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The Trickiest Pitcher Baseball Legend Ty Cobb Believed He Ever Faced
The MLB Hall-of-Famer saw a lot of different hurlers during his lengthy career, but one stood out as having the filthiest stuff
Former outfielder Ty Cobb still holds the all-time big league record for career batting average despite last playing a game nearly a century ago. Therefore, it’s a reasonable assumption to make that he knew pitchers. During a 24-playing career, the Hall-of-Famer faced off against and studied numerous hurlers, but one always struck him as having the trickiest, most devious stuff; above and beyond the rest of the field. That pitcher was Eddie Cicotte.
Between 1905–1928 with the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Athletics, the left-handed hitting Cobb batted an all-time record .366 with 4,189 base hits, 117 home runs, 1,944 RBIs, 2,245 runs scored and 897 stolen bases. His intensity was so well known that over time, with the help of those seeking profits (authors who invented wholesale stories and lies about his life and career and sold them as fact), his reputation was rebranded into someone who was a sadistic monster instead of a hard-nosed and determined ball player.
Naturally, Cobb was a student of hitting and pitching. He saw well over 1,000 hurlers during his illustrious career, giving him a serious basis for comparison. He was certainly not known for excessive praise of his opponents, but there was one pitcher he believed was trickier than them all — Eddie Cicotte.
The right-hander started out as a solid innings eater. It wasn’t until he joined the White Sox in the later stages of his career that he turned into an ace. In 14 big-league seasons (1905 & 1908–1920) he was a combined 209–148 with a 2.38 ERA and 1,374 strikeouts. In 1905, he was Cobb’s teammate briefly in Detroit, appearing in three September games. During his career, he led the American League in wins twice and ERA once. He was particularly dominant in his nine years in Chicago, going 156–101, with a 2.25 ERA.
Arguably, Cicotte’s best season came in 1919 for the White Sox. He led the American League with 29 wins, 30 complete games and 306.2 innings, while posting a sparkling 1.82 ERA. Chicago cruised to the World Series to face off…
