Every once in a while, in baseball discussion groups, one is asked, "Didn't Cobb once fix a game?",  or "Wasn't Ty accused of throwing a game?"

And I was recently asked about the Leonard/Cobb/Speaker controversy. This was one of the traumas of Cobb's career. Although he & Speaker

were totally exonerated by Judge Landis, there remained many critics, who sneered that Landis had looked past their "misdeeds".

Allow me to give my understanding here. You will find no whitewash here.

Dutch Leonard had been a good pitcher in the AL. Boston, '13-18, and Detroit, '19-21, '24-25. In '14 he had an ERA of 0.96 for 224 innings,

and 19-5. Of course, he had Speaker, Hooper & Lewis performing their circus catches in the OF, to make the whole staff look real good, but still,

0.96 IS startling!  By '25, he was on Cobb's Detroit staff, and not getting along with his manager. He rep was that he ducked the good teams

and loaded up on the weak sisters. Cobb's lost it when Leonard refused to take the mound when ordered to, to help the team.  So Cobb put him on

the market, for $7,500., and no one claimed him. So he passed out of the league. And he blamed Cobb and also Speaker who he hoped would pick

 up his waiver. Speaker had been his teammate and friend on the '13-15 Red Sox. But Tris passed on him. There is no doubt in my mind that Tris

would have called Cobb and gotten Ty's version of why he was trying to unload Dutch.  Dutch burned with frustration and held Ty & Tris responsible

for railroading him out of the league and his career. He was only 33 yrs. old. He withdrew to his home in Fresno, California. 

 In May, 1926, Dutch came East and contacted the office of the Tigers and informed Detroit owner, Frank Joseph Navin, that he held proof that Ty

& Tris had fixed and bet on a game, played on Sept. 25, 1919. He contacted Ban Johnson's office as well.  After traveling back and forth, Navin

& Johnson, believed Leonard's story, and agreed to buy him off for $20,000, the amount that Leonard believed that Detroit owed him. So, Dutch

surrendered his 2 letters to them. They, in turn, notified Judge Landis of the events, as a courtesy.

Next, Johnson contacted the 2 players and called them into his office. Cobb and Speaker denied the charges and Johnson totally thought they were

lying. He told them they had to quit. On Nov. 2, Ty left a letter of resignation at Navin's office. The next day he boarded a train and left for Atlanta,

where he told the press that he had resigned.  On Nov. 29, 1926, Speaker's resignation was announced, with no explanation given.  The BB world

buzzed and wondered what was going on. In the meantime, 2 newspapers had gotten wind of the controversy, and threatened to publish what

they had. Judge Landis had conducted his own investigation. Dutch refused to come back to Chicago, saying pople "got bumped off there", so

Landis went to Cal. He bided his time for the moment. By this time, Cobb & Speaker, who originally had acquiesced to being coerced into the railroad

to keep the story from breaking in the national media, now realizing that the story was going to break anyway, changed their minds and decided to

fight the charges. They hired attorneys and began commencing their legal defense in tandem. They demanded that Landis release whatever he had.

That, on top of the 2 newspapers giving him a deadline to announce everything, forced his hand, and he made the announcement on Dec. 21, 1926.

What a jolt that was to the BB community!!

Leonard's Accusation 

Before he could rule on that case, another case exploded in his face. So he dealt with another big scandal before he got back to the Leonard/Cobb case.

Where Leonard had accused the others (and himself) of fixing the game in question, he had no evidence outside of his word, that there had been a

plan to pre-arrange the results of the game. His only evidence, the 2 letters, strangely never referred in any way to a fix. They only referred to betting.

Leonard's accusation was based on his hope that people would assume that where there is smoke, there is fire. This was his basic charge.

Dutch accusation was based on the hope that people would assume that if there was evidence of betting, then the betters probably fixed the results.

So, that was Dutch Leonard's thinking, and the entire premise of the accusation.  Betting was beyond question. Fix?  His word against 2 teams.

