Ty Cobb

Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb (December 18, 1886 ? July 17, 1961), nicknamed "The Georgia Peach", was an American baseball player generally considered to be the greatest player

Miscellaneous

• The grunge band Soundgarden has a song called "Ty Cobb".
• In the movie Field of Dreams, the character of Shoeless Joe (Ray Liotta) remarked that Ty Cobb wanted to play at the field. Joe further remarked that, "...none of us could stand the son of a bitch when we were alive, so we told him to stick it!"
• Homer Simpson consoles his son Bart upon the death of the family cat by saying, "Don't worry, son. I'm sure he's up in heaven right now, laughing it up with all the other celebrities: John Dillinger, Ty Cobb, Joseph Stalin..."
• ESPN's "Page 2" selected Cobb as the "ultimate sports villain."
• Cobb once broke up a Rube Waddell no-hitter with a bunt single.
• The Detroit Tigers have retired five of their players' numbers-- 2 (Charlie Gehringer, 5 (Hank Greenberg), 6 (Al Kaline, 16 (Hal Newhouser, and 23 {Willie Horton). Cobb does not make the list because he never had a uniform number; his career predates the practice becoming common.
• Ty Cobb faced pitcher Walter Johnson more times than any other batter-pitcher matchup in baseball history. Cobb also got the first hit allowed in Johnson's career. After Johnson hit Detroit's Ossie Vitt with a pitch in August 1915, seriously injuring him, Cobb realized that Johnson was fearful of hitting opponents. He used this knowledge to his advantage, by standing closer to the plate.