Monday, May 31, 2010

A Salute to the 15 Greatest U.S. Armed Forces Veteran MLB Players


Memorial Day Weekend Series- Part 14 of 16


No. 3 Ty Cobb


Interestingly, baseball's all-time batting leader served in the U.S. Army Chemical Corps with Christy Mathewson and George Sisler under the direction of Major Branch Rickey. Ty Cobb, who had enlisted in October of 1918, was given an honorable discharge after a short stint and avoided missing playing time.


Cobb played 24 seasons (mostly with the Detroit Tigers) that were marked with amazing statistics and considerable controversy. His highly aggressive style and surly personality did not always win him friends, but the 90 records that he set certainly gathered a great deal of attention.


He remains the all-time leader in batting at .366 and in batting titles with eleven. Cobb places second in four other major categories— runs (2,246), hits (4,189), triples (295), and singles (3,053.)


"The Georgia Peach" won his only MVP trophy when he hit a staggering .420 with 248 hits and 24 triples in 1911. He followed that up with a .409 season that placed him a "ho, hum" seventh in the MVP balloting. Overall, Cobb eclipsed the .400 mark three times in his career.


The mercurial center fielder won the AL Triple Crown in 1909 when he batted .377 with 9 HRs and 107 RBI. He also stole 76 bases that season, the third highest total in his career (83 in 1911 and 96 in 1915.) Cobb's 897 steals rank him 4th all-time.


AB R H HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG

11434 2246 4189 117 1938 897 .366 .433 .512


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