The Baseball Guru - TY COBB AS A MANAGER by Bill Burgess

Was Ty Cobb a failure as a manager? By the end of baseball's '26 season, the word had went out that he was. But was it true? Was the verdict fair or well-considered? We shall see what the evidence shows. First of all, what kind of team did Ty inherit?

The 1920 Tigers finished 7th in the final standings, 6th in batting, 5th in fielding. They were dispirited. Hughie Jennings, their manager, was burned-out, alcoholic, depressed, and deeply weary to his bones. He wanted out, but was not pushed out.

In 1920, as the live ball was reinvigorating the careers of Speaker, Collins, Jackson, and Wheat, Ty incurred one of his few serious injuries. During a game on June 6, while chasing a fly ball in right center,

Ty collided with his RFer, Ira Flagstead, and sprained his left knee so badly, he was out action till July 31, save a couple of games.

In '21 Ty started with a team of youngsters and veterans. He had chosen to sweep out anyone who he felt wouldn't fight hard & give their all. Ty took each player and worked with them on their hitting, base running, and fielding.

Pitchers were different. Ty knew nothing how to help them, except to school them on what to pitch hitters, but not how. A glance at the chart below shows that the '21Tigers went from a .396 winning percentage to .464, an improvement. Fairness begs that

every manager deserves a year to rebuild a broken team. In '21, thanks to Ty's coaching, they improved their hitting from 95% of the league average to 108% of the league ave. In plain talk, they hit .316 as a team!!! An AL record that still stands!!!

They added 50 points to their collective batting average. Not just happenstance. Ty can easily be called the greatest batting coach baseball ever saw. His gift of teaching hitting rivals his own hitting and base running as one of baseball's supreme

achievements. His most apt pupil, Harry Heilmann, went from .309 to .394 in one year!! The rest were less dramatic but still amazing. Infielder Fred Haney, later a manager, was a rookie who hit .352 in 81 games (75 for 213, .439 on-base ave.)

Further, the Tigers slipped to 7th in fielding. A problem that was to plague the team all 6 of Ty's years as manager. Though they climbed to 6th place, they finished 27 games out of 1st. Ty contributed a .389 BA.

In '22, the Tigers continued to make dramatic progress. Their winning % was .513. So now they were playing .500 ball, which they continued to do while Ty was at the helm. Also, happily, Ty's traveling batting circus was a major gate attraction

across AL fields. They were now the #2 draw in the AL behind the Yankees. They finished in 3rd place, 15 games out of 1st. Detroit had fallen in love with the Tigers again, and Ty was widely toasted as a miracle worker. Ty kicked in a .401 BA. They were 2nd in hitting, 3rd in

fielding, second in attendance. They were now fighting full-throttle, and the team became an important profit-making property. Ty was making his boss a much richer man. And the team achieved all this

despite Harry Heilmann breaking his collarbone in late August taking him out for the season. That did not help the team whatever. In acknowledgment, Ty had a 3 yr. contract('21-23) at $35K, 2nd only to Ruth. Dan

Howley: "One has to work under Cobb to understand him," said Howley. "As a manager, he was a revelation to me. Cobb has played the outfield all of his life, yet it was uncanny how he could instruct men to play every position on the ball field. There

isn't the slightest detail of any department of baseball that he isn't master of. . . I have no personal motive for boosting Cobb," continued the New England Irishman. "I no longer work for the Detroit club: in fact, I took the Toronto job against Cobb's

wishes. But I honestly believe Cobb is the greatest manager in baseball. Give him a little more time with that Detroit team and see what he does with it. He advanced it from seventh to third in two years and next season he will make things exceedingly

interesting for the Yanks." (Sporting News, February 15, 1923) A sign of how well the Tigers were coming along in their hitting, was that during spring

training, they chose not to carry a wonderful hitting young OF, named Floyd "Babe" Herman. So they cut him. He'd later make good as a "Daffiness" boy

under "Uncle" Wilbert Robinson. He hit .390 in 1930.

