Tyrus Raymond Cobb
Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty - Charles Leerhsen
Simon and Schuster, May 17, 2016
But if Johnson was assuaged, Cobb wasn't. On March 29, he wrote to Kid Elberfeld, venting his disgust. Eleven years his senior, and a major leaguer since 1898, the fiery Highlander shortstop had become a sort of mentor to the young man whose face he had once pushed, pedagogically, into the stony ground at Bennett Park as Cobb slid headfirst into second. In the eighteen or so months since, Cobb had acknowledged receipt of the lesson by knocking Elberfeld off his feet as he slid into second at Hilltop Park ("My feet collided with his leg and he was knocked four or five feet. He got up, rubbed himself, looked at me calmly and went back to his position without saying a word. 'Well, you've learned something,' his look implied. 'You beat me to it that time, and I've got nothing to say.'") and the older man had become a sounding board for Cobb's burgeoning frustration.
Simon and Schuster, May 17, 2016
But if Johnson was assuaged, Cobb wasn't. On March 29, he wrote to Kid Elberfeld, venting his disgust. Eleven years his senior, and a major leaguer since 1898, the fiery Highlander shortstop had become a sort of mentor to the young man whose face he had once pushed, pedagogically, into the stony ground at Bennett Park as Cobb slid headfirst into second. In the eighteen or so months since, Cobb had acknowledged receipt of the lesson by knocking Elberfeld off his feet as he slid into second at Hilltop Park ("My feet collided with his leg and he was knocked four or five feet. He got up, rubbed himself, looked at me calmly and went back to his position without saying a word. 'Well, you've learned something,' his look implied. 'You beat me to it that time, and I've got nothing to say.'") and the older man had become a sounding board for Cobb's burgeoning frustration.
July 18, 1961 - Des Moines Tribune (Des Moines, Iowa) - Elberfeld Story
August 31, 1905 - Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Michigan) - Ty Cobb's First Game - Elberfeld Tags Him Out
January 20, 1944 - Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Michigan) - Elberfeld and Spikes --Confirmation of how Elberfeld block runners16
Conlon's photo of Ty Cobb sliding into third past Jimmy Austin on July 23, 1910 is considered the best baseball action photo ever.
And then I noticed some blurry white spots to the left of Ty Cobb's eyes. They were a fragment of a Paxto Food Powder sign, which disappeared from the ball park after only one season. Closer examination revealed that, in addition to the capacity crowd in the grandstand, fans were seated on the outfield grass at the bottom of the sign. I was able to determine precisely that the photograph was taken on July 23, 1910, on the only weekend date the New York Highlanders played against the visiting Detroit Tigers all season, to an overflow crowd.
Because the catchers Ed Sweeney and Lou Criger were disabled, the Highlanders had to use a converted pitcher, Fred Mitchell, behind the plate. In the top of the first inning, with two men out and the bases empty, Ty Cobb stole second and third on consecutive pitches. He ran home on Mitchell's bad throw to Austin. Conlon, kneeling in his customary position beside the third-base coach's box, was so startled when Cobb arrived unexpectedly that he barely caught Cobb in the frame. Conlon was operating purely on instinct as he juggled his camera and snapped the photograph that he called ''the greatest picture I ever took.''
New York Times
Because the catchers Ed Sweeney and Lou Criger were disabled, the Highlanders had to use a converted pitcher, Fred Mitchell, behind the plate. In the top of the first inning, with two men out and the bases empty, Ty Cobb stole second and third on consecutive pitches. He ran home on Mitchell's bad throw to Austin. Conlon, kneeling in his customary position beside the third-base coach's box, was so startled when Cobb arrived unexpectedly that he barely caught Cobb in the frame. Conlon was operating purely on instinct as he juggled his camera and snapped the photograph that he called ''the greatest picture I ever took.''
New York Times