The day before the game in question, Cleveland had clinched 2nd place for the '19 season. On the day of the game in question, Leonard was talking

under the grandstand with Joe Wood and Tris Speaker, and they plotted to fix the game for Detroit to win. Just then, according to Leonard, Cobb

came along, joined the conversation and agreed to plan for Detroit to win, and they all agreed to bet $2,000. on the game.  That was Dutch Leonard's

accusation. The only thing missing is that he had no evidence of anything, except his own word, along with 2 letters, which spoke clearly of a bet,

but not on what the bet was based on. It could have been a bet about anything. And he had no evidence whatsoever of any fixing of anything.

So, Dutch was desperately hoping that others would make assumptions, and draw conclusions based on his version of events.

By January 27, 1927, Landis had finally dealt with & gotten clear of the other scandal, and he announced his verdict in the Leonard/Cobb affair.

He said that he could not find any proof of any fix at all. He exonerated both Cobb & Speaker, completely. He implied that they had bet, when he

said that what they had done was inappropriate & reprehensible, but not corrupt.

Landis vs. Johnson

There were so many sub-plots going on. Ban Johnson had tried to coerce both players out of his league. He said neither would play in the AL ever

again. And when he did that, he didn't know it, but he saved them. Because it was a pre-ordained forgone conclusion, that whatever he proclaimed,

was sure to be reversed by Landis. Landis ordered both men restored to their teams, which instantly gave them their unconditional releases,

making them free agents. Ban Johnson's handling of this affair was so shockingly incompetent, that the other owners voted him out of office.

It ended his career. He had stated that he knew they were innocent of any wrongdoing, but had to be sacrificed due to appearances.  Ban, the

Autocrat, never reticent at flexing his authority, took the draconian extreme of quietly muscling Baseball's 2 most glittering superstars out of BB.

And therein lay his self-created, well-deserved downfall.  For he was running up against Baseball equivalent of a brick wall.  One who was easily

his equal as an arbitrary, autocratic, authoritarian power broker.  Judge Landis.  For whatever Johnson was to decree, Landis was hell-bent to

undecree.  So, it's very fortunate that Johnson tried to coerce them out of BB, without the approval of Landis.

Here is my personal take. When Cleveland clinched 2nd place, they intended to break training and carouse late into the wee hours. Wood told

this to Leonard, and they both felt it would be an opportunity to cash in, due to Cleveland being ill-prepared to contest the next day's battle at

full strength. Cobb also felt no big deal in betting. Although he always claimed to not having bet, I don't believe him. I believe he bet.

I believe that Speaker may or may not have had anything to do with anything. But Joe Wood, his best friend and team mate did accuse Tris & Ty

of having put up part of the betting money.  Leonard lied about everything except the bet.  So, Speaker involvement, if any, isn't clear-cut.  But

Wood's accusation, in conjunction with Leonard's does look as if it tips the balance in favor of Tris betting against his own team.  Which, if true,

would look more damaging than Cob betting on his own team to win.  But Joe Wood's statements in his Lawrence Ritter interview's is inconsistent.

In his letter to Leonard, he wrote that Cobb told him he didn't bet, and that he believed him.  However, in his Ritter interview, he says that both

"Cobb & Speaker had put up some of this money to make the bet".  So, if they had, and Wood was the one holding the betting money, he would

have known this before he wrote his letter to Leonard, in which he seems NOT to have known, whether Cobb put up money.

So, Joe Wood impeaches himself somewhat here.  And that is death as a credible witness.  So, due to this inconsistency in Wood's statements,

I consider Speaker's involvement as unclear & questionable.

Furthermore, at that moment, BB had no rule against betting. So no rule was broken. No fix was ever thought of. And Cobb, not being the manager,

was in no position to direct Tiger pitching.  In '19, Cobb was just another player on Detroit, albeit their supreme star.

So, I don't believe there ever was an attempt to fix a game, only bet on one, upon hearing that the Indians were going to party long into the night.

