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Ty Cobb’s Great 1911 Season:
“I often tried plays that looked recklessly daring, maybe even silly. But I never tried anything foolish when a game was at stake, only when we were far ahead or far behind. I did it to study how the other team reacted, filing away in my mind any observations for future use.”
—Ty Cobb in The New York Times
Ty Cobb led the American League in 1911 in numerous categories, including 248 hits, 147 runs scored, 127 RBI, 83 stolen bases, 47 doubles, 24 triples, a .621 slugging percentage, and a 40-game hitting streak. Cobb hit eight home runs but finished second in that category to Frank Baker, who hit eleven. He was awarded a second Chalmers car, this time for being voted the American League MVP by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
“Shoeless” Joe Jackson led him by .009 points in the batting race late in the season. Near the end of the campaign, Cobb’s Tigers had a long series against Jackson’s Cleveland Naps. Fellow Southerners Cobb and Jackson were personally friendly both on and off the field. Cobb used that friendship to his advantage. Cobb ignored Jackson when Jackson tried to say anything to him. When Jackson persisted, Cobb snapped angrily back at him, making him wonder what he could have done to enrage Cobb, who felt that it was these mind games that caused Jackson to “fall off” to a final average of .408, twelve points lower than Cobb’s .420, a twentieth-century record which stood until Rogers Hornsby surpassed it with .424, which is the record since then.
Cobb is widely credited with setting 90 major league records during his career. He still holds several records as of the end of the 2015 season, including the highest career batting average (.366 or .367, depending on source) and most career batting titles with 11 (or 12, depending on source). He retained many other records for almost a half century or more, including most career hits until 1985 (4,189 or 4,191, depending on source), most career runs (2,245 or 2,246 depending on source) until 2001, most career games played (3,035) and at bats (11,429 or 11,434 depending on source) until 1974, and the modern record for most career stolen bases (892) until 1977. He still holds the career record for stealing home (54 times), and was the youngest player to compile 4,000 hits and score 2,000 runs. Cobb ranks fifth all-time in number of games played and committed 271errors, the most by any American League outfielder.
-Gary Livacari
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