Heart of a Tiger: Growing Up with My Grandfather, Ty Cobb
Ty Cobb was one of the greatest baseball players in the history of the game. A member of the inaugural class of the Hall of Fame, he was a fierce competitor who was intensely disliked by many of his opponents; a virulent racist; and a brawler who took on opponents, teammates, and even hecklers. But for young Herschel Cobb, the ferocious Ty was a loving, wise, and protective grandfather. Herschel’s father, Ty Jr., and his mother were irresponsible, bad-tempered drunks. Herschel describes growing up in this wildly dysfunctional family but focuses on the summers he and his siblings spent with “Granddaddy,” either at Cobb’s home in California or at Lake Tahoe. They were summers filled with love, a few adventures, and peace. The three grandchildren, we learn, experienced a much different Cobb than did the rest of the world. For those who’ve read Charles C. Alexander’s meticulously researched Ty Cobb (2006) and Cobb’s autobiography, written with Al Stump in the early sixties, this memoir provides one more view of a fascinating, severely flawed sports icon. --Wes Lukowsky