And no rule was broken.  Leonard took the $20,000. he got for selling his letters, and started a grape vineyard in Fresno, Cal. and became a millionaire

by selling wine. But he died early in life, July 11, 1952, at the age of 60.   These are the main events.  Charles Alexander gives a concise account of

this controversy in his book, Ty Cobb, in the chapter, "Is there any decency left on Earth?", pp. 185-194.

But Landis' problem with that was the simple fact that they had broken no BB law, rule, regulation, whatever. He had no nail on which to hang them,

so to speak, even if he had wanted to.  Which he clearly didn't want to.  Landis had been a lawyer, before he became a Federal judge, and he thought

in legal terms.  And he realized that he had nothing. No club with which to bludgeon them with.  But his problem went much deeper than legalities. 

Judge Landis actually liked both Cobb & Speaker.  And he loved the institution of baseball.  All the way.  In 1915, he had told the Federal League that

he would not look kindly upon anything that harmed the institution of baseball.  He opposed the Federal League because he mistakenly thought that it

was, for some reason, an "outlaw" league.  Apparently, he had forgotten that the American League, in 1901, was once an "outlaw" organization,

according to the National League.  While he had been wrong in his opposition to the Federal L. in '15, he was right about Cobb/Speaker in Dec., '26.

He knew that to hurt them would harm BB. And he would never have done that unless he believed in his heart that they had done something to truly

betray or sell out BB.  Judge Landis "looked past" nothing. It wasn't in his character to protect anyone who betrayed BB. And even though he did really

love and admire Speaker & Cobb, that wouldn't have saved them, if Landis had believed them to have been corrupt. He liked them but he loved BB more.

And what did Landis really have anyway. The word of a man, who had motive to lie. HUGE motive to lie. So much motive, that he incriminated himself

to bring down the objects of his hatred. And his letters, if true, should have mentioned a fix. But they didn't.

An item I haven't mentioned here, it that this bombshell, had caused huge headlines across the land. And it was all pro-players, and anti- Navin,

Johnson & Landis.  Landis may have been high-handed and arbitrary in his rulings before and after, but he wasn't a fool or stupid. He probably

 knew that if he expelled the biggest stars, without good reason, he would have harmed BB in a way that was unacceptable to him.

And lest we forget. To hurt Cobb & Speaker, would have supported Ban Johnson, who had given the 2 players the back of his ungrateful hand.

Landis and & Johnson had nothing but utter contempt for each other. The most helpful thing Johnson did for Speaker and Cobb was to announce that

neither would ever play in his league ever again. And therein laid their salvation! Landis was not about to let that stand.  In some ways,

it appeared as if both Johnson & Landis treated this incident as a canvas on which to play out their personal power struggle for who ruled

baseball, than about the fates of 2 superstars.  And the proof of that, is when McGraw tried to sign Ty, Landis wrote him,

 "Lay off Cobb." Landis was totally in earnest about rubbing Johnson's nose in it. He insisted that they be returned to their teams' reserve lists.

Ultimately, Landis comes out looking much more credible than Johnson.  Landis, at least called in 2 entire teams, and questions them as to

 whether or not the game in question had been played on the up & up.  Johnson did almost nothing. 

Johnson's private detectives would not be able to inform him on whether or not the game was fixed.  Did Johnson care?  Apparently not a whit.

I personally believe that what Ty, Joe and Dutch did was very wrong and should not have been done. It was tasteless, classless, inappropriate,

reprehensible, lamentable, regrettable, unethical, immoral, unprincipled, etc. But not illegal, criminal or corrupt. They tried to turn a quick buck

over inside information. Similar to insider trading today. Like Martha Stewart. One should not try to take advantage, profit, or cash in on

highly classified, inside, secret information.  I would not have fined or suspended them, since they technically broke no rule. Shameful as it was,

 it would be also wrong to enforce retroactively a rule which didn't exist yet.  I believe in the subsequent rule against betting on baseball,

regardless if it's for or against your team. Pete Rose did wrong. There SHOULD have been a rule against betting in Ty's time.

