Ty Cobb

An amazing athelete! He was an asshole tho, that had few friends.

I can't fault a guy who was willing to do anything and everything to win.

CANT STAND HIS ATTITUDE BUT GREAT

I rated Bonds as "Terrible" because (a) he is a miserable human being and (b) he cheated. From what I understand, Cobb was a miserable human being, but at least his head didn't grow 4 1/4 cap sizes during his playing career--he was just a hard-nosed S.O.B. on the diamond. Maybe time has a way of healing some of the wounds he no doubt inflicted, but I'm more inclined to recognize the greatness of Cobb than the "greatness" of Bonds. As a result, I give Cobb the following rating: "Great" player - "Bad" human being = "Good".

Even though he was supposedly a huge prick.

loathsome human being. but a hall-of-famer, and rightfully so.

great player and a hateful human being

Arguably the greatest all-around baseball player ever.  His lifetime batting average was awesome, won I believe somewhere around 11 batting titles, (he didn't hit just singles but plenty of doubles and triples as well so I'm sure his career slg. percentage was great), hit for power (though not a power hitter by any stretch), and he stole many bases.  I know that the fact that he was a racist and an unsportsmanlike baseball player turns a lot of people off.  But it sure would be entertaining to go back in time and see him fighting people in the bleachers and sliding into opposing players' knees, taking them out.  The Georgia Peach was an original.

A arrogant racist bastard that was pretty damn good at baseball

Cobb is the ball player you want on your team who has the ability to impact every facet of the game.He induced balks,stole bases(stealing home more than any player)drew walks,and most importantly produced runs.Cobb was the one who made the game move,his contemporary,Ruth provided the finish.Cobb threatened every aspect of "small ball",however compared to Ruth's heroics which could thwart every attempt at "small ball" with one mighty swing,Cobb falls a bit behind the Great Bambino as the greatest.

As a baseball player, never equalled. He did it all. . . with gusto. Everyone knows he was a difficult person, but when judged only on baseball merit, he deserves respect. I wish I could have seen him play.

Good ballplayer... but a very hateful human being. I have no respect for this pile of crap.

Babe Ruth's own wife said Ty Cobb was a better baseball player. She said something like, "Babe is #1 in my heart, but Ty Cobb is #1 in baseball." Ruth has been elevated in our eyes based on today's game and our overvalue on the HR over scoring runs and getting on base. But Ruth and Cobb didn't play in today's game. Yes, he was a mean SOB, but any writer at the time both Ruth and Cobb were playing would tell you who was the better ballplayer.

Possibly faster than Mays and an absolutely fearless player. Cobb was a particularly vicious bastard who would probably have been more popular today, considering the current expectation that favors abhoraant behavior and self-promotion as the expected norms. Apparently, the fact that Cobb was a sociopath did nothing to dissuade the pundents and major leaguers of his era from proclaiming him as the greatest playerr of all-time and I see no reason to devalue any of these primary sources with revisionist history. Cobb, in reality, was one of the very few players throughout the history of the game that was a threat to score any time that he stood in the batter's box without relying on the homerun. His alertness on the basepaths and knowledge of his own and his opponent's strengths and weaknesses allowed Cobb, in a fraction of a second, to calculate his posssibilities for success and, far more often than not, he was able, by the force of his own will, to accumulate extra bases and runs scor... Read more

One of the greatest ever and still over-rated. Getting on base and hitting with power are more important than singles and stolen bases. I will give him a pass for being a vicious bastard. After all, his mom shot his father and that was probably pretty traumatic. Still, it is fun to think about all those fights he LOST.

367 career average!!!

He could do whatever needed to be done. If he had played in the home run era, he would have hit home runs. No more fierce competitor ever.

Cobb hit over .300 for 23 straight seasons and ended his career with a .367 average, the highest in Major League history. He won 11 batting titles in a 13 year span and batted over .400 three times while collecting 4,189 lifetime hits. The Georgia Peach swiped 892 total bases, stealing home 50 times.

Great hitter and fielder. Poor attitude. Was a deterent to his team

2nd best ever. Only ruth was better

The Georgia Peach was a menace inside and outside of the baseball diamond. A player who reportedly sharpened his spikes to inflict punishment on his opponents, Ty Cobb played like there was no tomorrow. Fiercely hated during his time, he was not a friendly man towards the press. Nevertheless, who can deny how great he was (with a career batting average of .367)? He can also be listed amongst the few Triple Crown winners in history. Whatever may be said about his rude, disgusting manner in and out of the field, no one can claim him not to be on the short list of greatest players. Ty Cobb definitely belonged.

Great player.

He was agreat speedy athlete. Probably one of the most athletic baseball players off all time. he was on off the biggest ass in baseball also.

Ty Cobb may have been baseball's greastest player, if not the game's fiercest competitor. His batting accomplishments are legendary - a lifetime average of .367, 297 triples, 4,191 hits, 12 batting titles (including nine in a row), 23 straight seasons in which he hit over .300, three .400 seasons (topped by a .420mark in 1911), and 2245 runs. Intimidating the opposition, The Georgia Peach stole 892 bases during a 24- year career, primarily with the Detriot Tigers. Ty Cobb was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.

