Ty Cobb Becomes The First Player to Reach 4,000 Hits July 18, 1927

On This Day in Baseball History July 18, 1927: Philadelphia Athletics outfielder Ty Cobb became the first Major League Baseball player to reach the 4,000 hit plateau against his former team the Detroit Tigers at the Tigers home Navin Field. He would hit his 4,000th hit against Tigers pitcher Sam Gibson in the top of the first inning.

Unlike the fanfare that reaching such a milestone would garner in today's Baseball world, Cobb reaching 4,000 barely garnered any press. The New York Times of July 19, 1927 not only doesn't mention Cobb reaching 4,000 hits, he isn't even mentioned in the two paragraph article describing the 5-3 loss by the Athletics. The blogpost No hoopla when Ty Cobb got his 4,000th hit by Richard Bak from the Detroit Athletic Company dated November 18, 2013 mentions some of the Detroit press from that day's baseball action:

As Harry Salsinger wrote in the next day’s Detroit News, “Cobb hit a line drive into right field and [Harry] Heilmann, trying for a one-handed catch, got his glove on the ball but it bounced out and gave Cobb a scratch two-bagger.” Harry Bullion of the Detroit Free Press described Cobb’s hit as “a lucky double [that] slid off Heilmann’s gloved hand and helped in the making of two runs.” The 2-0 lead didn’t last long as Detroit countered with three runs in the bottom of the first off Lefty Grove.

Significantly, the game was not held up to acknowledge the historic base hit and Cobb didn’t ask for the ball. In fact, Cobb’s accomplishment was scarcely acknowledged in the next day’s papers. One reason is that little emphasis was put on such arcane records then. Another is that it was considered just another ho-hum day at the office for the 40-year-old Cobb, a hitting machine who seemed likely to go on forever. Who was to say that he wouldn’t reach 5,000 hits someday? The same attitude prevailed at the end of the summer when Babe Ruth clouted his 60th home run, breaking his own record. Like 4,000 hits, 60 home runs made for a nice round number, but many observers figured the Yankees’ slugger might one day hit 65 or 70, so why get too excited?

The Free Press ran a column of notes with the headline: “Bengals In Third Place; Ty Cobb Gets 4,000th Hit.” Bullion wrote: “When Cobb made his fluke double in the first inning, it was his 4,000th major league safety. He’s so far ahead of all records of other batsmen that he will never be beaten or tied.”

Trying not to be defeated in trying to find something on Cobb's 4,000th, I decided to look into a trusted resource that I have used before when posting about Cobb.

I pulled my worn copy of Ty Cobb: My Life in Baseball with Al Stump off my Baseball book shelf and to my dismay, I found NOTHING about the day Cobb delivered his 4,000th hit. The only mention of his accomplishments during the 1927 season for the A's is on page 257:

My personal performance in 1927 was satisfactory: a matter of 175 hits in 134 games, 104 runs scored and another 93 driven in for an average of .357. At forty-one, I could still leg it a bit, if 22 stolen bases was any evidence.

Cobb would become the charter member of the 4,000 hit club that day and finish his career with 4,191 hits. On page 146, Cobb would claim that out of the 4,191 hits he collected over his 24-year career, 72-plus percent of them were singles. He had 3,054 singles out of his total of 4,191 hits for an accurate 72.9 percent.

There is only one other member of the 4,000 hit club and that is the man who would eventually pass Ty Cobb as Baseball's All-time hit king: Pete Rose. Rose would reach 4,000 hits on April 13, 1984 and would pass Cobb on September 11, 1985 with his 4,192nd hit. Rose would finish his career with 4,256 hits.

So much for trying to find something Cobb may have said concerning the day he hit his 4,000th hit. Oh well. Though the article doesn't mention the accomplishment here is the boxscore for the Philadelphia Athletics vs. The Detroit Tigers on July 18, 1927 from the July 19, 1927 edition of the New York Times:

Will we ever see another player reach 4,000 hits? I always thought that Derek Jeter had a chance before he broke his ankle in the postseason against the Detroit Tigers in 2013. He would finish his career in 2014 with 3,465 hits. Anyone want to take a guess on who, if anyone, can reach 4,000 hits in today's game?