But John McGraw OWNED a gambling casino in Havana. Hornsby was betting on horses every day at the track. Cap Anson had been

 a betting man. In fact, Landis had once called Hornsby into his office and demanded that he stay away from the track and horses and Hornsby

 told him his betting on horses was none of his business and to go to hell. Landis backed down.  What else could he do? Rogers was quite right,

morally and legally.  Morally, Landis was not a stickler for morality. Every day he served as Commissioner, he looked the other way at the owners'

gentlemen's agreement not to allow blacks into the MLs. So he wasn't a stickler on moral issues.

Ty & Tris were initially cowed by Ban Johnson, who sat there behind his big desk, and smugly read them their "Miranda rights".  They were probably

shocked and embarrassed and furious that Johnson refused to believe them. Johnson gave them an ultimatum. Quit quietly and we'll keep this all

hush-hush, and no one will know. Who will believe you after seeing these letters?  The riot act worked.  Ty & Tris were bluffed into going quietly

into the night.  Or so it appeared for a short while.  But not for long.  Because once 2 newspapers caught wind of the story, they threatened Landis

that they'd break the story if he didn't.  And they gave him a deadline to announce whatever he had.  One of them was the Chicago Tribune.

Back to controversy. Later, when the sports community lined up behind Cobb & Speaker, Ban Johnson put out this fantastic message at a press

conference in Chicago, IL, Jan. 17, 1927;

"I don't believe Ty Cobb ever played a dishonest game in his life.  If that is the exoneration he seeks, I gladly give it to him.  But it is from Landis that Cobb

should seek an explanation.  The American League ousted Cobb, but it was Landis who broadcast the story of his mistakes. 

I love Ty Cobb.  I never knew a finer player.  I don't think he's been a good manager, and I have had to strap him as a father straps an unruly boy. 

But I know Ty Cobb's not a crooked ball player.  We let him go because he had written a peculiar letter about a betting deal that he couldn't explain

and because I felt that he violated a position of trust. 

Tris Speaker is a different type of fellow.  For want of a better word I'd call Tris cute.  He knows why he was forced out of the management of the

Cleveland club.  If he wants me to tell him I'll meet him in a court of law and tell the facts under oath. 

The American League is a business.  When our directors found two employees whom they didn't think were serving them right they had to let them

go.  Now isn't that enough?  As long as I'm President of the American League neither one of them will manage or play on our teams."

"I have men working for me, on my personal payroll, whose business it is to report on the conduct of our ball players.  We don't want players 

betting on horse races or ball games while they're playing.  We don't want players willing to lay down to another team either for friendship or

money.  That's why I get these reports.  This data belongs to me, and not to Landis.  The American League gave Landis enough to show why

Cobb and Speaker were no longer wanted by us.  That's all we needed to give him.  I have reports on Speaker which Landis never will get

unless we go to court. 

"Judge Landis need not worry over the correctness of that interview.  I made that statement then, I'm making it again, and I'll make it when he calls

me Monday. 

"I only hope he holds an open meeting.  I want the public to know what the American League did and what Landis did. 

"I sent a detective to watch the conduct of the Cleveland club two years ago.  I learned from him by whom bets were made on horse races and

ball games.  I learned who was taking the money for the bets.  I learned the names of the bookmakers who accepted the wagers and how much

money was won or lost.  I was gathering the evidence.  Now, I watched Ty Cobb, too.  I watched him not because I thought he was crooked, but

because I thought he was a bad manager.  Frequently, I have called him down.  I gave Ty an interview just before he went on his hunting trip last

Fall.  He talked to me for two hours.  He was heart-broken and maintained his innocence in that alleged betting deal which his letter tells about.  I

told him that whether guilty or not, he was through in the American League.  I didn't think he played fair with his employers or with me.  The actual

facts which caused this whole explosion came to me early last Summer. 

