There are people in several states celebrating the birth of Ty Cobb, baseball's most intelligent performer and the first player elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, but the best way I know how to celebrate his through the revitalization of old stories of the life he once lived.
The most celebrated birthday story that I can think of took place in December, 1920, when the owner of the Detroit Tigers, Frank Navin, talked Ty into taking charge of his then-seventh place Tiger aggregation. It wasn't that Cobb didn't want to be a manager, because he did; it was just the timing of the event, and he would have been more suited to take on such responsibility at the close of his career and not while he still had base hits left in his bat.
Nevertheless, in November 1920, while he was duck hunting, his former manager was released by the front office in Detroit. Despite Hugh Jennings' success with the Tigers, his health was declining fast. His 14 years ...
Read Complete Article at Bleacher Report - Sports & Society
Article is property of BleacherReport.com