Charles Leerhsen - Ty Cobb - History Author Show

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September 28, 2015 - Even casual baseball fans can name the game’s greatest heroes, and its most infamous villain: Ty Cobb. Yes, it’s something that even Yankees and Red Sox fans can agree on: “The Georgia Peach” wasn’t a very nice fellow. But what if everyone is wrong? What if, like Ulysses S. Grant, Ty Cobb’s enemies were just more prolific writers than his friends? What if by accepting the view of Ty Cobb as a belligerent racist and dirty player, we’re smearing baseball’s all-time great, and abetting a century of shoddy reporting?
If so, then someone should set the historical record straight. Well, that’s exactly what Charles Leerhsen set out to do in his New York Times best-seller, Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty. In it, Mr. Leerhsen questioned all the accepted truths about Cobb and found the facts striking out.
And Mr. Leerhsen is not just a sports fan, but a journalist trained in facts. You’ve seen his work everywhere from Sports Illustrated and Esquire to The New York Times Magazine and People. He has also been an editor at SI, Us Weekly, and Newsweek. You can find him @CharlesLeerhsen on Twitter and at CharlesLeerhsen.com.
We hope you’ll pour yourself a cold one, tear open a box of Cracker Jacks, and play ball with Charles Leerhsen and Ty Cobb … A Terrible Beauty.
historyauthor....

[@SteveGee1986]

Leerhsen is the 23&Me for sports writing. Convenient narratives are tough to correct. The book is excellent. When research is emphasized, many false narratives are dispelled.

[@timorthelame1]

Leerhsen did a great job of researching and writing about Cobb.

[@waltdude]

Thank you so much for setting the record straight. Ken Burns owes the Cobb Family an apology for maligning his legacy. Now I question every film he has made.

[@historyauthorshow]

Thank you, Walt .I couldn't agree more, and always call out Mr. Burns's version of events when I get the chance. His erasing of the Freedmen from his Civil War productions is particularly grating.

[@bt2476]

But make no doubt about it, Ty Cobb was never known as a less than intellectually sharp fellow! Even Al Stump I think at least gave him that.

[@bt2476]

What's interesting is, if listen to some of the old player interviews who were teammates with Cobb, or played alongside him, get different stories. Like Sam Crawford who was a teammate for many years, Crawford always said that "Cobb never had a friend in baseball" and really didn't have anything positive at all to say about him. Then people like Smokey Joe Wood, said that Cobb was one of his "Very best friends in baseball", and he played against him! Still a somewhat mysterious figure. Would like to hear a thorough account of Shoeless Joe Jackson one day too. What type of person was he?

[@victordolan2624]

Original Sources? Or telephone game """quotes"""?

[@bt2476]

@@victordolan2624 these were the very words of Crawford and Wood, from recorded interviews/audio clips. Look it up on KZbin, you can hear the words come from their very mouths. Interesting stuff

[@phillipgarrow2297]

It seems lies sometimes become legend

[@historyauthorshow]

Perfect way to put it.

[@kumarg3598]

Wuhl did an interview on opie and anthony. Wuhl didnt like the evidence presented by this book.

[@historyauthorshow]

Thanks for commenting. A lot of people don't like the evidence, as we discussed in the conversation, 'cause people clung to these myths -- often passed down at games, treasured childhood memories -- but it's who he was.

[@kumarg3598]

@historyauthorshow I always thought robert wuhl was smart so it was disappointing. The movie Cobb was great; who really cares if we now know the story isn't true. No one conflates Eminems life with B rabbit. He was defending the integrity of the movie when it was not necessary.

[@historyauthorshow]

@@kumarg3598 Very true. It's not like they presented it as history, and it's understandable they based it on the Stump bio.

[@jecasey2]

This was such a great interview, I wish it were longer. Two classy guys having an informative conversation. The discussion was in a most respectful balance with the interviewer and the author asking and answering questions in a way that presented the subject matter clearly and credibly. I felt better for hearing it.

[@historyauthorshow]

John, thank you so much for taking the time to listen and for your kind comment. It's heartening to know that in a world where snark and glib takes seem to rule the day, people still appreciate solid history researched with precision like Mr. Leerhsens -- and that I did my job in helping bring it to life. We both tweeted out your comment. You might also enjoy our interview about his book on Butch Cassidy. That's a video so lots of pictures and video. All the best, sir.

[@patrickstewart6090]

Great interview as a baseball historian I’ve read so many articles that are the truth and the truth never get out until now