Synopses & Reviews
The previously untold legacy of Ty Cobb Ty Cobb is a baseball immortal, considered by many the greatest player who ever lived. In an age when the game was young and tough, he cultivated a reputation as the fiercest competitor of them all. Yet after he retired, he realized that the very qualities that helped him reach the pinnacle of his profession also undermined his relationship with his own children. He was deeply depressed when two of his sons died at a very young age. Cobb never had the chance to bridge the emotional distance between them. Herschel Cobb grew up in a chaotic, destructive household. His father was cruel and abusive, and his mother was an adulterous alcoholic. After his father died, when Herschel was eight, he began to spend a portion of each summer with his grandfather. Along with his sister and brother, Herschel visited Ty Cobb at his home in Atherton, California, or at his cabin at Lake Tahoe. These days were filled with adventures, memorable incidents, and discoveries as Granddaddy” warmed to having his three redheads” with him. Heart of a Tiger is Herschel Cobbs moving account of how a retired sports star seized a second chance at having a close family, with his grandchildren the lucky recipients of his change of heart. He provided wisdom, laughter, and a consistent affection that left an indelible mark. He proved the enormous power of a grandparent to provide stability, love, and guidance. As he developed this new, wholly different legacy, in turn he would finally come to peace with himself.
Review
"A gentle, affecting memoir." —Kirkus Reviews (February 2013)
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"Elegantly written and genuinely moving, this heartwarming account is sure to resonate with readers." —www.PublishersWeekly.com
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"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." —www.BooklistOnline.com
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“Heart of a Tiger is a book that baseball fans will not soon forget.” —Mike Shannon, Spitball Magazine
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“a warm, sentimental memoir" —Bob D'Angelo, Tampa Tribune
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“for baseball buffs and those with a soft spot for a tender human-interest story, Heart of a Tiger is page-turning reading for those summer nights when the home game is rained out.” —Editor Brett M. Decker, Rare.us
Review
"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."
BooklistOnline.com"Elegantly written and genuinely moving, this heartwarming account is sure to resonate with readers." Publishers Weekly
"Not your grandfathers Ty Cobb? Perhaps not. But Ty Cobb was Herschel Cobbs grandfather. And the story Herschel Cobb tells reveals a far gentler side to his grandfather, one buried deep beneath the persona Ty Cobb created during his playing days. Heart of a Tiger: Growing up with My Grandfather, Ty Cob is a warm, sentimental memoir. Herschel Cobb is not trying to write a revisionist history of his grandfather; he is merely retelling the memories he had of 'Granddaddy,' never realizing until he was a teenager that Ty Cobb was a famous and sometimes polarizing baseball player." Bob D'Angelo, Tampa Tribune
"I could rave about this book for hours and I feel I would still never do it justice. It's a book that hooks the reader from the very beginning and in spite of the sometimes difficult content, keeps you hanging on until the very end." Charlene Martel, The Literary Word
A personal memoir can enrich the statistical account, as does this one about the great Ty Cobb. Readers should find justice has been done to the Georgia Peach.” Ron Kirbyson, the Winnipeg Free Press
"Actions sometimes speak louder than words. But Herschel Cobbs words speak volumes on why The Georgia Peach just might have always been a peach of a man that no one could find out, unless you were kinfolk and not a prying member of the media like Al Stump trying to fulfill an assignment." Tom Hoffarth, Farther Off the Wall
Synopsis
Casey Award Winner: The Best Baseball Book of the Year
"Elegantly written and genuinely moving." -- Publishers Weekly
"An unforgettable story . . . that will alter how you feel about baseball's most demonized star." -- Tom Stanton, author of Ty and the Babe
The previously untold legacy of Ty Cobb, the greatest baseball player who ever lived
Ty Cobb's grandson Herschel saw a side of him that very few others did. While baseball fans were familiar with Cobb's infamously cold competitive nature, his relationship with his own children was also deeply difficult. Despite this, Cobb embraced the opportunity to form a loving bond with his grandchildren during their summertime visits in his later years.
Herschel Cobb grew up in a chaotic, destructive household. His father was cruel and abusive, and his mother was an adulterous alcoholic. After his father died, when Herschel was eight he began to spend a portion of each summer with his grandfather. Along with his sister and brother, Herschel visited Ty Cobb at his home in Atherton, California, or at his cabin at Lake Tahoe. These days were filled with adventures, memorable incidents, and discoveries as "Granddaddy" warmed to having his "three redheads" with him.
Heart of a Tiger is Herschel Cobb's moving account of how a retired sports star seized a second chance at having a close family, with his grandchildren the lucky recipients of his change of heart. He provided wisdom, laughter, and a consistent affection that left an indelible mark. He proved the enormous power of a grandparent to provide stability, love, and guidance. As he developed this new, wholly different legacy, in turn he would finally come to peace with himself.
Synopsis
Herschel Cobbs moving account of his relationship with his legendary grandfather reveals a side of Ty Cobb that few people ever saw, that of loving nurturer. A baseball icon and arguably the best player who ever lived, Ty Cobbs infamously cold, competitive nature allowed him to excel on the ball field but undermined his relationship with his children. Devastated by the untimely death of two of his sons, Cobb relished the opportunity to reconnect the broken family ties when young Herschel and his siblings visited him during the summers. In the pages of this book, Herschel, whose cruel, abusive father and adulterous, alcoholic mother filled his childhood with turmoil, recounts how his grandfather provided the stability, love and guidance that Herschel desperately needed. Beautifully written and insightful, this memoir describes the healing bond between Cobb and his grandchildren, and constructs a wholly different legacy for the notoriously tough Cobb as gentle and affectionate “Granddaddy.”
About the Author
Herschel Cobb is the grandson of Ty Cobb. He lives in Menlo Park, California.