Editing Ty Cobb (section)

==Early life==
Cobb was born in 1886 in [[Narrows, Georgia]], a small, unincorporated rural community of farmers. He was the first of three children born to William Herschel Cobb<!-- Note: state senators qualify [[WP:NPOL]] --> (1863–1905) and Amanda Chitwood Cobb (1871–1936).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3uSbqUm8hSAC&pg=PA358|title=The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract|first=Bill|publisher=Simon and Schuster|page=358|year=2003|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7432-2722-3|last=James}}</ref> Cobb's father was a state senator.<ref name="Leerhsen 2016">{{cite web |url=http://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/who-was-ty-cobb-the-history-we-know-thats-wrong/2/ |title=Who was Ty Cobb? The history we know that's wrong |first=Charles |last=Leerhsen |publisher=Hillsdale College |year=2016}}</ref>

[[File:Ty Cobb Birthplace Sign on GA Rt 105.jpg|thumb|left|Faded-out sign that shows the birthplace of Ty Cobb at the Narrows in Georgia on Route 105 about four miles southeast of Baldwin, Georgia]]
When he was still an infant, his parents moved to the nearby town of [[Royston, Georgia|Royston]], where he grew up.<ref>H. G. Salsinger. "Ty Cobb Not Extraordinary Ballplayer as Boy." ''Bridgeport (CT) Telegram'', November 5, 1924, p. 18.</ref> By most accounts, he became fascinated with baseball as a child, and decided that he wanted to go professional one day; his father was vehemently opposed to this idea, but by his teenage years, he was trying out for area teams.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/sports-outdoor-recreation/ty-cobb-1886-1961|title=Ty Cobb (1886-1961)|website=New Georgia Encyclopedia}}</ref> He played his first years in organized baseball for the Royston Rompers, the semi-pro Royston Reds, and the [[Augusta Tourists]] of the [[South Atlantic League]], who released him after only two days. He then tried out for the [[Anniston, Alabama]]-based [[Anniston Steelers]] of the semipro [[Tennessee–Alabama League]], with his father's stern admonition ringing in his ears: "Don't come home a failure!"<ref name=Kanfer>{{cite magazine |last=Kanfer|first=Stefan| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1050490-1,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930072056/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1050490-1,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=September 30, 2007 |title=Failures Can't Come Home |date=April 18, 2005 |magazine=Time |access-date=February 26, 2007 }}</ref> After joining the Steelers for a monthly salary of $50, Cobb promoted himself by sending several postcards written about his talents under different aliases to [[Grantland Rice]], the ''[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|Atlanta Journal]]'' sports editor. Eventually, Rice wrote a small note in the ''Journal'' that a "young fellow named Cobb seems to be showing an unusual lot of talent."<ref>[[#Cobb|Cobb & Stump (1993)]], p. 48.</ref> After about three months, Cobb returned to the Tourists and finished the season hitting .237 in 35 games. While with the Tourists he was mentored and coached by George Leidy, who emphasized pinpoint bunting and aggression on the basepaths.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rice |first=Stephen |date=April 21, 2023 |title=George Leidy |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/george-leidy/ |access-date=April 23, 2023 |website=SABR bio project}}</ref> In August 1905, the management of the Tourists sold Cobb to the [[American League]]'s [[Detroit Tigers]] for $750 ({{Inflation|US|750|1905|fmt=eq}}).<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-733 |title=Ty Cobb |encyclopedia=New Georgia Encyclopedia |access-date=June 3, 2011 |archive-date=August 5, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130805214326/http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-733 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=2146324 |title= Cobb still revered, reviled 100 years after first game|agency= Associated Press|date= August 29, 2005}}</ref><ref name=NYTObit>{{cite news |title=Ty Cobb, Baseball Great, Dies; Still Held 16 Big League Marks|newspaper=The New York Times|pages=1, 21 |date=July 18, 1961 }}</ref><ref name=NYTWoolf>{{cite news |first=S. J. |last=Woolf |title=Tyrus Cobb – Then and Now; Once the scrappiest, wiliest figure in baseball, 'The Georgia Peach' views the game as played today with mellow disdain |newspaper=The New York Times|page= SM17 (Magazine section) |date=September 19, 1948 }}</ref><ref name=BaseballRefCobbCareerStats>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/c/cobbty01.shtml |title=Ty Cobb Career Statistics|access-date=May 19, 2021 |publisher=Sports Reference, Inc }}</ref>

On August 8, 1905, Cobb's mother, Amanda, fatally shot his father, William, with a pistol that William had purchased for her.<ref name="Gilbert"/> Court records indicate that William Cobb had suspected Amanda of infidelity<ref name="CobbInfidelity">{{cite web |url=http://blueridgecountry.com/articles/ty-cobb-murder-mystery |title=Ty Cobb: Death In The Dark|date=May 2003|access-date=June 23, 2010 |publisher=Blue Ridge Country }}</ref> and was sneaking past his own bedroom window to catch her in the act. She saw the silhouette of what she presumed to be an intruder and, acting in self-defense, shot and killed her husband.<ref name=Holmes2>{{cite book| last =Holmes | first=Dan |year=2004| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Dm3hqzbyYkC&q=ty+cobb+4,189&pg=PA136 |title=Ty Cobb: A Biography| page=13 |publisher = Greenwood Publishing Group | isbn = 0-313-32869-2 |access-date=January 12, 2009 }}</ref> Amanda Cobb was charged with murder and released on a $7,000 [[recognizance]] [[bail|bond]].<ref name=AmandCobbBond>{{cite court |litigants=State of Georgia vs. Amanda Cobb (bond hearing) |vol=vol2 |reporter=1281p.478 |opinion=9 |court=Franklin County, Georgia, Superior Court |date= September 29, 1905 |url=http://content.sos.state.ga.us/u?/adhoc,53}}</ref> She was [[acquittal|acquitted]] on March 31, 1906.<ref name=AmandCobbVerdict>{{cite court |litigants=State of Georgia vs. Amanda Cobb (murder trial verdict) |vol=vol2 |reporter=1282p040 |opinion=1 |court=Franklin County, Georgia, Superior Court |date= March 31, 1906 |url=http://content.sos.state.ga.us/u?/adhoc,54}}</ref> Ty Cobb later attributed his ferocious play to his late father, saying, "I did it for my father. He never got to see me play ... but I knew he was watching me, and I never let him down."

Cobb was initiated into [[Freemasonry]] in 1907, and he was a member of the [[Scottish Rite]] and completed the 32nd degree in 1912.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Co-Freemasonry |first=Masonic Order of Universal |title=Masonic Biographies {{!}} Ty Cobb |url=https://www.universalfreemasonry.org/en/famous-freemasons/ty-cobb |access-date=March 9, 2023 |website=Universal Co-Masonry |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=August 24, 2014 |title=Masons in Baseball |url=https://lodge43.org/masons-in-baseball/ |access-date=March 9, 2023 |website=Lodge No. 43, F. & A. M. |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 1911, Cobb moved to Detroit's architecturally significant and now historically protected [[Woodbridge, Detroit|Woodbridge]] neighborhood, from which he would walk with his dogs to the ballpark prior to games. The [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] duplex in which Cobb lived still stands.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6784662/ty-cobb-detroit |title=Ty Cobb as Detroit|work= Grantland.com |date=July 27, 2011|access-date=July 15, 2013 }}</ref>