Question for Jodi B. (and others)

[Archive]

Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

Actually, I was being quite literal, with no sarcasm intended. I agree with your feelings on this issue.

Nearing the end of his life, Stump found himself down on his luck. Besides creating negative mythology surrounding Cobb, he was also responsible for forging several amateurish handwritten Cobb letters. After knowing this, how much stock would you place in what a man like that has to say? Some of it may be true, but how much is anyone's guess. It can be ascertained that Cobb's character mellowed with time (at least when it came to dealing with the public). From one young boy's latter-day account, he was even soft-spoken, patient and gentle with children (circa 1951). One thing in the Stump account is believable, however--the fact that Tyrus had no close friends in the end. Even though he was apparently paying for the upkeep of Mickey Cochrane at that point, I can't say as I've seen anything written on a particular closeness between the two men.

[Archive]

Posted By: Tom Hufford

Ah, yes, Allen Sothoron - one of the more memorable game stories I remember reading (from microfilm of a 1920s or 30s game) began this way:

"Allen Sutton Sothoron pitched his initials off today..."

They just don't write 'em like they used to.

[Archive]

Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

Oh yeah! I had forgotten that story! Somebody reprinted it in a later publication, although I can not recall which one.

Sothoron later became a minor league manager, managing the Milwaukee Brewers in the 1930's. He always had a penchant for fine suits, and had a closet full of them. A lifelong battle with the bottle left him dead from cirrhosis at the age of 46. Pictures taken of him in the early 1930's depict a man who looks much older than his years.