My Life in Baseball: The True Record (Paperback)

~ (Author), Al Stump (Author), Charles C. Alexander (Introduction) "One of my first clear-cut memories is of a buggy, bumping along a red clay road between Commerce and Carnesville, Georgia..." (more)
Key Phrases: organized ball, coaching box, double steal, New York, American League, World Series (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

One of sports literature's great whitewashes and cover-ups, Ty Cobb's autobiography is anything but the "true record" of its titular claim. Cobb was as haunted and complex a man as has ever sharpened a pair of spikes, and, in his 70s, when he sat down to tell his story, he simply didn't want the whole of his truth revealed; he preferred to perpetuate his legend. What results, then, is a flawed fairy tale filled with colorful anecdotes and reminiscences that duck the demons that fueled Cobb's inspired play like a pitcher trying to hide from a line drive smashed in the direction of his eyeballs.

Interestingly, the story behind the book is far more raucous and compelling than the book itself. Cobb, as violent and demanding at the end of his life as he was in his playing heyday, virtually kidnapped Stump (one of the most honored sports writers of the late '50s and early '60s), subjecting almost every word and observation to Cobb's approval. Stump finally exacted his literary pound of flesh years later when he slid spikes high into Cobb's ghost with the publication of his marvelously rich--and real--accounting of Cobb's life in Cobb: A Biography. Stump not only nicked the fuzz off the Georgia Peach in that second effort, he recounted the harrowing circumstances behind the first. Together, the two books provide a fascinating prism into a man's life and legacy, the first volume bending the light to diffuse the truth, the second straightening it out to preserve it. --Jeff Silverman

Review

"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 (Library Journal )

"Frank, bitter, trend-setting autobiography."-USA Today Baseball Weekly (USA Today Baseball Weekly )

"One of the most remarkable sports books ever written."-Los Angeles Daily News (Los Angeles Daily News )

"The old Tiger still spits and snarls off the pages."-Cooperstown Review (Cooperstown Review )

"Of Ty Cobb let it be said simply that he was the world''s greatest ballplayer."-New York Herald Tribune (1961 editorial on Cobb''s death) (New York Herald Tribune )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 315 pages
• Publisher: Bison Books (January 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803263597
• ISBN-13: 978-0803263598
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #126,756 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #2 in	Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( C ) > Cobb, Ty
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Despite Stumps' Revision, This Is One of the Great Basball Books, March 31, 2000

By	Tim R. Niles "Nomad" (Silicon Valley) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought this book through the Sport (Magazine) Book Club inabout 1962 when I was twelve and learned more about how to playbasball from it than from any other source.

You don't have to be a driven old man with a lot of ugly qualities to recognize this book for what it is: magnificent lessons in the art and science of baseball.

Ty Cobb succeeded at baseball, he succeeded at making money, and he may have been a failure in many ways as a human being, BUT this book is a fitting remembrance of his approach to baseball.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A side of Ty Cobb never seen before!, January 19, 2000

By	Michael J Woznicki "Michael J Woznicki" (Holland, MA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

When you think of hard nose, intense play to win ball players, the first name that comes to mind is Ty Cobb. This book, which is one of the best books about Cobb, shows the side of the man who was most hated in the game he excelled at, baseball.

The story of Tyrus Raymond Cobb is one that will forever be both myth and fact blended together. What this book does is gives the reader a greater understanding and appreciation of a man who ruled baseball for more than 20 years.

You look into the history of more than baseball; you'll see the life outside of baseball, and the life most people never knew. Walk through the past and relive the glory of the game with the greatest hitter of all time. What this book reveals is more than sports history, it's far more.

Ty Cobb is baseball and Ty Cobb the man is more than the legend. The book is must have for those that love baseball. You'll find yourself captured from page one. A real hall of fame book about a real hall of fame player.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If ya like Ty, you'll like his book, September 14, 2002

By	William M. Burgess (Mt. View, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was born in 1951 & read Cobb's autobio around 1961. My 1st baseball biography. I like it now as much as then. It's considered "in" today to cut it & Cobb up & call it "self-serving". Well, I've read hundreds of "autobio's" since & never come across one that isn't self-serving. Isn't that the point of writing your story? I find Cobb's book no more dishonest than any other. It's true value is to get you to think as a ballplayer & offer a window into his times, how they played the game. Whether or not you like his book depends on if you like him. And I do. I think he's the greatest player ever by a long shot. So did all the players from his & Ruth's time. Ruth ONLY wins the nod among those who never saw either one play. Although Ty was emotionally unbalanced, wrapped way too tight & was wired to go off at most anything, he also was the most honest guy, and also generous. He helped dozens of guys on other teams improve their hitting & play. I highly recommend Ty's book & also Stump's later Cobb bio. Together they're something else!!