2007-11-16 22:05:11 · 12 answers · asked by tkp9999 1 in Sports ➔ Baseball
By today's standards yes, but it was a different era and some actions/language were more widespread and accepted.
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2007-11-16 22:22:33 · answer #1 · answered by Kris 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In may ways yes...and much of the prior answers are good...but a couple of things.
Ty Cobb was born in the south in the late 19 th century. Of course he was a racist...everybody then was from the south...hell, the whole damn league was racist. Being a racist then, is not like now. Really, it is hard for us to imagine, but they just didn't know any better...as a fact...blacks were sub-human...it was how you were taught, how you were brought up...it was all you knew. To blame a guy like Cobb for being a racist, is like blaming a dog who craps on your lawn...he just didn't know better...
Secondly, he was a funny looking guy, not well educated, full of self doubt and hatred. He had no manners to speak of, not a social grace to be found. Again, blame him if you will, but I doubt he was much different than any other guy born where and when he was. All Ty Cobb had, was a bat, a glove and a set of spikes, and he used them to their full effect, because in the world in which he lived, that's all he had.
This is not meant to be a Ty Cobb admiration award...he was not a kind man...had run-ins with teammates..all that said earlier is true. Just wanted to apply a little perspective.
Lastly, later in life, I've read numerous accounts of how he settled down, gave to charity..and generally 'grew-up' some.
Was he ever Lou Gehrig, Cal Ripken, Stan Musial....no....but given the time and place he was in...I'd take him over Bonds any day..
2007-11-17 19:23:20 · answer #2 · answered by Steve M 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
See if you can read the article by Al Stump on what Cobb was like late in life. Fabulous story, one of the classics of the business. Tommy Lee Jones starred in a movie based on the story.
2007-11-17 13:08:03 · answer #3 · answered by wdx2bb 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ty Cobb was rude to everyone, and that originated from experiences in his childhood, which he never recovered from.
That's not an excuse tho, he could have got better if he had put an interest in it, but he was dedicated to his great talent, which was playing baseball.
2007-11-18 15:15:14 · answer #4 · answered by Operaz 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The game was played differently then but Cobb was not liked by too many, including his own teammates, does that sound familiar?
2007-11-17 01:23:43 · answer #5 · answered by Frizzer 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, even by the standards of his day. He was racist and self-serving. He was known, during his lifetime, as the meanest man in baseball. There are two or three good biographies out there, one 'co-written' by Cobb himself. None of them can show him in any kind of light other than bad.
2007-11-17 00:39:03 · answer #6 · answered by Sarrafzedehkhoee 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A lot of baseball historians might label him as such, but I tend to believe that he was just a no frills hard playing baseball man who played the game hard & didn't give in to anyone -on or off the fied. - I think this label is wrong for him.
2007-11-19 09:35:10 · answer #7 · answered by Mike 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sounds like he was genuinely a bad person, racist and full of hate. There's hardly a shred of evidence to indicate that there was anything nice about him.
2007-11-17 01:35:09 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ever seen the Movie?
2007-11-17 02:23:47 · answer #9 · answered by mark c 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, But also a great player.
2007-11-17 02:55:52 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