Ty Cobb: The Georgia Peach

Tyrus Raymond Cobb (1886-1961) moved to Royston as a youth when his father got a teaching position here. He was playing "Town Ball" for the Royston Reds at age 14 and was in the minors at 17. He first played with the Augusta Tourists then with the Anniston, Alabama Noblemen before signing with the Detroit Tigers at age 18. In his 24 year career, (1905-1926 with Detroit and 1927-1928 with Philadelphia) he amassed 90 records and was a charter member of the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown and the first inducted in 1936. His lifetime batting average of .367 was still the record seven decades later. He hit .323 his last year when he was 41. In 1995, he still had the record of scoring the most runs with 2,245. He was second in hits with 4,191 and triples with 297. He remained in the top five in records for RBI's doubles extra base hits, total bases and stolen bases. He also ranked second in career double plays for an outfielder with 107 over 67 years after his career ended. Most of his career was played in the "dead ball" era which make his records even more remarkable. Ty Cobb was born in Banks County and lived in several places including Augusta, Cornelia and Lake Tahoe, California but always called Royston home and help establish the hospital here.