Cobb: A Biography: Book Review

Before I get started in on the Cobb review, I just wanted to let you all know that we're getting closer to pitchers and catchers reporting (19 days baby!), and we'll finally all have something to read, write, and digest aside from the Sox having a freaking logo on their jersey while in Japan. I guess we do have the hype of a certain football game to be jammed down our throats and distract us, and as amazing as the Pats season has been (and boy has it been amazing, just read my second to last post), I miss my Sox.

I miss hearing Don and Remy, I miss crowded T's as I leave work (well...sort of), I miss scouring Craigs List for Sox tickets, I miss seeing Manny Ortez (Kerry reference there people), I mean...I guess I just miss the ritual of baseball. Like I said, we only have 19 days left, and we'll be able to see the Patriots win the Superbowl in between those days, but the fact is we're close again folks. We'll have the ability to see the the 2008 Red Sox be the first team since the 1916 Red Sox to repeat as champions, and truly take the throne of the team of the decade. And that my friends, is something to look forward to.

Unless there's some earth shattering news I'm going to be focusing on reviews on some books, DVDs, and even the Fenway Park Tour that I've been holding onto for a bit the next few days. Holler my way if you got something to say, and as always, Go Sox/Pats. Now, onto Cobb.

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I've read and written two baseball book reviews before that basically revolved around a biography on a player. One was on the best Red Sox player who ever lived (Ted Williams), and the other was on the best baseball player who ever lived (Babe Ruth). Now I write about the first player ever to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, a guy who beat out the like of Babe Ruth and Walter Johnson, Mr. Ty Cobb.

One of my favorite authors of all-time, Ernest Hemingway, probably summed up the essence of Ty Cobb best in his one sentence description of his sometime friend, sometime hunting buddy:

"Ty Cobb, the greatest of all ballplayers - and an absolute shit."
       - Ernest Hemingway

I couldn't have written it any better. There's absolutely no doubt that against all odds Cobb was the best player of his era, and looking back he has to be in almost every top 5 list imaginable. I mean, he stole home an unbelievable 54 times! He played the game with a ferocity and abandonment that is absolutely admirable. He bent any and every rule as far as he could to win, which in the end, is what every ballplayer worth his salt wants to do, win the game at hand. His skills at the time in hitting and base running were far more advanced then those of his peers, and his baseball smarts and cunning ability to get into the minds of his opposition were at the level of the shrewdest of generals.

However there was an awfully dark side to Ty Cobb. He was an open racist who wasn't all that far removed from the conflict of the Civil War. He was a violent man, who in later years grew to have an insatiable appetite for drink. He was an awful husband, and an even worse father. He was rude, confrontational, and and an uncompromising figure.

I believe a large reason why Cobb became the man he was is due to the murky and untimely death of his father, who was truly the only man he ever looked up to or respected. The long and short of it is Cobb's mother may or may not have been having an affair on his father, however she most certainly did shoot him when he was peering into their second story window, which in result ended with the the drawing of his last breath.

From their a true rage always lied within Cobb, and although he always took care of his Mother, everything seems to stem from this life altering event. The author of the book, Al Stump, does a beautiful job in giving enough of Cobb's life pre and post baseball, however he spends a significant chunk on Cobb's playing days. From Cobb writing letters to an Atlanta newspaper hyping his own play, to his shrewd and smart business decisions (he invested heavily in some company named Coca-Cola), to his constant battle with teammates and opponents alike, Cobb always seems to succeed in his personal battles, but never in the larger and more broad picture of life.

One thing that I'm finding extremely interesting is how hated the best player of each generation seems to be. It happened with Cobb, it happened with Ruth and Williams to an extent, and it's most certainly happening to Bonds and A-Rod now. The best players seem to be part of a club that only they can understand, and maybe their arrogance and cocky nature is large part of their success. And may be a reason why some of these players never end up winning many or any World Series. Or maybe like Hemingway said, they're just shits. Either way, reading this shed a great deal of light on the man and player, and also the game around the time, which is always fun. Reading about the rivalry of him and Ruth was utterly fascinating, and I feel lucky enough to have stumbled across this book, and suggest you do the same.

Overall: 7.5/10

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