Ty Cobb Cabinet Card

1911 T5 series Pinkerton cabinet card depicting baseball player Ty Cobb. Cabinet cards were silver gelatin photographs mounted on stiff cardboard backings offered as premiums or collectibles. This card was available via mail using proof-of-purchases from Pinkerton Tobacco products.

Tyrus "Ty" Cobb (1886-1961) played Major League Baseball for 24 years, all but one spent with the American League's Detroit Tigers. Few players dominated their sport the way Cobb ruled baseball's diamonds from 1905-1928. Leading the league in hitting 11 (or 12, depending on your source) times, the outfielder's .367 career batting average remains the highest in baseball's history. Irascible and aggressive, the man known as "The Georgia Peach" set records that remain near the top of the baseball's record board in numerous offensive categories, being second all-time in hits (4,191) and runs (2,245,) third in stolen bases (897,) and eighth in runs batted in (1,944.) On the other side of the field, Cobb was less successful, with 271 defensive errors, still the most for any outfielder.

Cobb captured three consecutive American League pennants (1907-1909,) but never won a World Series. A triple crown winner in 1909, he was named the AL's Most Valuable Player in 1911. In 1921, Cobb took on player-manager duties for the Tigers, a job he would perform until leaving Detroit in 1927, when he joined the Philadelphia Athletics. Now in his forties, Cobb would retire after two seasons with the A's.

In modern times, Cobb's reputation has been tarnished by widely held beliefs that have since been cast in doubt that the prickly Southerner was a vehement racist.

In 1936, Cobb was the leading vote getter for the Baseball Hall of Fame's inaugural class.