The Life and Times of Ty Cobb

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The Life and Times of Ty Cobb is a fascinating and authoritative biography written by an actor who portrayed Cobb on stages across the USA and Canada. Cobb was one of the most controversial players in baseball history.

Many baseball experts call Ty one of the greatest player 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, he 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 baseballs 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 changed into that of a monster on spikes,  a virulent racist who sharpened his spikes and spiked infielder and catchers. A book was written by Al Stump, and a film called Cobb featuring the great actor Tommy Lee Jones was full of myths, lies and uncorroborated stories.

How did this happen? Who is the real Ty Cobb? Setting the record straight, actor. author Norm Coleman became the debunker of the myths and lies told about Ty. Coleman’s research into the shy son of a professor and state senator from Georgia who was progressive on race for his time, to 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 times of a man we thought we knew but really didn't.