All the players have reported and the games start next week. To kick us off here is some old footage featuring Ty Cobb of whom THC has written before (see Take Me Out Of The Ballgame). It's taken from both his playing years (1905-28) and in retirement.
The first seconds show Cobb and Honus Wagner together - it's hard to think of two more vastly different temperaments in great ball players. Cobb was all temper, mostly bad. Wagner a gracious competitor and, by all accounts, a kind man.
Most of the film shows Cobb in his Detroit years (1905-26) but at one point he's wearing an uniform with an elephant on it - that's from his last two years with Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics.
At 1:58 is Cobb at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown NY. Before the camera pans to him you can see Babe Ruth and Grover Cleveland Alexander. One of the last scenes is of Ruth and Cobb in retirement playing a charity golf match. They may be smiling but during their playing days Cobb hated Ruth and the changes he brought to baseball. THC's guess is Ruth ignored Cobb in return, that is if he could remember his name - the Babe was notorious for forgetting names, including of his teammates.
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