Baseball 2015

[Valmy]

New book about Ty Cobb says all the stuff about him being a monster was fabricated.

I had heard something to that effect before.  It wouldn't surprise me if some of that was fabricated.

Once you get a reputation like that, and you are somebody like Cobb, the legend only grows.

But he was a racist super competitive jerk. The discussion typically revolves around how that made him unusual among ball players at the time. Even he himself admitted he had been a little too hostile as a player in his old age.

[Admiral Yi]

Based on the interview with the author on NPR, it seems the racist thing was either fabricated or greatly exaggerated as well.

[Valmy]

Based on the interview with the author on NPR, it seems the racist thing was either fabricated or greatly exaggerated as well.

Fabricated? No. Exaggerated? Yes.

[Admiral Yi]

Cobb once stole second, third, and home on three consecutive pitches.

[derspiess]

Yi is this the book you were talking about?  Listening to the NPR interview right now.

https://onpoint.wbur.org/2015/05/07/ty-cobb-detroit-tigers-new-biography

[Admiral Yi]

Must be.  It was On Point.

[The Minsky Moment]

He was a yokel from the deep South from the turn-of-the-century so of course he was racist.  I do recall the story that in the 50s, Cobb said the only player he respected was Willie Mays; he also went on the record favoring integration at that time.

[derspiess]

The dude talking about the book in the link above said that Cobb's family had been abolitionists and Ty's dad had supposedly broken up a lynch mob.

[Valmy]

The dude talking about the book in the link above said that Cobb's family had been abolitionists and Ty's dad had supposedly broken up a lynch mob.

The question was the extent his racism was remarkable in any way.

I do want to point out that Cobb had a tough relationship with his family so those factors may not be proof of anything.

[derspiess]

I'd like to read this new book to see what evidence the author has to support his picture of Cobb's personality.  But at this point I think we can safely throw out anything Al Stump wrote that isn't backed up by solid evidence.

[Valmy]

I am going to have to come to the terms with the fact the Os may just not be very good this year. They lack the big bats without much improvement to the pitching.

[derspiess]

So an 0-5 pitcher with an ERA above 5.00 is going to do pretty shitty against the team with the best current record in baseball, right?  No.  Kluber for the Indians pitched a no-hitter through 6 2/3 innings and only allowed one hit after that.  Oh, and he got 18 strikeouts. 

Cardinals really need to win this afternoon.  The Indians are the one AL team the Cardinals have not yet won a series against.

[The Minsky Moment]

So an 0-5 pitcher with an ERA above 5.00 is going to do pretty shitty against the team with the best current record in baseball, right? 

You didn't really think the 0-5 start reflected his true ability?  Even before that game he still had a 4-1 k/BB ratio.

[Admiral Yi]

0-5 can mean a lot of things but 5.0 usually means something real.

[derspiess]

So an 0-5 pitcher with an ERA above 5.00 is going to do pretty shitty against the team with the best current record in baseball, right? 

You didn't really think the 0-5 start reflected his true ability?  Even before that game he still had a 4-1 k/BB ratio.

Nah, I just threw that in there.  I don't put much stock in pitchers' W-L since they only control about half the equation.  He did have an ERA above 5.00, though.

It would have been a very interesting game had Lance Lynn not allowed those two runs in the bottom of the first.  After that, it was like neither team wanted to score.