Ty Cobb, Safe at Home
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Eriksoln
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Ty Cobb, Safe at Home
Ty Cobb, Safe At Home by Don Rhodes
Ty Cobb, in his baseball playing days, was considered the "Greatest player in the world". His performance as a ballplayer is beyond reproach. His style of play, a number of on the field incidents and a great deal of his off the field behaviors though are are not. So much so that his problems often cloud his legendary play. Younger people not familiar with Ty Cobb may have heard about him for the first time in the movie "Field of Dreams". In that movie, Shoeless Joe Johnson explains that Cobb was not invited to their mystical ballgame "Because none of us liked him in real life." Another movie, "Cobb", attempted to give its viewers an idea of what Cobb was like after his baseball days. Critics are split right down the middle concerning this movie and its accuracy. Some claim it was overdone to attract people to the theater and painted a man who spent every day with a dark cloud above his head. Others will tell you it is the true character of Tyrus R. Cobb.
Safe At Home, as all biographies claim to do, makes a serious attempt at taking an objective look at its subject. It is the opinion of this review writer that it is successful in this account. Don Rhodes holds the tone of a bystander who, after witnessing an automobile accident, is being questioned by police. He seems at times to hold back because he knows something he wants to say is not entirely fact or can not be accounted for. Rhodes is very careful to say only the facts that can be verified, and when something can not be verified, he points it out quickly. There is no evidence of romanticizing Ty Cobb or trying to paint a "fan friendly" picture of him for the readers. The book is also completely free of any aggressive attempts to highlight Cobb's shortcomings and/or incidents that lead to his reputation being tainted. The term I would use to describe the book, if given only one word to use, would be "Protected". It is very careful to avoid disclosing anything that is not fact, but discloses everything that is fact, whether it be good or bad.
With that said, I will add that Rhodes could be painted himself as a "tragic hero". His vigilance in remaining objective throughout the book is what makes him a great biographer, but it is the books downfall in more than a few ways too. Baseball historians and purists will love the book. Baseball fans, even the most motivated ones, will more than likely not finish the book. People with no interest in baseball will find the book meaningless. The book often becomes slow, being bogged down by explanations of how this or that fact was verified. In the few instances where the author does venture out to share his opinion on what really happened, there are often pages to follow that attempt to validate the opinion. The author, in these cases, seems to lose site that the part of the story that interests the reader has been told and it is alright to move on. At times too, there seems to be gaps or holes in the story. These are obviously created when the author can not verify important aspects of the history he is trying to share. It is at these points more time could have been taken to explain what the general public believes happened, followed by a simple and short disclaimer that it is not verified or the view of the author.
There is a forward by Peggy Cobb Schug, which is to the credit of the author. Peggy is Ty Cobbs daughter, and very few of the Cobb family care to speak of their father to anyone, especially not writers. I imagine Mr. Rhodes was able to win over Peggy with the objectiveness of his book. She, in her forward, seems to take the same tone of the book itself. After reading the book, it is difficult not to believe abuse took place frequently in the Cobb home. Peggy's contribution to the book struck me as someone who does not consider her upbringing "positive" but does not wish to speak poorly of someone she loves. In short, her portion of the book is also "Protected".
Baseball fans will find the portions of the book pertaining to his baseball playing most interesting. From describing his odd batting stance to discussing the many rivalries he created with his infamous "spiking" of opposing players while sliding, Cobbs baseball career is well documented. All of Cobb's off the field life is covered from childhood to death. Rhodes puts on display a great many facets of the very complicated man: a work ethic in his youth that many adults never display, a temper that lead to him having to change high-schools due to fights, his business savvy that made him the Michael Jordan of his day, drinking, how he ruled his family with an iron fist often imposing his will on them to the point where one son did not talk to him at all for a great deal of time, his generosity. The many sides of Ty Cobb are on full display, in full view of the reader with no trickery to influence them into one opinion or another.
Being a baseball purist I enjoyed the book. There seems to be two prevailing polarized parties with regards to Cobb. On one side, you have those that believe he was simply a great baseball player who is often picked on by the general populace. On the other side, you have those that believe he was wicked and this part of him was ignored because of his baseball success. I've always considered Ty Cobb misunderstood, a victim of Hollywood. I believed Cobb's past to be glorified to create a story that was easier to sell. I found myself pulled more towards the middle of the issue upon completion of the book. I believe without a doubt now that a great many of the legends pertaining to Cobb to be true. He is, if nothing else, a complicated man who draws out strong reactions.
I believe anyone reading the book will have the same experience I did. If they are on one side, they will swing a little towards the other. With that said, this book is best left for only those truly interested in baseball history.