"Dutch Leonard had a claim against the Detroit Club.  He threatened to sue for damages.  He asserted that he had sworn statements of five men

stating that Cobb had declared he would drive Leonard out of baseball.  Ty always has been violent in his likes and dislikes.  Those statements of

his, if carried to court, would have been damaging to the Detroit Club.  Frank Navin, the owner, also faced the possibility that, should he refuse to

settle with Leonard, the latter would sell two letters, One, of course, was that one written by Cobb, and the other was that letter of Joe Wood.

"You know the contents.  Both indicate knowledge on the part of the writers of a plan to bet on a framed ball game.  Cob denies he bet, and I don't

think he did.  I say again I think Ty is honest.  But as he couldn't explain the letter satisfactorily, it was a damaging document.  So on that letter alone

the American League would have been forced to let Cobb go.  Now Speaker was implicated in the deal by statements by Leonard.  I also have the 

data of my detective.  I called a meeting of the directors of my league.  My own illness and the pressure of their business delayed the meeting until

Sept. 9, 1926.  We met in a prominent Chicago club.  We wanted secrecy, not because it meant anything to us but because we felt we should

protect Cobb and Speaker as much as we could.  They had done a lot for baseball.  We had to let them out, but we saw no reason for bringing

embarrassment upon their families.  We wanted to be decent about it.  The directors voted to turn the results of the Leonard investigation over

to Landis.  We did that in compliment to him, not to pass the buck.  We had acted.  We thought he ought to know about it.

When Landis released that testimony and those letters, I was amazed.  I couldn't fathom his motive.  The only thing I could see behind that move

was a desire for personal publicity.  I'll tell him that when I take the witness stand.  The American League is a business.  It is a semi-public business

to be sure, and we try to keep faith with the public.  Certainly we had the right to let two employees go if we felt that they had violated a trust.

But Landis had no right to release the Landis charges.  He had taken no part in the ousting of the two men.  It was purely a league, not an inter-

league matter, and there was nothing to be gained by telling the world that we felt Cobb and Speaker had made mistakes which made them unwelcome

employees.  When I take the stand Monday I may tell the whole story of my relationship with the Judge.  If he  wants to know when I lost faith in him

I'll tell him this.  When the Black Sox scandal broke the American League voted to prosecute the crooked players.  Landis received the job.  After several

months had passed I asked him what he was doing, and he replied: 'Nothing'.  I took the case away from him, prosecuted it with the funds of  the

American League and never asked him for help.  I had decided he didn't want to cooperate.  My second break with Landis came over a financial 

matter.  I do not care to discuss it now, but I will tell about it Monday, if he wants him to.  This statement of mine probably means a new fight with

Landis.  But he has chosen to make the public think the American League passed the buck to him on the Speaker and Cobb case.  That's not true,

and I don't intend to let the public keep on thinking that way.

Johnson also said that his observations of the Cleveland club  showed that players as late as 1925 were continually betting on horse racing

during the baseball season.  One report, Johnson said, details the story of a pool by the players that netted a profit of $4,200.  We have no

objections to players attending horse races," Johnson said.  "We do object to them betting on races while they are supposed to be giving their

best efforts to the baseball games."  End of press conference. (New York Times, Jan. 18, 1927, pp. 18, "Johnson Accepts Landis Challenge")

And more self-contradictory, convoluted, hypocritical garbage has not been seen in this part of the world since. And if good luck holds . . .

Bottom line. Johnson was perfectly willing to sacrifice 2 of America's heroes due to appearances.  Well, America wasn't, and let him know in

no uncertain terms!

All throughout the country, since the first announcements were made, support for the 2 players came from every spectrum of the BB community.

On Dec. 23, Dan Howley went on record with this statement.  "I would stake my life on Cobb's integrity, and the same goes for Tris Speaker.  Dan

had been a coach with the Tigers from 1919-22, &  room mates with Dutch Leonard on the road for 2 years.

