Top 106 Baseball Players: #7 - Ty Cobb

Ty Cobb

Ty Cobb was one of the greatest all-around players in the early days of the game, and held many record that stood for decades, and one big one that still stands.

Cobb played his first season with Detroit in 1905, when he was just 18 years old. He hit only .240 that season, but it would be the only time in a 24 year career that he would hit below .310. In his third season, he became the youngest player to win a batting title, with a .350 average, though that record would later be broken by Al Kaline, who was 12 days younger when he won his first. Cobb also led the league in hits, RBI's, and stolen bases that year.

That was also the first season Cobb would reach the World Series, but he hit only .200 against the Cubs and they lost the series in 5. He would lead them back to the final series in each of the next two seasons, but they lost each time, even though Cobb did play well in the 1908 series, and he never did end up winning a championship.

In 1908, he led the league in the same categories as the year before, but also added doubles and triples to his leading categories. The next year he won his only Triple Crown, when he led the league in home runs for the only time in his career. Interestingly, all 9 home runs he hit that year were inside the park, making him the only home run champ in history who didn't hit one over the fence.

Cobb had his best season in 1911, when he hit .420, which was the record for many years until it was eclipsed by Rogers Hornsby. He also led the league in runs, RBI's, hits, doubles, triples, stolen bases, total bases, and slugging, and fell just 3 homers short of the home run title, which would have given him every major statistical category.

He won 12 batting titles between 1907 and 1919, losing only in 1916, and his 12 batting titles are still an all-time record. His career batting average of .366 is still the highest of all time, and may stand forever. He hit over .350 in 16 of his 24 seasons, and reached .400 3 times, along with those 23 straight seasons over .300.

He was also the all-time hit leader for hits until Pete Rose passed him in 1985, and he was the first member of the 4000 hit club. He was the all-time runs leader until 2001, when Rickey Henderson surpassed him, and he is still #2 in each of those categories. He was the leader in stolen bases until 1977, when Lou Brock moved past him, and he has since fallen to #4 on that list. His record of 54 times stealing home is still the record, along with the 5 times that he stole 2nd, 3rd, and home in succession.

Cobb was also a member of the first group elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and was the leading votegetter of the group, which included Babe Ruth, Walter Johnson, Honus Wagner, and Christy Mathewson. His vote total was the highest by any player until Tom Seaver's election, and is still among the 5 highest in history. There is no doubt that Cobb is one of the greatest players ever to play the game.