Ty Cobb

I enjoyed the book very much. I had always heard that Cobb was an arrogant SOB but I learned that he was not only arrogant but very intelligent along with it. Innuendos made about his honesty, I think, were unfounded. He had his likes and dislikes but his passion rested with baseball and with excellence --- and with the celebrity that followed him for all of his career. Quite a man in my opinion but extremely hard to get along with. There was only one way to do anything --- and that was his way. Not much different than what it is with any successful business man in today's world.

I immensely enjoyed this book, and found myself lingering over it days after I was finished! Cobb is an absolutely fascinating character, both on the diamond, and off. The book does a nice job of chronicling Cobb's life from his youth thru his long, distinguished career, and ultimately his lonely ending. There is an awful lot of statistics, and game notes, which I a t first found a bit tedious, but as the story gathered I found it was central to Cobb, and his story to be as "statcentric" as he himself was. It seems as though Cobb burned with a passion, that few people do, one can not(in my opinion) ever really know what provides such desire for a man, and thankfully this author never really tries to. i don't think you need to know why, or how he was able to accomplish what he did to be impressed or interested. I am not really a fan of baseball, but I enjoy history, and colorful tales, this book is both. I would think it would appeal to fans of old school baseball or for people who enjoy complex, but successful people. Now, some mention can be made that Cobb was a very flawed man, and that may be true, but I hate to be overly judgemental about flaws that I can not personally attest to, also with time, and sportswriter indulgence it is hard to know what is Truth. So I stick mainly to the facts of his career, and his finance, but also the strained relationships with the family and inner circle. 1 last note, I read this and followed with a bio on Ruth, Wow what a contrast, but both are Fascinating!!!

This biography of Ty Cobb is among the best sports biographies that I've ever read. As an athlete and a reader, I really appreciated the author's ability to put me on the baseball field at the beginning of the 20th century, an era that is more difficult to judge because of its distance from the present. Cobb was a brilliant ballplayer and a complex person whose outbursts of temper and latent racism created problems for him both on and off the field. Alexander describes the man, warts and all, with an immediacy and wealth of detail that make Cobb come alive. His drive to succeed, his ability to unnerve opponents, and his relationships with others, including his family, reveal a temperament and will unable to take second place to anyone.The bulk of the book describes his career, but a substantial portion is also devoted to Cobb's life after baseball. When Cobb was playing, there were no blacks or Hispanics in American baseball, no night games, and no relief specialists throwing 90+ mph in the late innings. Still, I have to believe after reading this book that Ty Cobb would've been a great player in any era. It's interesting that when his peers had the opportunity to vote on the best players of the day, Cobb was regarded more highly than Babe Ruth. Cobb's lifetime batting average is still the highest in the history of baseball, and only Pete Rose, currently banned from baseball, had more hits. Cobb was a shrewd businessman all his life and died a multimillionaire in 1961, though he described himself as an embittered man at the end.

A good story, good insights into baseball over 100 years ago. Decent biography of the man. His last years are written with good detail.

Not being an American, I am not a mad US baseball fanatic, but I love all sports, especially when practiced at the highest level. And I am always interested in sporting legends, whatever their trade. And what a legend and complex character was Ty Cobb. Extraordinarily successful both on the field and in his personal finances. But a hard man to like. This book is a "great read". It provides a great deal of insight into a complex legend, but also a lot of background re how baseball changed from a grafters game to a power hitting game. Thoroughly researched and very enjoyable.

I think  Ty Cobb  by Charles Alexander is a must read for any fan of baseball. I've read other books about Cobb, but none compare to this one. Alexander presents us with a very balanced, fair view of Ty Cobb that I found quite interesting and well written. It's written from a historian's point of view, and I think it's probably the most accurate account of Cobb's life that I've read.This book is mostly recording Cobb's on the field accomplishments. It does talk about his personal life a bit, but it sticks mostly to baseball while he was still playing. I found some of Cobb's off the field antics quite interesting. I think there were some stories in this books that I hadn't read about in other Cobb biographies. Once Cobb is finally out of baseball, the last part of the books deals with his personal life in a more in-depth fashion. It also gets into his business life a bit. All of it is informative and interesting.I enjoyed this book a lot. Ty Cobb was a fascinating character. He was an extremely complex person psychologically. This book is a must read for anyone that calls themselves a fan of baseball.

I found this to be an informative and well written biography. Perhaps a bit boorish with all the yearly statistics that could have been compiled in an introductery or closing chapter but a little more honest toward Cobb the man. The author takes into consideration the culture of the era and is not overly judgement about Cobb's racist attitudes but is not dismissive of his behavior so that the reader can see more of the character and less the stereotype of Cobb presented by others with less research.

Ty Cobb was such an absolute titan of sport back in the day and it is difficult to really appreciate this now but this book does a good job at trying. It's not overly stats based, the stats are there simply to show dominant Cobb was. Having also read a biography of Babe Ruth the contrast is startling.Even if you don't like baseball I would recommend as Cobb shaped the way sports stars would act from then on.

Boyfriend seems to love it