President Navin also showed himself to not be up to handling anything but bookkeeping with aplomb or finesse. He actually came out and stated that

the reason for his releasing of Cobb as player and manager was due to his bad managing of the team, and that 11 Tigers had come to him and asked

 to be traded.  Sports writers were taken aback at this news. One said that if that were the case, there were a few other managers that were due

to be publicly hung in a town square.  Detroit President Frank Joseph Navin's handling of the whole affair smacked of such Machiavellian

machinations of such epic proportions, that's it's a wonder that the Tigers' fans allowed him to continue to own the team, so crude was his incompetence.

President Navin may have been many things.  A competent keeper of books & records.  Raised frugality in investing in his team to an artistic high.  But

as an adept, adroit manager of a difficult human situation, he was lost, out to sea, over his head, and out of his sedentary element.  His bumbling,

unctuous, supercilious, pedantic, crude manner of conducting this tricky, delicate circumstance left him bewildered, annoyed and at a loss as what to do.

I also have 4 CDs of the Glory of their Times. The CDs give many little tid-bits, such as this discourse on the Cobb/Speaker/Leonard affair,

which never made it into the book, incredibly! One of the men interviewed was Joe Wood, who gave good inside details. He burns Leonard pretty good.

When interviewer Lawrence Ritter tells him about Ty coming clean in his autobiography, Woods acts very surprised. Here is what he has to say, I'm

transcribing the tape here;

Ritter: "The other book I read was a biography by, uh, Ty Cobb, and at the end of the book, he has a whole section, and it was all news to me,

on some mess-up, with him, you, and Tris Speaker & Dutch Leonard. Would you tell me what that was all about?

Wood: "I will. I'm not going to tell you details, because I wouldn't tell you too much about this thing because it stinks. When Dutch Leonard got

through in Detroit, Cobb was manager. And for that reason he had a gripe against Cobb, and then he wanted Speaker to take him on over in

Cleveland, & Spoke wouldn't take him on. For that reason he got sore at both of them. Well, in '20, there was a dispute over some betting, & in

order to get even, Leonard claimed this & that, and so on, and, there was a bet placed on the ballgame, but it wasn't against our club, it was on

our club. I was the guy who bet the . . . I had charge of the money. Well, I handled this through a gate tender, in Detroit, who contacted the

bookies, and the money was bet, the money was collected, & this little son-of-a-gun come down, I know him very well, this gate tender, & brought

this money down to the train as we were leaving Detroit, and I gave him, after keeping equal splits, for 3 fellas, I gave him, the extra money,

which amounted to about $30. or $40. bucks, for placing the bet. This was just the same as betting on a prize fight or anything else. We bet on

ourselves. There was nothing crooked about it on our part.

Ritter: "How often did teams bet on themselves?

Wood: "Never! Never, that's the only bet I ever made in my life. And just because someone else wanted to bet on it & I handled the money. But this

thing in '20 (Black Sox scandal), it wasn't exactly on the up & up, I have to admit that. Because I knew from what Cicotte had told me in

Cleveland that the White Sox didn't dare win. But I didn't know through a couple of other fellas on the Detroit ballclub that they weren't going to

play their heads off trying to beat us. I'm not saying that they were going to lay down and give us the game, (garbled). Well anyhow, I knew

that the White Sox didn't dare win that year. And this got back to Landis, and he had a letter that I had written, and, uh, Landis called me

over to New York says, 'You write that letter', I said I sure did, there was my name on it, and Leonard had black-mailed Navin in Detroit for so

much for that letter, and he still kept copies of it, & then he went ahead and tried to black-mail, I don't know how the hell he, small amount

of money somebody out there, by going after Cobb & spilling this whole story. Which was true. I was at a World Series, with Landis down in NY &

he says, I know Landis very well, Judge says, 'We gonna have any trouble over this thing, Joe', I said 'I don't think so'. 'You let me know and if

ya do, I'll come make a trip up to New Haven.'

Ritter: "What was the letter you wrote?"

