Editing Ty Cobb (section)

===Move to Philadelphia===
Cobb announced his retirement after a 22-year career as a Tiger in November 1926, and headed home to [[Augusta, Georgia]].<ref name=BaseballLibraryTyCobb/> Shortly thereafter, Tris Speaker also retired as player-manager of the [[Cleveland Indians]]. The retirement of two great players at the same time sparked some interest, and it turned out that the two were coerced into retirement because of allegations of game-fixing brought about by [[Dutch Leonard (left-handed pitcher)|Dutch Leonard]], a former pitcher managed by Cobb.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web|url=https://baseballbiography.com/ty-cobb-1886|title=Ty Cobb|access-date=November 24, 2007|publisher=baseballbiography.com}}</ref>

[[File:1928 Gehrig Speaker Cobb Ruth.jpg|thumb|left|250px|[[Lou Gehrig]], [[Tris Speaker]], Cobb, and [[Babe Ruth]], 1928]]
Leonard accused former pitcher and outfielder [[Smoky Joe Wood]] and Cobb of betting on a Tigers–Indians game played in Detroit on September 25, 1919, in which they allegedly orchestrated a Tigers victory to win the bet. Leonard claimed proof existed in letters written to him by Cobb and Wood.<ref name=BaseballLibraryTyCobb/> Commissioner [[Kenesaw Mountain Landis]] held a secret hearing with Cobb, Speaker and Wood.<ref name=BaseballLibraryTyCobb/> A second secret meeting among the AL directors led to the unpublicized resignations of Cobb and Speaker; however, rumors of the scandal led Judge Landis to hold additional hearings<ref name=BaseballLibraryTyCobb/> in which Leonard refused to participate. Cobb and Wood admitted to writing the letters, but claimed that a horse-racing bet was involved and that Leonard's accusations were in retaliation for Cobb's having released him from the Tigers, thereby demoting him to the [[Minor League Baseball|minor leagues]].<ref name=BaseballLibraryTyCobb/> Speaker denied any wrongdoing.<ref name=BaseballLibraryTyCobb/>

On January 27, 1927, Judge Landis cleared Cobb and Speaker of any wrongdoing because of Leonard's refusal to appear at the hearings.<ref name=BaseballLibraryTyCobb/> Landis allowed both Cobb and Speaker to return to their original teams, but each team let them know that they were [[free agent]]s and could sign with any club they wanted.<ref name=BaseballLibraryTyCobb/> Speaker signed with the [[Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senators]] for 1927, and Cobb with the [[Philadelphia Athletics]]. Speaker then joined Cobb in Philadelphia for the 1928 season. Cobb said he had come back only to seek vindication and say he left baseball on his own terms.

Cobb played regularly in 1927 for a young and talented team that finished second to one of the greatest teams of all time, the 110–44 1927 Yankees, returning to Detroit to a tumultuous welcome on May 10 and doubling his first time up to the cheers of Tigers fans. On July 18, Cobb became the first member of the [[4,000 hit club]] when he doubled off former teammate [[Sam Gibson (baseball)|Sam Gibson]], still pitching for the Tigers, at [[Navin Field]].<ref name=BaseballLibraryTyCobb/>

Cobb returned for the 1928 season but played less frequently due to his age and the blossoming abilities of the young A's, who were again in a pennant race with the Yankees. On September 3, Ty Cobb [[pinch hitter|pinch-hit]] in the ninth inning of the first game of a doubleheader against the Senators and doubled off [[Bump Hadley]] for his last career hit, although his final at-bats were not until September 11 against the Yankees, when he [[types of batted balls in baseball|popped]] [[out (baseball)|out]] off [[Hank Johnson (baseball)|Hank Johnson]] and grounded out to [[shortstop]] [[Mark Koenig]].<ref name=BaseballLibraryTyCobb/> He then announced his retirement, effective the end of the season,<ref name=BaseballLibraryTyCobb/> after batting .300 or higher in 23 consecutive seasons (the only season under .300 being his rookie season), a major league record that is unlikely to be broken. Despite not being known as a slugger, he led the AL in [[slugging percentage]] eight times in his 11 seasons from 1907 to 1917.<ref name=BaseballRefCobbCareerStats/>

He also ended his career with a rather dubious record. When Cobb retired, he led AL outfielders for most errors all-time with 271, which still stands today.<ref>{{cite book|title=Curveballs and Screwballs|first1=Jeffrey|first2=Douglas|last1=Lyons|last2=Lyons|isbn=978-0812933154|publisher=Random House Puzzles & Games|year=2001|url=https://archive.org/details/curveballsscrewb00lyon}}</ref> Nineteenth-century player [[Tom Brown (center fielder)|Tom Brown]] holds the major league record with 490 errors committed as an outfielder, while the National League record is held by 19th-century player [[George Gore]] with 346 errors.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fielding Errors: Errors Committed as an OF|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/E_of_career.shtml|publisher=BaseballReference.com|access-date=July 25, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=George Gore|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gorege01-field.shtml|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref> Cobb ranks 14th on the all-time list for errors committed by an outfielder.