November 2016 Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/19/2016
Tyrus Raymond ""Ty"" Cobb (D. 1961), nicknamed ""The Georgia Peach"" spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the last six as the team's player-manager, and finished his career with the Philadelphia Athletics. In 1936 Cobb received the most votes of any player on the inaugural Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, receiving 222 out of a possible 226 votes. In 1999, editors at The Sporting News ranked Ty Cobb 3rd on their list of ""Baseball's 100 Greatest Players"".
Cobb's legacy as an athlete has sometimes been overshadowed by his surly temperament and aggressive playing style, which was described by the Detroit Free Press as ""daring to the point of dementia."" Cobb himself wrote shortly before his death, ""In legend I am a sadistic, slashing, swashbuckling despot who waged war in the guise of sport."" Cobb was notorious for sliding into bases feet first, with his spikes high.
In 2015 Cobb was the subject of an extended biography, Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty, written by Charles Leerhsen that aimed to dispel his purported acts and reputation, attempting to clarify the truth behind many of the fabrications and exaggerations that previous biographers had made.
Offered is Cobb’s signature cut from a check (3.5” x 1”) signed in green ink. Cobb checks are quite common, how often do you get a chance to own a check cut?
Letter of Authenticity from Richard Albersheim.