Passionate baseball player Tyrus Raymond Cobb (1886–1961) was born on this day in the rural community of Narrows, Georgia, and played on his first baseball team, the Royston Rompers, at age 10.

“Baseball was one-hundred percent of my life,” he said, throwing with his right hand and batting with his left.

In 1904, Cobb left home and played in his first professional game in Anniston, Alabama. A year later, he signed with the Detroit Tigers, where he played 22 seasons as an outfielder.

A larger-than-life, fierce competitor, Cobb was known for his aggressiveness on the field. “To get along with me—don’t increase my tension,” he said.

When “baseball’s greatest player” retired in 1928, he had played more games (3,033), collected more hits (4,191), scored more runs (2,245), and stolen more bases (892) than any player in baseball history. In 1936, he was the first elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and his career batting average record (.367) remains unbroken.

Hall of Famer George Sisler said in tribute, “The greatness of Ty Cobb was something that had to be seen, and to see him was to remember him forever.”

Ty Cobb was special because he refused to separate mind from performance. His focus and intelligence shaped how the game was played, proving that skill truly begins above the shoulders.