Ty Cobb might be the greatest player in major league history. For six seasons, he served as player-manager for the Detroit Tigers. During his tenure, his teams finished above .500 five times, but failed to seriously contend. As a manager, Cobb proved adept working with hitters, but lacked the ability to work with his pitchers. As a result, the Tigers raked the ball offensively, but struggled on the mound in the Cobb years.
Hughie Jennings managed the Detroit Tigers for 14 seasons. After 1920, exhaustion forced his retirement. Tiger owner Frank Navin offered the reigns of his ball club to superstar Ty Cobb. The Georgia Peach was a fierce competitor and 12 time batting champion. Navin liked Cobb’s competitive nature and felt his star could revitalize the club. The moved shocked some. Many players and teammates disliked Cobb. However, he proved a better manager than most believed possible.
Cobb emerged as an adept hitting instructor. He helped transform Harry Heilmann from a .309 hitter to a .400 hitter. Prior to Cobb’s ascendancy, Heilmann hit .300 twice in five seasons. After Cobb tutored him, “Slug” hit over .300 ten times, over .350 six times, over .400 in 1923, and won four batting crowns. Likewise, he helped a talented young second baseman Charlie Gehringer who eventually won a MVP award, batting title, and hit .320 for his career. Cobb also worked with Heinie Manush helping the outfielder to the 1926 batting title.
The entire team benefited from Cobb’s tutelage. During the Cobb years, the Tigers hit .316, .306, .300, .298, .302, and .291. In each season, the team batting average finished well above the league average. Additionally, Detroit averaged 5.76, 5.09, 5.37, 5.09, 5.78, and 5.05 runs per game. Once again, these figures topped the league average each season.
While Cobb charged Detroit’s offense with his wisdom, he undercut the pitching staff with his shortsightedness. At times, he did not recognize talent. Cobb cut Carl Hubbell more than once. Hubbell went on to become one of the greatest pitchers in history. He also engaged in petty feuds, overused his pitchers, and blew out arms. Some of this had to do with the time he managed in, but a lot of it had to do with his personality and lack of respect for men on the mound. Additionally, Mr. Navin refused to open the checkbook to bring in top tier talent when Cobb did find promising arms.
As a result of Cobb’s intransigence and the team’s lack of depth, Tiger pitching surrendered as many runs as the offense scored. The team’s ERA finished at 5.53, 5.09, 4.78, 5.09, 5.31, and 5.25. Only once in six seasons did the Tigers finish around the league average in ERA. Without pitching, the team did not win a pennant. Detroit finished as high as second only once. On the other hand, Cobb managed the Tigers to a better than .500 record five times in six seasons finishing with a 479-444 overall record.
Ty Cobb worked wonders with hitters while serving as Tiger manager. The team batted better than league average each year, Tiger hitters won five batting crowns, Cobb himself contended for batting titles, and the team won more than it lost. However, he could not manage a pitching staff. The team finished with a league average ERA once and finished below average five times. This doomed Detroit's pennant hopes despite fielding an entertaining team.
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