In '23, the Tigers jumped again to a winning % of .539, and finished 2nd. They finished 2nd in hitting, 4th in fielding, 2nd in attendance and absolutely no one was calling Ty a failure as a manager. He received nothing but kudos and bouquets

for his fighting, scrapping team of wonders. It was not unusual for a team to go to Detroit and find their entire outfield hitting near .400. But their slowness afoot in the gardens didn't help their cause. Ty was slowing up, Heilmann never had speed. And speed afoot is not a thing that can be taught.

In '24, the Tigers had their best year while Ty guided their fortunes. They finished 3rd in the standings, 1st in hitting, 3rd in fielding, and 2nd in attendance. They went over a million in attendance for the 1st time in their history.

For the second year in a row, they outdrew the NY Giants, who were in a much bigger market. The Tigers were in the thick of the pennant race, when on August 13, star 1st baseman, Lu Blue, twisted his knee, when caught between 3rd base and home plate and was gone for the season. They finished only

6 games out of 1st. This was Ty's only real chance to actually win a pennant. They fought all the way to the end, but with Blue out, they couldn't overcome the loss. Still, they were out-hustling, out-fighting, and out-scrapping better teams. In other

words, because of a fighting leader, who didn't know the meaning of the word quit, they were playing ball over their heads. Ty strode the length of his dugout, exhorting his fighters, "Fire Up! Fire Up!" He never relaxed & let games take their course.

And all of this, in spite of the fact that not only was Blue injured in late August, but Heilmann hit 59 points lower than he did in '23 due to illness, Fothergill labored under a similar handicap and SS Topper Rigney had illness & injury all season.

So, to take stock, Ty managed for only 6 seasons. After 4 of them, balldom's community had formed a solid consensus that Ty had been a raging success as a dugout commander. In recognition of this established fact, his boss gave him a raise to

$38K for '24, and a dramatic $50K for '25-'26. Huge figures for that moment. So admired was Ty as a manager by the end of '24, that Christy Mathewson chose him as manager of his B team, when he picked an All-America team, A & B for Colliers's(Oct.11,'24).

In '25, the Tigers slipped to 4th in the standings, 16.5 g out, 3rd in batting, 3rd in fielding, 3rd in attendance. Ty contributed a .378 BA. Despite their slippage in '25 & '26, they still out-drew the Giants, even while the Giants finished 1st in '23, '24 and 2nd in '25.

For 1925, the Tigers finally recalled Charlie Gehringer from their farm club, when their regular 2nd basemen got hurt and he played the full season. Ty made a serious error of judgement when he forbade pitcher Carl Hubbell to throw his best pitch, the screwball.

Cobb believed it would hurt Hubbell's arm. It did, but not before he had a Hall of Fame career. That winter of '25-26, Detroit was given 1st refusal on Paul Waner of the SF Seals, for $45,000. Navin passed.

Their problem was not in their manager or their hitting. The problem was on their mound, their defense & the competition. They had fine defense at first, Lu Blue, & catching, Johnny Bassler, both onboard since '21, and at second base with Charlie Gehringer(for '26).

On March 1, 1926, Ty had eye surgery at the Wilmer Eye Clinic, part of John Hopkins U. medical complex in Baltimore, MD. A film had encroached on his vision, and he spent until March 13, 1926 in the hospital. He claimed it had impaired his vision the previous season, yet still hit .378.

In '26, the Tigers had a major crises on May 26, when their ace catcher, Johnny Bassler, twisted his ankle & was out of the lineup until around Aug. 1. Detroit couldn't find anyone adequate to replace him. Clyde Manion caught 75 games but hit .199! Ray Hayworth was rushed up from their

Toronto farm club overnight to Chicago, where the Tigers were playing the White Sox. He got into 12 games and hit .273. In a July, 1927 Baseball Magazine article, where he was interviewed by Ferdinand C. Lane, Ty states, "I stand upon my record," says Cobb "In the

seasons when I was manager, there never was a time when two or three clubs in the circuit were not more powerful or better balanced than the Detroit team. Why should I be expected to overcome those two or three more powerful ball clubs? Perhaps if I had

been a genius as a manager, I might have done so. But just because I didn't do so, does that make me a failure?. . . My infield was always an experiment. . . "They blame me for last year. When Bassler was laid up, my catching was a joke. I could lay my

finger on a dozen different reasons why the club couldn't get going last year, but what's the use? The word has gone out that I'm a failure as a manager, so that's that." ( Baseball Magazine, July, 1927, pp. 339, 341, 373, 374; Was Ty Cobb a Managerial

Failure? by F. C. Lane).