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco
#baseballsiscokidstyle

Ty Cobb Makes His Debut Against The New York Highlanders August 30, 1905

On this day in Baseball History August 30, 1905: Tyrus Raymond Cobb or simply known as Ty Cobb made his major league debut for the Detroit Tigers against Jack Chesbro and the New York Highlanders at Detroit's Bennett Park at the age of 18. Now I could go on and wax poetically about how Cobb faced off against Chesbro in a battle of future Hall of Famers. But you know what, I'll let Mr. Cobb speak for himself on his debut day in the majors. From the pages 17-19 of the book Ty Cobb: My Life in Baseball with Al Stump:

Warming up for the New York Highlanders was the legendary Wee Willie Keeler, onlt 5 feet 4 1/2 inches and 140 pounds, but a placement hitter beyond compare. With his choked-up bottle bat, Keeler had averaged as high as .432. A fourteen-year veteran, he had yet to hit under .300. At second base was the great Kid Elberfield himself. The New York pitcher was Jack Chesbro, the original master of the spitball who'd won a record 41 games the season before. On our side was Wahoo Sam Crawford and Bobby Lowe, first man to hit four home runs in one game. And Germany Schaefer, who stole bases in reverse to demonstrate his genius. Until that day- my first in a big-time park -I'd never dreamed that men could field and hit so wonderfully. Such speed, class, style, speedy maneuvering, and lightning thinking! It seemed miles beyond anything that I could ever do. When the bell rang, I found myself in a duel by artists at the art of extracting every last inch of opportunity from every situation. And they went at it with a red-eyed determination I could not believe. On one play, Kid Elberfield tried to bump Schaefer off his running line as he raced for third, and Germany dumped him on his head for it. "Rowdy Bill" Coughlin, our third baseman, flew at umpire Silk O'Loughlin and was thrown out. Frank Delahanty of New York made a diving, somersaulting catch that left me wide-eyed. Later, Delahanty was carried away after tearing ankle tendons while trying to stretch a double into a triple. He was through for the season.

And in terms of his matchup against Chesbro?

When Chesbro cranked and fired his overhand spitter-loaded with slippery elm-it came up to the plate like a standard fastball, and then took a diabolical dive under your bat.

Armour had me, a babe-in-the-woods, batting fifth in the line-up!

What did they say about me the next day? The Detroit Journal of August 31, 1905, wasted few words: "Cobb, the juvenile outfield from Augusta, made his first appearance and was given a hospitable hand. He comes up to expectation."

The Free Press had a little more to say:
"Cobb got away well. For a young man anxious to get along in the world, it was not an auspicious situation as he faced Mr. Chesbro, the American League's finest twirler. In addition, Tyrus had the bad luck to confront Chesbro on two occasions when two men were out and a man waiting to score-a base hit being the only thing of value. First time up, Chesbro pour two fast strikes past the uneasy lad. But then the Georgian whaled the next one over Eddie Hahn's head and off the center field wall, for a delightful double that scored his man. Second time up he drew a walk and was thrown out stealing. In the field he was adequate
"Tyrus was well-received and may consider a two-ball pry-up a much better career opener than usually comes a young fellow's way."

We beat Chesbro 5-3, and I actually made a clean hit off the meanest delivery in the business. That night I was floating off the ground.

A few things stand out to me from the two italicized passages. One is that I love the use of the word "Twirler" to describe the pitcher. I'm going to try and bring that word back into usage. LOL. Second is how Cobb describes how Chesbro was the master spitballer. Cobb on page 57 goes into what pitchers used to gain mastery in the delivery of the spitter:

Pitchers dosed baseballs with licorice, talcum, slippery elm, and saliva flavored with tobacco until they came at the hitter so discolored that he could hardly pick them out of the shadows. 

It is always a treat for me to read the exploits of a by-gone era of Baseball History in the words of players that played the game. In today's era of the instant blurb and quip on social media and the 24-hour news cycle on a multitude of sports channels, to reach back into history for the exact feelings of a player such as Cobb is more than I can ever do in placing words down on this blogpost.

Well, there you go. Straight from the Georgia Peach's mouth. Here boxscore for Ty Cobb's debut in the majors August 30, 1905 from the New York Times August 31, 1905.

Regardless of how you personally feel about Cobb, there's no denying that we'll never see a player like him in today's baseball. Some might say thankfully so, but they definitely broke the mold when Cobb was made.

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco
#baseballsiscokidstyle

For Further Reading:

- Click Here to access Ty Cobb's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

- Click Here to access Jack Chesbro's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

- Click Here to access the article The Knife in Ty Cobb’s Back: Did the baseball great really confess to murder on his deathbed? by Gilbert King from the Smithsonian Magazine website dated August 30, 2011