb had to endure the premature deaths of both of the boys from untimely illnesses, living the last 20-odd bitter years of his life blaming himself.
Cobb may have been hard to live with, but this book empathetically explains some of the demons that drove the man into becoming a brilliant stock manipulator, a taskmaster father, an unfeeling husband, a reviled teammate, a hated opponent, and in the opinion of those who saw him, perhaps the greatest baseball player who ever lived!

The true historical record of Cobb
Alexander approaches baseball history as a historian; not a mere storyteller.This book reflects that approach.Alexander reports the feats and faults of Cobb, but doesn't try to pass judgement.Cobb's careerspeaks for itself (men are still chasing some of his records). However, inour age of political correctness Cobb's misbehavior speaks louder.

Alexander details a complete Cobb. For all his faults Cobb was manneredand gracious in public (most of the time), a perfect host (if he liked you)and a generous philanthropist. This is the side most other Cobb bio'swhitewash.

This book proves useful as a resource about Cobb.It detailsthe facts about his life season by season. The only way to improve the bookwould be to add more detail and color to some of Cobb's exploits-- but thenthe book would have to be about 500 pages.

I consider this to be theprimere biography of Ty Cobb.However, those looking mostly for anidotes,stories and that harsh personality brought to life might want to check outAl Stumps' "Cobb". I suggest reading both to develop the fullimage of the Greatest innovator baseball has ever seen.

A fascinating biograph about baseball's legend
Ty cobb was the most ideal hitter in baseball before "the Babe" opened its new era.

The author described well enough for me to understand 1900-1910's players, ballparks, other circumstances aroundbaseball.

I sincerely recommend this book to all the baseball fans. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (4)

A rather short bio
There are positive and negative sides to this book.

On the negative side, it is a rather short bio.There isn't that much baseball.Some of Ty's most important moments in life are not explored enough.

On the positive side, we get to know Ty a little better.I'd say this book covers what Al Stump's "Coob" did not. It's truly incredible what Ty Cobb left for his fellow human beings.The heritage he left for younsters, teenagers and sick persons is outstanding.In some case, he went out of his way to help others.

Ty Cobb just was not only the depressive, anti-social and racist psychopath some historians, writers and reporters want you to think.

As Bill James once wrote, when you didn't challenge him, he was a nice enough human being.

Cobb Has A Compassionate Side
This book is well written, having been thoroughly researched by the author who interviewed several family members.It is about the human side of Cobb and reveals little known events that shows Cobb at times was all about family and community.The book chronicles several of Cobb's friends in Augusta, Detroit, Philadelphia, and elsewhere. It shows him to be highly respected and admired throughout the nation.Of course the ball players of his era were tenacious and highly competitive. There is new material never written about that the reader will find very informative.This is more than about baseball as it is all about Cobb's life.I am sure that many baseball fans will find this book informative and pleasurable.It is one of the best books on Cobb that I have ever read, possibly the greatest player to ever play the game.

Not much baseball
The author takes up the defense of Ty Cobb, probably the most disliked man to ever play major league baseball.What motivates this defense is hard to tell - only a few minor references to Cobb's bad reputation sneak into the book.If you're looking for stories about baseball in the golden age, this isn't going to please you.If you want minute details about Ty Cobb's life at home and his activities outside baseball, this is what you want.I doubt that very many people actually want that.

Cobb's TRUE biography
Great book. I cannot put it down. Has a lot of facts of Cobb's life which Inever read in any other book on the great baseball player. ... Read more