Their pitching was spotty. Most of their pitchers could shine. But they were better on paper. They had George Dauss, Howard Ehmke, Rip Collins, Earl Whitehall, Ken Holloway, Bert Cole, Syl Johnson, Lil Stoner, Dutch Leonard, Herman Pillette, and others. It wasn't that they were bad pitchers.

They could all pitch fine ball on occasion, but lacked consistency. They needed expert pitching coaches to assist them in their mechanics and give them guidance. Ty could teach hitting and base running but not pitching. Hence, the lack of coaching

hurt them all the time.

Another critical issue that one must look at is how much a team invests to keep improving. In Ty case, he received little backing from Frank Navin, who always had an excuse not to invest in a good-looking prospect. Detroit had the chance to get

Paul Waner and others, but didn't. During the 6 yrs. of Ty's reign, the most expensive player that Navin bought was Al Wingo for $25K, and was a bargain. Navin also spent $35K and players for pitchers Pillette & Syl Johnson. Compared to these

relatively modest investments, certain other teams were going all out to bolster their clubs. For example, in NY, Jake Ruppert was conducting operations like a mad scientist. He brought almost the entire Red Sox team to NY. Ruppert was serious about

his club. In pitchers alone, he raided these from Boston: Carl Mays, Herb Pennock, Sam Jones, Waite Hoyt, Joe Bush, Ernie Shore. He also raided shortstop Everett Scott, catcher Wally Schang, left fielder Duffy Lewis. These alone will win you a pennant.

When the '25 Yankees collapsed to 7th place, Huggins and Barrow got rid of most of them and started their '26 spring training with another team. While Ty was making do with the scraps from other teams leftovers, Jake Ruppert was just barely beginning to

flex his wallet. During Ty's days managing the Tigers, Jake Ruppert armed his Yankee dugout with Lou Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri, Bob Meusel, Earl Combs, Marty Koenig, Joe Dugan, as well as the championship Red Sox team from '15-18. Jake was intent on making

his team the envy of Balldom. Meanwhile, over in Philadelphia, hardly less earnest activity was in progress to meet the Yankees challenge on even terms. Mack suddenly was spending like Ruppert in an exclusive men's clothing shop. Mack & Ruppert turned

the '20's into dueling checkbooks, & neither were bouncing any checks. Over in Philly, Mack was rebuilding & Connie wasn't kidding. In '21 he got Eddie Rommel, in '22, Bing Miller & Joe Hauser, '23 Rube Walberg, in '24, he got Al Simmons & Max Bishop.

For 1925, he picked up Grove, Cochrane, Foxx, veteran pitcher Jack Quinn. For '26, he got shortstop Billy Wambsganss and vet pitcher Howard Ehmke, whom Ty had discarded after '22. These players proved that Connie wasn't fooling about bringing pennants

home. He paid $100K for Grove in 10 installments, $50K for Cochrane( plus $150K invested in Portland team, just to sign Cochrane). These were major moves. Back in Detroit, Frank Navin contemplated no such moves during Ty's reign as manager.

Both these teams, the 20's Yankees and Phil. A's were only 2 of the teams that Ty's men had to face on the open battlefield. Coping with 2 of the greatest baseball teams of history, is utterly germane to whether Ty was a good manager. To this day, most

of the most respected, authoritative baseball minds consider the '29-31 Phil. A's & the '26-28 Yankees as 2 of the very finest baseball teams in all-around balance, that ever played the game. And in addition to these, Ty had to contend with the '21-23 Yankees, and the '25 Senators.

So, the BB powers in NYC & Philly not only were possessed of deeper pockets, but far more importantly, were possessed of far deeper determination to bring pennants home. They not only out-spent Navin, they buried him completely.

It wasn't as though the Tigers couldn't find any talent in the 20's. They did. They came up with Lu Blue, Charlie Gehringer, Johnny Bassler. They also found good slugging outfielders, who were sluggish fielders. They already had Heilmann, who Ty

turned into a star, and Bobby Veach. They found Heinie Manush, Bob Fothergill, Al Wingo, Ira Flagstad. Due to Ty's specialty as a hitting coach, his teams could compete offensively with anyone. They dominated the Yankees offensively from '22-'25.

