Ty Cobb: Two Biographies--"Our Ty: Ty Cobb's Life Story" (1924) and "Which Was Greatest: Ty Cobb or Babe Ruth?" (1951)(12 The McFarland Historical Baseball Library)

As sports editor for the Detroit News, H.G. Salsinger reported on Tigers great Ty Cobb for 18 seasons, beginning in 1909 when the outfielder won his only Triple Crown. He would go on to write about Cobb's career for decades after. This volume presents for the first time together Salsinger's two books on the Hall of Famer. Part One offers the first authorized biography, Our Ty (1924), while Part Two provides the writer's take on what, more than 25 years later, had become a familiar question, Which Was Greatest: Ty Cobb or Babe Ruth? (1951). Salsinger's close personal relationship with Cobb yields insights into the legend's complex personality, illuminating and sometimes dispelling myths that have risen in the literature since Cobb's death in 1961.

Table of Contents:
Table of Contents Editor’s Note      “Ty Cobb at the Bat” by H.G. Salsinger      Part One. “Our Ty: Ty Cobb’s Life Story” (1924) Preface      1. Brains      2. Cobb’s Secret Ambition      3. Ty Cobb as a Boy      4. Ty’s Father      5. He Takes the Plunge      6. Jobless      7. Genius Afire      8. Hard Work      9. The Nut      10. Cobb’s Debut      11. The Griddle      12. A Star Evolves      13. Revolution      14. New Phases      15. The Observer      16. Ty’s Opinions      17. A Wrong Pitch      18. Three Failures      19. Confidence      20. Features      21. Tricks      22. Tact      23. A New Role      24. On the Bases      25. Sliding      26. His Methods      27. Value of Surprise      28. Nine Slides      29. Stride      30. 90 Feet      31. Heads Up Baseball      32. Headlines      33. The Threat      34. Ty’s Best      35. His Target      36. The Umpire Gasps      37. Comparisons      38. Then and Now      39. Spiking      40. Fielding      41. Ingenuity      42. 20 Years      43. Keeping Fit      44. His Battle      45. Ty Cobb, the Man      46. His Nature      47. Ty’s Hobby      48. A Bad Loser      49. Ty’s Views      50. The Dynamo      51. The Old Days      52. His Moods      53. Rest      54. Cobb’s Selections      55. In His Wake      56. The Dollar      57. Records      58. 100,000,000 Know Him      Part Two. “Which Was Greatest—Ty Cobb or Babe Ruth?” (1951) 1. The Greatest of the Great      2. Babe Pleased the Eye—Ty Pleased the Mind and the Eye      3. “Be a Success or Don’t Come Home”      4. Small-Town Boy Learns of the Big Time      5. The Big Persuasion—or How the Tigers Got Ty      6. “He’ll Be the Greatest Player”—Hugh Jennings      7. A Youngster Remakes the Game      8. Like a Thoroughbred in the Stretch      9. Creating the Mental Hazard      10. When Ty Outguessed Rube and Won the Flag      11. Never Tense and Seldom Injured      12. “Cobb Carried Brains in His Feet”      13. A Born Pitcher, He Thought      14. A Fine Man, Kind to Umpires      15. First Batter to Study a Pitcher      16. His Weaknesses Became His Strength      17. Climbed to the Top on Confidence      18. Tips to the Kids from the Gods      19. When Georgians Went to Bat for the Peach      20. From Firebrand to Sentimentalist      21. A Man of Many Moods      22. “Cobb Did More for the Game Than Any Other Man”      Index     

About the Author :
William R. Cobb, a retired engineer and business executive, is the author or editor of several books on baseball history. A member of the board of advisors of the Ty Cobb Museum in Royston, Georgia, he lives in Marietta, Georgia.

Review :
“well-researched”—SABR Deadball Committee Newsletter; “one of the best but least-heralded developments in the recent history of baseball literature was the inauguration of the McFarland Historical Baseball Library in 2003”—I>Spitball; “invaluable McFarland Historical Baseball Library series”—Edward Achorn, The Providence Journal.