Ty Cobb not the monster many have made him out to be?

[tschock]

Originally Posted by jhs5120

Okay, so here are the stories I have heard:

In spring training of 1907, a black groundskeeper, Bungy Davis, tried to either shake Cobb’s hand or pat him on the shoulder. Cobb was outraged, slapping Davis in the face and chasing him until Davis’s wife attempted to intervene. Cobb choked her until Tigers’ catcher Charlie Schmidt pulled him off her and punched him in the face.

In 1908 in Detroit, Cobb stepped in freshly poured asphalt and a black workman named Fred Collins made his displeasure known. Cobb punched him the face, knocking him to the ground. A Detroit judge and likely Tigers’ fan found Cobb guilty of battery, but gave him a suspended sentence. Cobb paid Collins $75 to avoid a civil suit.

In 1909 in Cleveland, Cobb was charged with attempted murder after stabbing a black night watchman named George Stansfield. Stansfield had intervened after Cobb had slapped a black elevator operator. Cobb’s lawyers, one of whom was a former mayor of Cleveland, managed to get the charges reduced to assault and battery. Cobb pled guilty and was fined $100. Stanfield filed a lawsuit, but he and Cobb settled out of court. (In the comments, Fricks insists, without providing any evidence, that Stansfield was white, and that biographer Charles Alexander knew this but decided to lie about it.)

In 1912 in New York, Cobb attacked a white man for a change, charging into the stands during the sixth inning and administering a savage beating to heckler Claude Lueker. The insult that pushed Cobb over the edge? Lueker called Cobb “a half n**.” (Irrelevant to the question of Cobb’s racism: Lueker didn’t have hands. When the crowd pointed it out, Cobb yelled “I don’t care if he doesn’t have feet.”) Cobb was suspended ten games for the incident. “When I spectator calls me a half n*** I think it’s about time to fight,” Cobb told the Detroit Free Press.

In 1914 in Detroit, Cobb arrived home with a dinner guest, only to find his wife upset over an argument she had earlier in the day with a local butcher, William Carpenter. Cobb phoned Carpenter, telling him he was coming to see him in the shop, then grabbed his revolver and headed over. When Carpenter saw Cobb enter with a gun, he quickly apologized. Carpenter’s assistant, however, brandished a meat cleaver and advanced on Cobb. Cobb pistol whipped the assistant while Carpenter called the police. Cobb spent the night in jail, and although the assistant decided not to press charges – possible Tigers’ fan alert – Carpenter did. Cobb pled guilty to disturbing the peace and paid a $50 fine. You will never, ever guess Carpenter’s skin color.

In 1919 in Detroit, Cobb called hotel chambermaid Ada Morris a n******. Morris talked back, and Cobb responded by kicking her in the stomach and knocking her down a flight of stairs. Morris broke a rib and was hospitalized; the hotel manager threw Cobb out. Morris subsequently filed a $10,000 lawsuit against Cobb. Though the matter was covered in the black press, it was kept out of the white papers. Ultimately, Morris was paid an undisclosed sum and dropped the suit.

So, from the referenced article, the author doesn't deny any of these things happened, but claims the parties involved MAY not have been black. I'm sorry, but switch out the parties involved with white men/women and you still have a violent sociopath. Ty Cobb may not have been racist (even though he most certainly was), but he was an extremely violent and terrible person.

Actually, the author does NOT claim those involved MAY not have been black. Quite the opposite.

"It describes three people who fought with Cobb—a night watchman, a bellhop, and a butcher—as being black.... Looking into census reports, birth certificates, and contemporary newspaper accounts, I found that all three of the black fighters cited by Charles Alexander were in fact white. Yes, Cobb had also fought with two black men during his life, but those fights didn’t have racial overtones, and Cobb—who had an extremely thin skin—fought with many more white men."

The above are some of the examples you cite to 'prove' that he was racist, yet if they were not black, how could they be attributed to racist acts. In addition, the author provides some evidence (or justification) that Cobb may have been more color-blind than most.

Similarly, you tout the handicapped fan as having no hands, yet the article is as follows: "And yes, he once went into the stands and repeatedly punched a man who had been heckling him for more than a year, and who turned out to have less than the full complement of fingers—hence the story of him attacking a handicapped fan." (for some reason I remember seeing he was missing 3 fingers on one hand, but can't find the source)

So the bottom line is the referenced article is REFUTING some of the stories you tout (as racist) and clarifying the incident with the man who "didn't have hands", and not 'adding to them' as you claim. While Cobb wasn't a saint by any means, I believe the title of the thread still has merit based on the referenced article.

Either you have an incredible memory to provide such detailed examples, or you have reference material. If the latter, please provide what you are using as your source of information.

[Hankphenom]

You need to listen to the Sam Crawford and Davy Jones segments of the audio version of "The Glory Of Their Times." You can speculate that there was jealousy and resentment when they talk about Cobb, but to think that all those stories and the tone of their voices when they talk about him was manufactured for the interviews defies credulity. I've no doubt Cobb did many good things in his life and had a good side to him, but there's also no doubt he could be a real bastard, too.