On December 18, 1886, Detroit Tiger great Ty Cobb was born. Although Cobb is from Georgia, he spent a career playing in Detroit, where he earned a reputation as one of baseball’s best players. Cobb went on to receive the most votes in the inaugural Hall of Fame ballot in 1936.
Source: Michigan Every Day
For more information see
Ty Cobb : a biography / Dan Holmes. Publisher Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 2004. When the National Baseball Hall of Fame inducted its first class of players in 1936, Ty Cobb received more votes than any other player-even more than did fellow inductee Babe Ruth. Cobb, known as the “Georgia Peach,” was universally recognized as the best player from the “dead ball” era. He also had the reputation of being its most ferocious player. His fierce determination to succeed helped Cobb equal or surpass more offensive records than any other player, and his career average of .367 is still the highest of all time. Cobb’s unyielding and often ferocious work ethic, though, made him many enemies, and his occasional episodes of violence marked an otherwise impeccable career. Baseball author Dan Holmes offers a fresh and fair-handed look at the life of baseball’s first true superstar.
My life in baseball [electronic resource] : the true record / by Ty Cobb, with Al Stump ; introduction to the Bison book edition by Charles C. Alexander. Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, c1993.
Dan Holmes, “Nine things you didn’t know about Ty Cobb”, Detroit Athletic Company, December 18, 2012.
Dan Holmes, Five myths about Ty Cobb, Detroit Athletic Company, August 30, 2012.