The title was said in the entertaining movie Cobb by Tommy Lee Jones who played Ty Cobb. The lines he had in that movie were gold but were they true? I just read a book about Cobb by Charles...
The title was said in the entertaining movie Cobb by Tommy Lee Jones who played Ty Cobb. The lines he had in that movie were gold but were they true?
I just read a book about Cobb by Charles Leerhsen and he actually investigated the stories and rumors about Cobb. Al Stump was the ghostwriter that spent a few days (though he claimed months) with Cobb and wrote a damning piece about him after he died for True magazine. The movie was based on that piece from Stump.
Stump stated many things that were not true and have been proven false. He also sold a lot of Cobb’s items that he stole from Cobb’s estate. He forged Cobb’s signature and made a good profit off of it later on when baseball memorabilia began to take off. The book shows Cobb more as a flawed human being…not a racist monster that Stump created. Stump made him into a cartoon character.
Was Ty Cobb an angel? Certainly not…he dwelled on the negative, he could be cantankerous and had a quick temper when he was young. He also had a sense of humor, he was a family man, and helped a lot of people through charities and personal friends in need…and yes white and black. In other words…he was a human being.
Robert Shelton, the director of Cobb, admitted that he and Stump made up some scenes…like Ty trying to rape the cigarette girl. It was a piece of character assassination.
One thing that happened that Stump didn’t write about was the batboy for the Tigers. He was young and Ty Cobb made sure he had food, and shelter on the road, and generally looked after him when the other ballplayers didn’t.. He kept up with him when he got older…this young batboy was black.
I found this written by a reviewer…. Unfortunately for the Cobb family, Stump’s sensationalized characterization of Cobb was continuously repeated by writers, filmmakers and a rubber necking public who have been intrigued and entertained by the casting of a maniacal, dirty player who hated blacks and murdered people.
After saying all of this…would Ty Cobb be an easy guy to get along with? Probably not but his screaming out racist slurs and trying to rape cigarette girls is pushing it a bit far. I’ll be the first to admit that the movie is very entertaining and a fun watch but too many people took it as the gospel. Also, the Baseball documentary by Ken Burns also has some wrong info on Ty Cobb. If you are looking for a good baseball book… try out Cobb by Charles Leerhsen.