The first man inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame, Ty was notorious for his nasty playing style. His 12 batting titles and.367 career average are Major League records that will likely never be broken. At the time of his retirement, he also held 88 other big-league records. Cobbs career numbers are 3034 games played, 11434 at-bats, 2245 runs, 4191 hits, 725 doubles, 295 triples, 117 homeruns, 1937 rbi's, 892 stolen bases, and a .366 career batting average.

Set 90 major league records, still holds 30. .367 is one of the most incredible records in all of sports (especially doing it mostly in a DEFENSIVE era against the deadball), along with his 53 steals of home plate. What most people don't realize is that nearly everyone who saw Ty Cobb play said he was the greatest player. And most of these people saw Ruth play (some are even Babe's own teammates), as well. I have an Excel research file from a fellow SABR member on this very topic. So far, he has found 250 supporters for Cobb as the greatest player ever, 30 for Ruth, and 30 for Honus Wagner. It is pretty clear that there is much in baseball that DOES NOT show up in statistics; and as good as Cobb's numbers were, they only tell part of the story.

Probably the greatest hitter ever but a dirty player who was a horrible person.

5 for being outstanding on the field, 1 for being a jerk-off on and off the field - 3.

Not the friendliest guy, but what a player.

Obviously, he was great on the field.He may also have the distinction of being the toughest guy to find something great to say about him off of it.

A pugnacious jerk that beat out bunts by dumping them into a waterlogged infield, but man, I wish he were on my team.

Certainly a racist but that came with the time and place he grew up in. Okay so he shot a 67 at Augusta. He also was hammered by 12 year old Bob Rosburg in the club championship at the Olympic Club. The club members taunted him mercilessly and he dissapeared for two years. Only four stars for being a baby.

Goodness. Shot a 67 at Augusta.

the fiercest competitor in baseball history. i would love to watch him play against today's players.

people may think that Ruth is greater than cobb, but they are always those that've never watched anyone of his games in real person. Of all the baseball critics who watched both of them play, most voted for cobb as the all time great. If you think he's a dirty player or a racist, you should read his autobiography, which will surely make you rethink and appreciate him even more.

An ass, yes. Ask any baseball fan over the age of 80 and they will tell you as much. Wouldn't call him a role model, or even a nice guy. He was only concerned with one thing, baseball. And insofar as baseball goes, he raised the game to a new level. He set 93 records. Enough said.

He wasn't any kind of hero. He beat up an old negro woman once, and probably pistol-whipped a man to death in an alley. Even though he was filthy rich (he was one of the first investors in Coca-Cola) he was notoriously cheap, often stealing towels and sheets from hotels to send back to his Georgia estate. He used to deride Babe Ruth and his ilk for only hitting home runs, but that was just because he had no power of his own. He was so successful on the basepaths because opposing players were terrified of getting in the way of his cleats, which he'd sharpen down to razor points. So he had a lot of singles and stolen bases. Big friggin' deal. A hateful and violent man who turned a wonderful game into a war zone. A complete a$$hole.

Ty Cobb has to be the greatest hitter ever. I don't know why so many people say it is Ted Williams, who was no doubt great, but, Ty Cobb played before 1920 when the spitball was made illegal. Also in 1920 they began making use of more than one or two balls per game so that the hitter had an advantage over the pitcher. These two new rules made hitting a lot easier for Williams.

Greatest hitter ever.Rose may have more hits but he is no ty cobb ,look at the at bats ,not even close.Hands down the best hitter in history.Next to Ruth the second best player ever.

They placed Ty a bit low!(or high?)He is easily in the top 2 (I would consider him the best).

12 batting championships. The best pure hitter ever. He played the game like his life was on the line. Hitting over .400 was routine. Stealing bases was expected. And taking the extra base was a given

The commitment to excellence Cobb so masterfully displayed on the diamond should forever be revered in history as truly the best. It as a tragedy that this great and generous man is to this day still regarded as "evil" by the liberal minded media and the uneducated on the subject. As long as there is a little leaguer lacing up his cleats for the first time, with a desire to be better than the rest, Mr. Cobb will always remain the best there ever was.

Ty Cobb IS the greatest ballplayer of THEM all!!!! All his batting records happen in the "DEAD BALL ERA".That in and of it self proves of his greatness!!!!

magellan, he was a jerk, he brutally assaulted blacks just for being black. he even once assaulted a crippled black because he said cobb was a jerk. however, as far as a player goes, he had everything

Hey, we all know why Ty Cobb is referred to as "bad" or "unsavory". Thankfully, we're not rating political correctness here...or are we?

4,191 career hits, second behind Rose.

While one of the most unsavory of personalities in the history of baseball, Ty Cobb should always be remembered and recognized as one of the absolute greatest to ever play the game. His competitive nature was arguably the fiercest of any professional athlete, and some have questioned whether the number of stolen bases he had were a result of talent or from the fear he instilled into rival teams from his incredibly dangerous "spikes-up" slides (which were known to injure more than a few players). Regardless, what can never be questioned is the impact and audience he brought to the game of baseball, and the achievements (statistics) he did earn must be honored and forever respected.