Royston, Georgia : The man with the highest career batting average
- 4 days ago
- 6 min read
In June 2013, I was on a road trip through 12 states in the Southern and Midwestern United States, and during that trip I visited Royston, Georgia, a city of about 2,500 people.
As I was driving down a road through the center of Royston, I noticed a large painting on the wall of a building facing the road, and I thought to myself with a grin, "As I thought, this man is very famous in this city." I parked my car to take photos of the painting.
The painting depicted the face of a legendary man who continues to shine brightly in the history of Major League Baseball, as well as his batting and base running. Royston is known as the hometown of this legendary man, and there is even a museum commemorating him. My goal was to visit the museum.
Ty Cobb (died in 1961 at age 74) was the man who led the league in batting average 12 times (including nine consecutive years), had a career batting average of .367 (some say it was .366), and set an astonishing Major League record of batting above .300 for 23 consecutive years. On the other hand, it is said that no man in Major League history was more hated by players and fans than Ty Cobb. He is said to have threatened defensive players by using his sharpened spikes to kick them up while sliding while running the bases, and to have attacked fans who heckled him. Even in American novels and films, Ty Cobb seems to be portrayed more as a hated man than as a great man with an incredible record.
After taking photos of the painting on the wall of a building, I drove through the city center to the museum.
When I arrived at the museum, I was surprised because it was located in a corner of the building that houses the Ty Cobb Healthcare System. What does Ty Cobb have to do with healthcare?
When I entered the building, I asked a young white woman working at the reception desk, which also served as a souvenir shop in front of the museum.
"What does Ty Cobb have to do with healthcare? I’m a doctor from Japan and I’m really interested in this stuff."
The young woman asked with a smile,
"What kind of doctor are you?"
I replied,
"I’m a pathologist."
By the way, I think the woman’s explanation for the crucial question can be briefly summarized as follows (If I’m wrong, it’s not her fault, but my own mishearing. I’d appreciate it if you could point out any errors): Ty Cobb, together with his longtime friend, Dr. Stewart D. Brown, worked hard to build a fine hospital with modern facilities in Royston. Ty Cobb generously donated a large amount of money to make this a reality. The hospital, completed in 1950, was named "Cobb Memorial Hospital" (this hospital has since closed and moved to a distant location). In recognition of Ty Cobb’s contributions to healthcare, a wealthy man named Joe A. Adams decided to establish a "Ty Cobb Museum" in the building of a new healthcare system he founded in Royston in 1998.
Ty Cobb also established a scholarship fund for young people in Georgia. Apparently, this scholarship fund still provides $700,000 a year to over 300 young people.
As I was amazed at this unexpected side of Ty Cobb, the woman asked,
"Do you know how Mr. Cobb was able to make such large donations even though his annual salary during his playing days was not that great?"
I answered with a grin,
"Yes, I know."
The woman then grinned and said,
"We have an exhibit about that at the museum."
I went into the museum wondering what kind of exhibit it was.
When Ty Cobb was playing in Major League Baseball, players were not paid the high annual salaries they are today. So how was Ty Cobb able to make such large donations and set up scholarship funds? It was because he was talented not only at baseball, but also in stock investment. He boldly took on high-risk stock investments and became very wealthy. It is said that he made a huge success by investing in Coca-Cola in its early days. The museum had an exhibition corner dedicated to Coca-Cola and Ty Cobb, including Ty Cobb’s appearance in a Coca-Cola promotional poster and his own collection of Coca-Cola bottles..... It’s really cool that a museum can set up an exhibition corner like this. I don’t drink any cokes (because I love coffee), but when I see an exhibition corner like this, I think I should drink Coca-Cola every once in a while.
I spent over two hours looking around not only the Coca-Cola exhibit but the entire museum. For a museum of this type, it was quite comprehensive.
There were detailed exhibits about Ty Cobb’s upbringing and things unrelated to baseball. But the largest space was, of course, devoted to the baseball exhibits. There were many displays of baseball equipment used by Ty Cobb, including uniforms, bats, and gloves, as well as numerous photographs.
Of all these exhibits, the one I liked best was a bit unexpected. It was a piece of writing casually displayed in a corner of the museum. It was said to be a quote from Ty Cobb. "If you give a boy a baseball, he will never throw a rock.” I think it’s a wonderful, profound statement. Could it really be that the man who uttered such words had such an odd personality?
After leaving the museum, I stopped by the reception desk, which also served as a souvenir shop.
As I was browsing for souvenirs, the young woman I had seen earlier called out to me,
"This book is good, too."
It was a book written by Ty Cobb’s grandson about his memories of his grandfather. The woman continued,
"It’s a recently published book. About a month ago, the author came to Royston for a book signing and sold 85 copies in two hours. That’s quite unusual for such a small town."
I asked the woman,
"Doesn’t Ty Cobb’s grandson live in Royston?"
"He lives in Florida. He came all the way from Florida for the book signing."
I bought a copy. It was autographed by the author.
After buying quite a few souvenirs, I asked the woman,
"I want to go to Rose Hill Cemetery. Can you tell me where it is?"
The woman was kind enough to even draw me a map. She then said,
"You’ll find the Cobb family grave easily. It’s exceptionally large and impressive."
"I know that too, because I’ve seen the movie."
I was referring to the 1994 Ty Cobb biopic.
When I mentioned the movie, the woman immediately said,
"That’s a terrible movie."
When I heard the woman’s thoughts on the film, I could only smile wryly and say nothing, because I thought the film was a fantastic masterpiece.
When I arrived at Rose Hill Cemetery, I was able to find the Cobb family grave right away. It was a really big and impressive grave. Several times larger than the surrounding graves.
When I saw the grave, I thought, "It’s just like the movie." And I thought about the various aspects of Ty Cobb. Ty Cobb, who is generally considered a terrible person, Ty Cobb, who donated large sums of money to build a hospital, Ty Cobb, who left behind a scholarship program for young people, Ty Cobb, who left behind a wonderful, profound statement.
I bowed in prayer in front of the grave, took a photo, and then left Rose Hill Cemetery and the city of Royston.
My visit to Royston made me realize once again how difficult it is to properly evaluate people.
(If I’ve made a mistake or left out something important, please let me know. I’ll try to make corrections or additions.)