Ty Cobb, in his baseball playing days, was considered the "Greatest player in the world". His performance as a ballplayer is beyond reproach. His style of play, a number of on the field incidents and a great deal of his off the field behaviors though are are not. So much so that his problems often cloud his legendary play. Younger people not familiar with Ty Cobb may have heard about him for the first time in the movie "Field of Dreams". In that movie, Shoeless Joe Johnson explains that Cobb was not invited to their mystical ballgame "Because none of us liked him in real life." Another movie, "Cobb", attempted to give its viewers an idea of what Cobb was like after his baseball days. Critics are split right down the middle concerning this movie and its accuracy. Some claim it was overdone to attract people to the theater and painted a man who spent every day with a dark cloud above his head. Others will tell you it is the true character of Tyrus R. Cobb.
Safe At Home, as all biographies claim to do, makes a serious attempt at taking an objective look at its subject. It is the opinion of this review writer that it is successful in this account. Don Rhodes holds the tone of a bystander who, after witnessing an automobile accident, is being questioned by police. He seems at times to hold back because he knows something he wants to say is not entirely fact or can not be accounted for. Rhodes is very careful to say only the facts that can be verified, and when something can not be verified, he points it out quickly. There is no evidence of romanticizing Ty Cobb or trying to paint a "fan friendly" picture of him for the readers. The book is also completely free of any aggressive attempts to highlight Cobb's shortcomings and/or incidents that lead to his reputation being tainted. The term I would use to describe the book, if given only one word to use, would be "Protected". It is very careful to avoid disclosing anything that is not fact, but discloses everything that is fact, whether it be good or bad.
With that said, I will add that Rhodes could be painted himself as a "tragic hero". His vigilance in remaining objective throughout the book is what makes him a great biographer, but it is the books downfall in more than a few ways too. Baseball historians and purists will love the book. Baseball fans, even the most motivated ones, will more than likely not finish the book. People with no interest in baseball will find the book meaningless. The book often becomes slow, being bogged down by explanations of how this or that fact was verified. In the few instances where the author does venture out to share his opinion on what really happened, there are often pages to follow that attempt to validate the opinion. The author, in these cases, seems to lose site that the part of the story that interests the reader has been told and it is alright to move on. At times too, there seems to be gaps or holes in the story. These are obviously created when the author can not verify important aspects of the history he is trying to share. It is at these points more time could have been taken to explain what the general public believes happened, followed by a simple and short disclaimer that it is not verified or the view of the author.
There is a forward by Peggy Cobb Schug, which is to the credit of the author. Peggy is Ty Cobbs daughter, and very few of the Cobb family care to speak of their father to anyone, especially not writers. I imagine Mr. Rhodes was able to win over Peggy with the objectiveness of his book. She, in her forward, seems to take the same tone of the book itself. After reading the book, it is difficult not to believe abuse took place frequently in the Cobb home. Peggy's contribution to the book struck me as someone who does not consider her upbringing "positive" but does not wish to speak poorly of someone she loves. In short, her portion of the book is also "Protected".
Baseball fans will find the portions of the book pertaining to his baseball playing most interesting. From describing his odd batting stance to discussing the many rivalries he created with his infamous "spiking" of opposing players while sliding, Cobbs baseball career is well documented. All of Cobb's off the field life is covered from childhood to death. Rhodes puts on display a great many facets of the very complicated man: a work ethic in his youth that many adults never display, a temper that lead to him having to change high-schools due to fights, his business savvy that made him the Michael Jordan of his day, drinking, how he ruled his family with an iron fist often imposing his will on them to the point where one son did not talk to him at all for a great deal of time, his generosity. The many sides of Ty Cobb are on full display, in full view of the reader with no trickery to influence them into one opinion or another.
Being a baseball purist I enjoyed the book. There seems to be two prevailing polarized parties with regards to Cobb. On one side, you have those that believe he was simply a great baseball player who is often picked on by the general populace. On the other side, you have those that believe he was wicked and this part of him was ignored because of his baseball success. I've always considered Ty Cobb misunderstood, a victim of Hollywood. I believed Cobb's past to be glorified to create a story that was easier to sell. I found myself pulled more towards the middle of the issue upon completion of the book. I believe without a doubt now that a great many of the legends pertaining to Cobb to be true. He is, if nothing else, a complicated man who draws out strong reactions.
I believe anyone reading the book will have the same experience I did. If they are on one side, they will swing a little towards the other. With that said, this book is best left for only those truly interested in baseball history.
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Perrywinkle47
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