The figures in columns K and L below show this clearly. What the Tigers lacked and Ty couldn't teach them was sparkling defensive work & sharp, tight pitching. As a master hitting coach, Ty could tell his

pitchers what to throw. But what he couldn't do was get out there on the mound and show them how to throw. How to throw a curve, steady their location. He could program their brain on what pitches and what sequence, but never how to execute. He

readily admitted his ignorance of the pitching arts and craft. Baseball in those days lacked the coaching staffs we now take for granted. Also Ty's lack of diplomacy and tack didn't help his cause. Touchy Feely wasn't part of his makeup. Hugs from Ty

were not in abundance. No. Hugs from Ty were definitely in severely short supply. Exhortations to hustle were everywhere to be found, however, and there Ty was generous beyond belief. He never spared himself in encouraging his fighters to not quit.

So, was Ty Cobb a failure as a manager? At the end of the day, that will depend on who you ask, and when you ask it. To Ty's critics, Ty was a failure, because they wanted him marginalized. If you asked from 1921-24, he was a surprising

success. His record was not subject to criticism. If one is impartial, and examines the plain evidence, and the teams Ty had to face on the open battlefield, you could not help but come to the conclusion, that there was no earthly reason why he

should have been expected to beat better teams on a regular basis. That he was able to marshall the forces he had to fight with and did beat better teams, often, but not often enough to win a pennant, is a tribute to his unyielding never-say-die spirit.

What can one answer to those who accuse Ty Cobb of being a failure as a manager? I say, they are seriously ignorant morons. They don't know how to research the question, or hate Ty Cobb as a person. Either way, they're wrong. Their main

criticisms don't hold up under scrutiny. Their charges crumble under careful probing. First, his overly-intense disposition made him temperamentally unsuited to manage or bring out the best in others. While perhaps true to a limited extent, was McGraw's

career a permanent refutation of that charge? Was John McGraw less imperious a manager? No. McGraw's critics charge he was verbally abusive, dictatorial, domineering & hateful. Top stars like Frisch and Ed Roush didn't want to play for him. Sound

familiar? If McGraw had softened his style, let his players think for themselves and comported himself more benignly, would his results have improved? It doesn't look possible to improve on his record.

It would seem that the careers of both Connie Mack & Casey Stengel would have proven for all time, that one's record depends on the quality of one's personnel. Yes? That not even genius managing can overcome mediocre teams. Yet, I've never

heard Mack or Stengel criticized as "failures" as managers! Why? Think about it! Those two are supreme examples of great managers being unable to overcome mediocre teams, yet no one calls them failures for it! And rightly so!!

Ty Cobb was given 6 seasons to come up with winning results. He did produce amazing improvements, which all acknowledged for his 1st 4. He had injuries to overcome in his last 2 seasons, plus the Yankees, Athletics & Senators to cope with, who

were seriously loaded with better players. So where is baseball justice & fairness? Let's not sucker into historical prejudice or cliched hype!

To answer the question with finality, "Was Ty Cobb a failure as a Manager?", the answer must be a resounding, emphatic "No. Not at all". What with the teams he had to work with, he produced excellent results. He must be considered a superb manager.

His only weakness as a manager was his psychological compulsion to take his baseball so seriously that he was too harsh in how he dealt with his players. There is an important difference between being tough & aggressive and verbally abusive. No one ever

heard of Connie Mack getting into fist fights in his dugout. And Mack had Grove and Waddell to cope with. Ultimately, Ty was a brilliant, inspired, creative and successful manager. So admired was Ty as a manager by the end of '24, that no less an

impartial, fair and knowledgeable observer as Christy Mathewson chose him as manager of his B team, when he picked an All-America team, A & B team, for Collier's (Oct. 11, 1924, pp. 9). It was his misfortune to manage at a time when Connie Mack & Jake

Ruppert were gearing up to win, were not about to be out-spent, and were not to be denied in assembling better teams. And that's not mentioning the Washington Senators ball club. In the end, genius playing and managing wasn't enough.