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Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

The Archives of Michigan has Spring fever.  What typifies Spring more than Tiger baseball? And who better symbolizes the Tigers' than Tyrus Cobb?

Ty Cobb was a baseball legend.  During his incredible career, he made 4,191 hits and stole 892 bases.  His lifetime batting average of .367 remains the best in major league history.

Cobb played for the Detroit Tigers from 1905-26 (He served as a playing manager for the last five of those years).  The image at right depicts him in 1912.  A Tiger's schedule for that year appears on the reserve side of the original photo. 

1912 marks the opening of Navin Field.  Prior to this, the park was called Bennett park, and before that Recreation park.  After Navin Field, the site became Briggs Stadium and finally Tiger Stadium. 

1912 also saw the first strike in baseball history.  On May 15, Cobb punched a fan in New York and was suspended.  His teammates staged a strike in retaliation.  Tigers management put together a "sandlot team," which lost 24-2 to the Philadelphia Athletics.  The players then ended the strike, at Cobb's urging. 

The Archives of Michigan houses a number of images on the Detroit Tigers and other Michigan baseball teams.  The Library of Michigan's 2005 Notable Books list includes Wire to Wire: Inside the Detroit Tiger's 1984 Championship Season by George Cantor.  Dr. William Anderson examines a different Tigers season in the Michigan History article "They Caught Lighting:  The 1968 Detroit Tigers" (September/October 1993, pp. 17-21).  The Library of Michigan's collection also contains books on Cobb, including  "Cobb" by Al Stump, as well as Cobb's own memoirs, "My Life in Baseball".  The Detroit Tigers web site includes a wealth of historical and current information on the team.   

Here's a list of some staff favorites:

"The Glory of Their Times" by Lawrence S. Ritter
"Lost Ballparks" by Lawrence S. Ritter
"Ty Cobb" by Charles C. Alexander
"The Boys of Summer" by Roger Kahn

-Bob Garrett, Archivist
E-mail: garrettr1@michigan.gov

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Archives of Michigan
Michigan Library and Historical Center
702 W. Kalamazoo Street
Lansing, MI 48913
(517) 373-1408
e-mail: archives@michigan.gov