Was Ty Cobb Racist?

[Rock Strongo]

"Cobb" was fairly accurate. Good watch if you havent seen it.

lulz... because you knew him personally?

he was typical for the times. like most people of lore, legend supersedes reality.

im referring to the baseball side of "cobb". that, is "fairly accurate".

 

[moxie]

he was typical for the times. like most people of lore, legend supersedes reality.

im referring to the baseball side of "cobb". that, is "fairly accurate".

In that baseball hasn't really fundamentally changed since he played? Got it.

 

[Rock Strongo]

In that baseball hasn't really fundamentally changed since he played? Got it.

i have no idea where i said what you typed, but...continue.

i said the baseball side of the movie was fairly accurate.

 

[beardown07]

 

[moxie]

i have no idea where i said what you typed, but...continue.

i said the baseball side of the movie was fairly accurate.

Yeah, you qualified your original statement of ""Cobb" was fairly accurate. Good watch if you havent seen it." by later saying "the baseball side" and I was asking (indicated by the "?" at the end of my statement) if that's indeed what you meant- that the game of baseball hadn't fundamentally changed since he played the game, so that's how you can make that assessment. Originally, I (obviously mistakenly) construed your statement to mean that the biographical side of "Cobb" was accurate. I stand corrected, as you've since qualified your original post.

 

[Rock Strongo]

Yeah, you qualified your original statement of ""Cobb" was fairly accurate. Good watch if you havent seen it." by later saying "the baseball side" and I was asking (indicated by the "?" at the end of my statement) if that's indeed what you meant- that the game of baseball hadn't fundamentally changed since he played the game, so that's how you can make that assessment. Originally, I (obviously mistakenly) construed your statement to mean that the biographical side of "Cobb" was accurate. I stand corrected, as you've since qualified your original post.

no, the baseball side. i should have been clearer when i said "fairly accurate". the game has fundamentally changed since his day in some respects. HR's were frowned upon once.

 

[$500 Million]

Wow, this video was really eye opening, thanks for sharing it.

 

[JohnU]

HR's were frowned upon once.

Average number of home runs per team was about 25 for an entire season. I'd guess many of those were inside the parkers. I imagine anybody who tried going for the long ball with those bottle bats was not long for the league.

 

[Rock Strongo]

Average number of home runs per team was about 25 for an entire season. I'd guess many of those were inside the parkers. I imagine anybody who tried going for the long ball with those bottle bats was not long for the league.

it was once seen as "bad" to not get on base for the batter behind you in the lineup. home runs over the fence were rare, as outfields were huge and balls werent as lively. inside the park home runs WERE common, thus the term "home run".

you had to run home.

 

[Carnzo]

He's been dead since 1961, news flash, things were very different then.
What was normal then would get you into a lot of trouble now.

 

[JohnU]

Consider that the odds of seeing a steal of home or triple play were higher than seeing a home run, it would take a special kind of modern fan to appreciate the Dead Ball era.

 

[soxfan1468927]

Average number of home runs per team was about 25 for an entire season. I'd guess many of those were inside the parkers. I imagine anybody who tried going for the long ball with those bottle bats was not long for the league.

The AL was even worse. From the beginning of Cobb's career in 1905 to Ruth's breaking records in 1919, the AL team average was 17.5 HRs per season.

 

[Omar 382]

no, the baseball side. i should have been clearer when i said "fairly accurate". the game has fundamentally changed since his day in some respects. HR's were frowned upon once.

IIRC, the movie hardly even showed him playing baseball but for one sequence, and that was just to show him heckle a fan, right?

 

[Rock Strongo]

IIRC, the movie hardly even showed him playing baseball but for one sequence, and that was just to show him heckle a fan, right?

the day to day side of the baseball part of the story in the "recollections" he was doing. i havent seen the movie since i was 18. im 41.

 

[huskers1217]

Was Archie bunker racist

 

[Center Ice]

By today's standards, yes he was. Probably more the norm for the time period though.

By today's standards, a six-year old can't call his friend a booger brain without getting suspended and sent for 6 months of anger management therapy.

 

[jjc2009]

I saw that video too.

I suspect his "racism" was way overstated and is now part of the mythos of Ty Cobb.

I also suspect he was also a prick in general, in as much as that video tried to portray otherwise, but probably no more self-absorbed than most of today's athletes as well. Which, in turn means his prickishness is also over-stated, but doesn't mean he wasn't one either.

He obviously had the respect of teammates and rivals, even though his competitiveness made him off-putting.

 

[DragonfromTO]

he was typical for the times. like most people of lore, legend supersedes reality.

im referring to the baseball side of "cobb". that, is "fairly accurate".

But this thread was a question specifically about non-baseball stuff, no?

 

[JohnU]

I don't think many people in 1912 would have cared if Cobb was a racist. There were no minorities in pro baseball anyway and they would not have had any social issues off the field during the season that would have had any impact on anything.

If we are trying to prove that Cobb was not a racist or a bigot, I don't know that it matters unless you just have a reason to care about the guy's legacy. Either way, his baseball career stands on its own merits.

 

[Rock Strongo]

But this thread was a question specifically about non-baseball stuff, no?

well, it was asked if he was a racist. this thread has gone in 3 directions since.