What do you think?
Rate this book
My Life in Baseball: The True Record
"Highly successful in knitting together this story of the life of a most remarkable and dedicated player-perhaps the most spirited baseball player ever to have graced the diamond."-Library Journal. Introduction by Charles C. Alexander.
315 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1961
12 people are currently reading
161 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 10, 2008
I found this book disappointing. I expected a book full of scandels but he seems to think of himself as a 'choir boy'. He claims innocence to his reputation as a bad guy. I'm sure the truth lies somewhere in between what has been written about him and his version of his life. He hardly mentioned his family and glossed over the death of his father with one sentence. Part of the book was pure boring and parts were good. It does encourage me to read other books about his life that may not gloss over the interesting parts. Whatever the truth really was, Ty Cobb was fascinating!
April 1, 2012
Probably full of lies.
April 22, 2008
Tyrus Raymond Cobb was quite a guy. When he wasn't busy rewriting Baseball's nascent record books, he spent his spare time fighting groups of armed assailants, racing faster than professional racecar drivers, bringing down record bags of birds and bears, and out-investing millionaires. In reading this book, I received the impression that he single-handedly won the Great War for the Allies, and I have no doubt that he would have invented movable type, had not Gutenberg and some "Chinamen" (whom we, in our "mollycoddled" and degenerate age, would refer to as Koreans) beaten him to it. Withal, Mr. Cobb came from "college-bred" people and was no hick, as he takes several opportunities to mention. Also, he was not given to "alibying", as he takes even greater pains to point out.
A few of the things I learned from this book: the Romans invested the city of Tyre before Alexander slaughtered the population; that Harry Heilmann, at 205 lbs, was too cumbersome to play an infield position (say, firstbase) and took his cumbersomeness out to rightfield (it's important to have a slickfielding firstbaseman who can get you a lot of safeties and lay down a lot of sacrifice bunts); and that Ted Williams might have amounted to something had he only learned how to bunt. Athletic contests, especially baseball, are won through a moral imperative (what Isaiah Thomas, in his ludicrous career as a television analyst, referred to as "imposing your WHEEEL on the game") despite the fact that a batter can only hit once in every nine team at bats. And oh yes: that every player who has played the game since the '20's is basically a no-account sissy.
Yesterday, I offended a local writer when I mentioned some of my misgivings about this book; he pointed out that Cobb caught a lot of flack, was a great player, and established a couple of extremely important charitable institutions. So let me be clear about this: I agree wholeheartedly with all of those points. The Cobb Memorial Hospital and the Cobb Educational Foundation doubtlessly made life exponentially better for rural Georgians. In my opinion, Cobb, along with Honus Wagner, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, and Barry Bonds, was one of the five greatest players ever to lace up a pair of spikes. And Cobb had more shit piled on his head than Barry Bonds, Ted Williams, and "Slick Willy" Clinton combined. It is just that in this memoir he comes across as a self-aggrandizing crank; as a text, the only comparison I can come up with is Ring Lardner on steroids, so to speak. Which I for one find vastly entertaining.
A few of the things I learned from this book: the Romans invested the city of Tyre before Alexander slaughtered the population; that Harry Heilmann, at 205 lbs, was too cumbersome to play an infield position (say, firstbase) and took his cumbersomeness out to rightfield (it's important to have a slickfielding firstbaseman who can get you a lot of safeties and lay down a lot of sacrifice bunts); and that Ted Williams might have amounted to something had he only learned how to bunt. Athletic contests, especially baseball, are won through a moral imperative (what Isaiah Thomas, in his ludicrous career as a television analyst, referred to as "imposing your WHEEEL on the game") despite the fact that a batter can only hit once in every nine team at bats. And oh yes: that every player who has played the game since the '20's is basically a no-account sissy.
Yesterday, I offended a local writer when I mentioned some of my misgivings about this book; he pointed out that Cobb caught a lot of flack, was a great player, and established a couple of extremely important charitable institutions. So let me be clear about this: I agree wholeheartedly with all of those points. The Cobb Memorial Hospital and the Cobb Educational Foundation doubtlessly made life exponentially better for rural Georgians. In my opinion, Cobb, along with Honus Wagner, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, and Barry Bonds, was one of the five greatest players ever to lace up a pair of spikes. And Cobb had more shit piled on his head than Barry Bonds, Ted Williams, and "Slick Willy" Clinton combined. It is just that in this memoir he comes across as a self-aggrandizing crank; as a text, the only comparison I can come up with is Ring Lardner on steroids, so to speak. Which I for one find vastly entertaining.
September 30, 2017
Thanks to my brother-in-law Steve Wilmoth, I managed to read the memoir that Ty Cobb penned shortly before his death in 1961. I really enjoyed his tips on successful hitting, baserunning, and fielding, as well as his thoughts on how the game by the mid-twentieth century had diverged from what he calls "authentic baseball." He believed that players had become so focused on hitting home runs that they shortchanged the finer elements of the game, like sacrifices, base stealing, and sliding. Cobb's attitude toward the feuds and fights he was involved in during his career became rather grating, as he argued that all of them were either somebody else's fault or grossly exaggerated. But all in all, I found the book worth reading.