Wood: "Leonard. Here he kept this letter that I had written him, after I got home here one winter, I wrote him, out in Fresno, a letter, same as I

write to my brother, I trusted him, I wrote him this letter, he kept it & cashed in on it. I understand he got $12-15,000. the 1st from Navin in

Detroit, then they closed it for awhile and came out with it again. And he kept the letter through all of that.

Ritter: "The letter had that much dynamite in it?"

Wood: "Yeah. The letter quoted me the amount of money was bet, his share was enclosed in the letter. I loaned that son-of-a-bitch $200. to buy his

1st motor-cycle in Boston when he 1st joined us. And he made the crack that he didn't mind what he was doing to Cobb and Speaker but he hated to

hurt Woodie. But never the less he did it. That dirty little son-of-a bitch of a Leonard. He died a millionaire, but he died young (60). A

great little pitcher too. But he was a 1st class . . . crook.

Ritter: "How did Speaker & Cobb get involved on it?

Wood: "Cobb & Speaker put up some of this money to make the bet. And Leonard broadcast this thing, because Cobb let him go, and Speaker

wouldn't take him on.

Ritter: "Is it for this reason that both Cobb and Speaker left their jobs at Cleveland & Detroit?

Wood: "Yeah, yeah. But they didn't get out of baseball. They went to the Athletics. I'd like to see what Cobb had to say about it, because

(garbled). They got together with an attorney in Detroit, my greatest friend, Spoke & Cobb, and they got a bunch of stuff written up, type-

written & deposited in a vault in a bank in Cleveland, & if they'd a chased Cobb & Speaker outta baseball this would'a all come out.

Ritter: "Cobb has a whole chapter on it. He doesn't hide it at all.

Wood: "Well, he didn't hide some of it. But he doesn't tell it as it was, I'll bet you a million dollars. I don't think Cobb could afford that to

tell the story. Cause I know the story. I never told that to a soul in my life. I haven't even told it to my . . . brother. Well I didn't tell you

anything that wasn't straight & on the level, I'll tell you that. That's one reason why this thing did really hurt me. It's the first and only

accusation in my life that I ever had against me, that I know of."

So that's Joe Wood talking to Lawrence Stanley Ritter, famed author of The Glory of Their Times, 1966. This interview was taken on October 1, 1965.

Larry Ritter passed away Feb. 15, 2004, at the age of 84, at his Manhattan apt. after a series of strokes. I had corresponded with him

once. He said Babe Ruth was the Greatest Player. He only made $35K on the book, because he shared his royalties with those he interviewed.

Lawrence Stanley Ritter May 23, 1922 - 2004, Feb.15, age 81, Died, NYC;  BB author: Main claim to fame - his superb book, "The Glory of Their Times".

He took the title from the passage in Biblical Ecclesiastics: "All these were honored in their generations and were the glory of their times." Grad.

Grad. Indiana U. , Doctorate from Wisconsin. Also wrote text for "The Babe: A Life in Pictures", with Mark Rucker (1988).

After Ty Cob died in '66, Lawrence traveled 75,000 around the country with a reel-to-reel tape recorder, and interviewed 22 ballplayers from Ty's era.

He made only about $35,000 profit from around 360,000 book sales, due to his sharing his royalties with those players he interviewed.

He turned the original tapes over to the BB Hall of Fame.  They are now available in excerpt form in CD or tape cassette format.

Professor of Finance and Economics at NYC for 30 yrs. "I don't like the players, I don't like the umpires, I don't like the owners, but I love the game."

Interested in BB since 1931. d. at his Manhattan apt., after a series of strokes.

What did Joe Wood mean when he said, "Well, he didn't hide some of it. But he doesn't tell it as it was, I'll bet you a million dollars. I don't think

Cobb could afford that to tell the story. Cause I know the story. I never told that to a soul in my life."?

Simply put, here is my interpretation of what Wood referred to.  Ty Cobb went to his grave insisting that he had never made the bet. I think