"An biography of perhaps the most significant and controversial player in baseball history, Ty Cobb, drawing in part on newly discovered letters and documents"--

The grandson of the legendary baseball player reveals another side of “a fascinating, severely flawed sports icon” (Booklist). Ty Cobb’s grandson Herschel saw a side of him that very few others did. While baseball fans were familiar with Cobb’s infamously cold, competitive nature—and his relationship with his own children was deeply difficult—Cobb, in his later years, embraced the opportunity to form a loving bond with his grandchildren during their summertime visits. In this moving memoir, Herschel Cobb reveals how his grandfather, after the devastating loss of two sons, shared his gentler side with Herschel and his siblings. Herschel’s own parents, a cruel, abusive father and an adulterous, alcoholic mother, filled his childhood with turmoil. But “Granddaddy” offered the stability, love, and guidance that Herschel desperately needed. “Elegantly written and genuinely moving,” this story of their relationship presents a unique perspective on this larger-than-life man (Publishers Weekly). “An unforgettable story . . . that will alter how you feel about baseball’s most demonized star.” —Tom Stanton, author of Ty and the Babe

Ty Cobb was one of the most famous baseball players who every lived. The author puts Cobb into the context of his times, describing the very different game on the field then, and successfully probes Cobb's complex personality.

Cobb personally wrote the story of his life for a newspaper syndicate after his 20 record-setting years in baseball. This illustrated edition is the first commercial publication of his words in book form.

"Highly successful in knitting together this story of the life of a most remarkable and dedicated player--perhaps the most spirited baseball player ever to have graced the diamond."--Library Journal. "I find little comfort in the popular picture of Cobb as a spike-slashing demon of the diamond with a wide streak of cruelty in his nature. The fights and feuds I was in have been steadily slanted to put me in the wrong. . . . My critics have had their innings. I will have mine now."--Ty Cobb "Frank, bitter, trend-setting autobiography."--USA Today Baseball Weekly "One of the most remarkable sports books ever written."--Los Angeles Daily News "The old Tiger still spits and snarls off the pages."--Cooperstown Review "Of Ty Cobb let it be said simply that he was the world's greatest ballplayer."--New York Herald Tribune (1961 editorial on Cobb's death) This Bison Book edition of My Life in Baseball is introduced by Charles C. Alexander, a professor of history at Ohio University, Athens, and the author of a biogrpahy of Ty Cobb.

Profiles Detroit Tiger star who was one of the greatest baseball players in history.

The Life and Times of Ty Cobb is a fascinating and authoritative biography written by an actor who has portrayed Cobb on stages across the United States and Canada. Cobb was one of the most controversial players in baseball history. Many baseball experts call Ty one of the greatest players who ever lived. His lifetime batting average of .367 is still the highest of all time. When he retired in 1928, after twenty-two years with the Detroit Tigers and two with the Philadelphia Athletics, he held more than ninety records. Numbers don't tell half of Cobb's tale. The Georgia Peach was by far the most thrilling player of the era: "Ty Cobb could cause more excitement with a base on balls than Babe Ruth could with a grand slam," one columnist wrote. When the Hall of Fame began in 1936, Cobb was the first player voted in. Babe Ruth finished second. Cobb was a complex, misunderstood man and one of the game's most controversial characters. He got in fights, on and off the field, and was often accused of being overly aggressive. His supporters acknowledged that he was a fierce and fiery competitor. Because his philosophy was to "create a mental hazard for the other man," despite his enemies, he was also widely admired. He was a friend of presidents from William H. Taft to Dwight D. Eisenhower. He was baseball's first millionaire and one of the first to endorse corporate products and make a Hollywood movie. After his death in 1961, something strange happened. His reputation morphed into that of a virulent racist who sharpened his spikes, a monster who attacked infielders and catchers. Books and films were full of myths, lies and uncorroborated stories. How did this happen? Who is the real Ty Cobb? Setting the record straight, actor and author Norm Coleman became the debunker of the myths and lies told about Ty. Coleman researched the life of the shy son of a professor and state senator from Georgia, who was progressive on race for his time and later became America's first true American sports celebrity. In the process, he tells of a life overflowing with stories of the men he knew: Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams and many others. Coleman calls Cobb, "The Picasso of his time. Like Frank Sinatra, he did it his way." He writes of the man we thought we knew but really didn't.

WINNER of the Society for American Baseball Research's (SABR) 2017 Larry Ritter Awardfor best baseball book of the Deadball Era The complete story surrounding the most famous and significant player transaction in professional sports The sale of Babe Ruth by the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees in 1919 is one of the pivotal moments in baseball history, changing the fortunes of two of baseball's most storied franchises, and helping to create the legend of the greatest player the game has ever known. More than a simple transaction, the sale resulted in a deal that created the Yankee dynasty, turned Boston into an also-ran, helped save baseball after the Black Sox scandal and led the public to fall in love with Ruth. Award-winning baseball historian Glenn Stout reveals brand-new information about Babe and the unique political situation surrounding his sale, including: -Prohibition and the lifting of Blue Laws in New York affected Yankees owner and beer baron Jacob Ruppert -Previously unexplored documents reveal that the mortgage of Fenway Park did not factor into the Ruth sale - Ruth's disruptive influence on the Red Sox in 1918 and 1919, including sabermetrics showing his negative impact on the team as he went from pitcher to outfielder The Selling of the Babe is the first book to focus on the ramifications of the sale and captures the central moment of Ruth's evolution from player to icon, and will appeal to fans of The Kid and Pinstripe Empire. Babe's sale to New York and the subsequent selling of Ruth to America led baseball from the Deadball Era and sparked a new era in the game, one revolved around the long ball and one man, The Babe.

First serialized in 1920, the Sultan of Swat's breezy account of his early life is rich with recollections of his childhood, his transition from pitcher to outfielder, and the blockbuster trade that sent him from the Red Sox to the Yankees. This original edition features new notes and photographs plus an Introduction by sports historian Paul Dickson.