December 23, 2023
his personality kind of served as a distraction from the feats he made as a player. Comes across as full of himself and portrayed himself as a saint throughout his whole recap of his life. Made himself seem very hollow
March 31, 2023
I saw here a lot of disjointness and lies. I researched a lot of information about him and most of it is the same, but here are some polarly different things. If it's a biography book, so it's the worst biography book I've ever read in my life. Here on the source with baseball essays is presented more truthful information. There is no place for lies in baseball and the players. I can say that you can read it just for fun, but not as a source of truthful information. Unfortunately to see such a work of the author which I love so much...
November 26, 2008
The greatest reason for reading a book by Ty Cobb was to get another perspective of a man whom most refer to as despicable. A great ballplayer, but failure as a human - that seemed to be the common judgment about him.
There is plenty of violence in the book - fistfights, etc. with those whom he played with and otherwise associated with. He staunchly defends himself, and claims innocence, if not humility. But maybe that is it - always defending himself, responding to violence with more violence. He may not have started it, but he sure didn't end it.
There is essentially no mention of the circumstances of his father's death, apparently an accident at the hands of his mother. But this begs more information into his father and mother's relationship, and how they handled it. It seems that this could have a strong effect on Cobb, but we don't get that insight in a biography.
Among great interest is the style of play he describes, as he advisers future and current ballplayers ("Listen, boys")on his techniques. They are fundamentally sound and show a sharp mind. One does wonder if these techniques were used today what the result would be. Psychological techniques are also described, and, you get an idea of the fierce competitor he was on and off the field. Not all of his prognostications have come true, though, as he tends to value the "good 'ol boys" and the "good 'ol days" over anything else. It doesn't lend itself to humility.
Still it is an interesting read, a biography locked in time with a fascinating era of baseball, and a defense of stubborn and talented competitor.
There is plenty of violence in the book - fistfights, etc. with those whom he played with and otherwise associated with. He staunchly defends himself, and claims innocence, if not humility. But maybe that is it - always defending himself, responding to violence with more violence. He may not have started it, but he sure didn't end it.
There is essentially no mention of the circumstances of his father's death, apparently an accident at the hands of his mother. But this begs more information into his father and mother's relationship, and how they handled it. It seems that this could have a strong effect on Cobb, but we don't get that insight in a biography.
Among great interest is the style of play he describes, as he advisers future and current ballplayers ("Listen, boys")on his techniques. They are fundamentally sound and show a sharp mind. One does wonder if these techniques were used today what the result would be. Psychological techniques are also described, and, you get an idea of the fierce competitor he was on and off the field. Not all of his prognostications have come true, though, as he tends to value the "good 'ol boys" and the "good 'ol days" over anything else. It doesn't lend itself to humility.
Still it is an interesting read, a biography locked in time with a fascinating era of baseball, and a defense of stubborn and talented competitor.
April 26, 2014
You wouldn't have much difficulty in claiming that Ty Cobb was the greatest baseball player of all time. In this autobiography, Cobb touches on some points in his life but the focus is on his livelihood. For those who are only casual fans of the game or not players, Cobb's book would be to them a dull exercise in the minutia of the game. To true fans and players however, this book is vitally essential (Especially for players). This should sit upon every ball player's shelf with copious amounts of highlighting and intense research taken upon it.
This is also essential for those interested in baseball history. Cobb not only does a superb job in explaining the world of the dead-ball era that he dominated in, but he never fails to give an honest opinion on many of the star players of the day like Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson, and Babe Ruth.
Now, I can't say for certain just how honest Cobb is in painting the "true" portrait of himself. He seems to be very honest in the book, and not bitter or mean like most would expect. He looks back on baseball with happiness, and when one watches footage of Cobb he seems to always have a jovial disposition. One would most likely have to read Charles C. Alexander's biography to find out more about Cobb the man, but if you want to know how Cobb saw the game and his contemporaries then this is the book for you. After all, aren't we all here for the love of the game?
This is also essential for those interested in baseball history. Cobb not only does a superb job in explaining the world of the dead-ball era that he dominated in, but he never fails to give an honest opinion on many of the star players of the day like Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson, and Babe Ruth.
Now, I can't say for certain just how honest Cobb is in painting the "true" portrait of himself. He seems to be very honest in the book, and not bitter or mean like most would expect. He looks back on baseball with happiness, and when one watches footage of Cobb he seems to always have a jovial disposition. One would most likely have to read Charles C. Alexander's biography to find out more about Cobb the man, but if you want to know how Cobb saw the game and his contemporaries then this is the book for you. After all, aren't we all here for the love of the game?
May 18, 2021
Once my favorite autobiography from a baseball great who has had his legacy ruined countless times, I now have to put this work down a peg or two due to the chief author, Al Stump. Read Charles Leerhsen's "Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty" for the true story of The Georgia Peach.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews