by Ron Keurajian 

 

"The greatness of Ty Cobb was something that had to be seen, and to see him was to remember him forever."  
   -George Sisler, baseball hall of famer

 

On August 30th 1905 an unknown 18-year old stepped into the world of big league baseball.  He was a young boy from the Narrows of rural Banks County Georgia. In his first major league at bat he slammed out a double against famed New York Highlanders fireballer Happy Jack Chesbro. There would be 4,190 more   His name was Tyrus Raymond Cobb and he would wear the Olde English D of the Detroit Tigers for 22 years and transform the game of baseball forever.  Cobb became the dominant force during baseball's fabled Dead-Ball era and today remains an almost mythological figure (and perhaps a lightning rod) in American, if not world, history.

 

Known to the baseball world as The Georgia Peach, Cobb retired from the game in 1928 with a .367 lifetime batting average, 4191 base hits, 12 batting crowns and held more major league records than any other player in history.  In 1936 he became the first person inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame eclipsing Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and even the great Babe Ruth.  

 

Ty Cobb was, as fellow Hall of Famer Ernie Harwell so eloquently stated, A Genius in spikes.

 

The following article is a detailed examination of Ty Cobb's signature from his early days as a Detroit Tigers star through his retirement years.   

 

 

 

 

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Cobb is one of the most famous Americans in history and his image has been used on postage stamps around the globe - from Asia to South America to the Islamic Middle East.  His status as one of the true legends of the National pastime correlates into a signature that is in very high demand.  With the possible exception of Babe Ruth, no signature is more coveted than Cobb.   Fortunately for collectors, Cobb was a willing and gracious signer throughout his life and contrary to popular belief honored all requests for his autograph until illness forced him to stop signing in 1961.   The supply of genuine Cobb material in the market is strong; there are thousands upon thousands of his signatures available and countless more that quietly rest in estates that have yet to be discovered.  

 

Being a willing signer, Cobb's signature can be found on various mediums from index cards, government postcards, bank checks, photos, letters, baseballs, scorecards, and album pages.  Less common are Hall of Fame plaque postcards.  About the only signed medium that should be considered rare are early Tobacco cards that were issued around 1910.  I have never examined a genuinely signed bat or equipment of any kind.

 

 

 

Despite the good supply of genuine Cobb material most signatures offered for sale are forgeries.  For years Cobb (like Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Cy Young) has been a primary target of skilled forgers, there is simply too much money to be made by forging Cobb.  Based on my 25 years of collecting I estimate that 90% of the Cobb signatures offered in the market are forged.  Many of these forgeries have been wrongly certified as genuine by the major authentication companies, so caution is warranted.

 

Cobb signed in an aggressive hand. His signature is bold and dominates the medium that it is placed upon.  Someone once described Cobb's signature as a bunch of angry tangled lines.   His hand is flowing and lacks any hesitation whatsoever.  Cobb's signature has good display value and is a rather difficult signature to forge hence only the most skilled of forgers can replicate his signature with any degree of accuracy. 

 

Cobb's signature changed throughout the years but remained relatively consistent.  Signatures from his playing days tend to be neat and very legible.

Example 1 is a very rare specimen that was signed in 1908 it is from his Detroit Tigers contract.  He made a whopping $4,000!  Signatures from this early period are excessively rare and hardly ever enter the market, they are typically found only in major institutional collections. 

 

Cobb played in an era where autograph hounds had yet to be created.  Asking a player for a signature before 1920 was a rare event.  Former New York Giants outfielder Fred Snodgrass made one of the most important statements about vintage baseball autographs.  Snodgrass, who played from 1908 to 1916, said:

 

There were no autograph hounds in those days it hadn't started  where boys and people were interested in getting your signature, that wasn't done...

 

This is a highly important quote (burn it into your memory) that explains the lack of genuine Cobb signatures (or for that matter any baseball signatures) from the Dead-Ball era. The baseball autograph hobby simply wasn't formed, in any measurable degree, until the 1920s.  Remember this statement the next time someone approaches you with a signature of Rube Waddell or Addie Joss for sale.

 

95%+ of Cobb signatures from his playing days were signed in the mid to late 1920s.   Cobb's signature remained legible and precise from the 1920s through the 1930s. 

 

Example 2 is a stunning specimen signed in 1922 

 

 

Example 3 was penned in 1934.  The hand remains consistent with strong letter construction.  These early signatures have a very clean look to them.

 

As the years progressed more and more baseball fans desired his signature and starting in the 1940s Cobb was bombarded with requests for his autograph.  Later examples tend to be a bit more reckless and sloppy in appearance.  The length of the autograph decreases and the signature evidences more height.  

 

5) 

Examples 4 & 5 were penned in 1949 and 1953, respectively.    During this time collecting baseball autographs transformed into the hobby it is today and collectors were no longer satisfied with obtaining a signature on a mere album page or scorecard.  During the 1950s Cobb was presented with baseballs, 8x10 photos, and other premium items to sign.

 

Cobb had essentially two variant signatures. The above reference examples feature the T in the first name that has a separated top, these are the so-called mushroom cap signatures.  On occasion Cobb would sign his name using a T the was completed in one stroke and that looks like the number two, see example 6,

 this is a variant signature that was penned in the year 1941.   The mushroom cap signature is much more common than its counterpart.

 

From the late 1940s until the closing days on the 1950s Cobb's hand remained essentially unchanged.  In the last days of the 1950s Cobb's health began a downward spiral.  During this time he suffered from various ills but despite this Cobb still honored mail requests for his signature and in fact signed up til just about very end of his life.   Despite his declining health Cobb's hand remained strong.

 

7)

 Example 7 was signed in February of 1961, only months before his death and while the flamboyance of the signature is no longer evident the hand still remains flowing.  For collecting purposes Cobb stopped signing autographs around May of 1961 and a genuine signature (signed in late May of 1961 or before) should evidence no shakiness of hand and one that does should be considered suspect and avoided as a forgery.  

 

Example 8 is Cobb's signature from his final will and testament signed on May 22nd 1961; note the hand is still flowing and unsteadiness of hand is just about non-existent.

 

Material signed after that time is exceedingly rare and was typically penned for only Emory Hospital personnel who cared for Cobb in his final days.  Material signed in June of 1961 is near non-existent, it was at this time that Cobb's health deteriorated greatly and signatures from this date are somewhat labored in appearance.  A few legal documents were signed in the closing days of his life but while copies exist the whereabouts of the originals are, as of this writing, not known.

 

One of the most treasured items in all of baseball is a single signed baseball of the immortal Ty Cobb.  Cobb single signed baseballs are highly treasured and worth a King's ransom.   When I started collecting signatures of the deceased hall of famers in the early 1980s a nice signed Cobb baseball could be purchased for $50 to $100 and what would be termed as museum grade specimens sold for $300-$400.  Today a nice single signed baseball sells for $5,000 to $10,000 and the coveted museum grade specimen is selling for at least $40,000.

 

Signed team baseballs from Cobb's playing days are limited to the Tiger teams of the 1920s and the Philadelphia Athletics teams of 1927 and 1928.  I know of no genuine pre-1920 Detroit Tigers signed team baseballs in existence.  Many forged Detroit team balls from the World War I era are in the market so caution is warranted. The general rule is if you run across a pre-1920 signed team baseball of any major league team proceed with extreme caution as it is most likely a forgery.  Many well executed forged team balls are in the market and a good number of them have been wrongly certified as genuine by the major authentication companies so careful examination is needed.    

 

Cobb had little formal education but was a highly intelligent man with a good amount of cunning.  He was, for lack of a better phrase, "street smart".  Cobb was a highly shrewd investor and made millions in the stock market.  He was an early student of buying blue chip stocks and rolling over the dividends.   What Wall-Street men today refer to as the Ty Cobb School of stock investing.  Being such a competent businessman Cobb penned countless letters.  In fact Cobb letters are common and seem to surface everywhere. 

 

Fellow Tiger teammate and Hall of Famer Wahoo Sam Crawford also penned a lot of letters but the difference is Cobb letters have extremely good content and many are historically significant, at least in terms of the game of baseball.   Cobb letters are well written and mirror a man with an unyielding sense of honor and a somewhat caustic personality. 

 

Spelling errors are rare and the text of Cobb letters is well constructed.  Letters regarding baseball often rail against the modern game as a perversion of what once was.  In short, the Georgia Peach writes with a cutting pen.  Cobb letters are some of the finest in existence (of any field) and worth adding to your collection.

 

One of the most common mediums to find a Cobb signature on is cancelled bank checks.  After retirement Cobb established the Cobb Educational Foundation to help underprivileged children.  In the 1970s and 1980s the Cobb family would send a donor a signed bank check of Ty as thanks for donating to the foundation.  Years ago I spoke with Cobbs daughter Beverly Cobb-McLarran who resided in Menlo Park, California.  She stated that they sent out thousands upon thousands of checks in an effort to raise money for the foundation.  In 1985 I donated $30 and received two checks in return with a nice letter of gratitude.  These bank checks are a great source of Cobb autographs but there is a caveat&..

 

Back in the early 1990s high quality color copies of Cobb checks were made on semi gloss photo paper.   The images are crisp and made a truly fine reproduction of the original.  These copies look very much like a real check.  Upon examination these are easily exposed as copies.  The paper is slightly glossy in appearance and the handwriting (under magnification) lacks ink strokes and pressure points where ink is applied in differing quantities due to hand pressure.  The problem is that many of these copies have been framed and matted under glass which makes detailed examination hard; this is where a lot of these fake checks are sold as genuine to unsuspecting collectors.  I have always said NEVER BUY A FRAMED SIGNATURE always inspect a signature up close and free from barriers.   It should be noted that many reprinted checks are currently in the market including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ronald Reagan, Marilyn Monroe and the like.  

 

 

They are countless Cobb forgeries in the market and many unsuspecting collectors have been taken.  They have spent serious money on garbage.   While forged Cobb material varies widely there have been some notable forgeries over the years and they are worth talking about.

 

In the final years of Cobb's life he decided to write his autobiography.  He hired Al Stump, a relatively unknown author to ghost-write the book.  Stump spent many days with an elderly Cobb and eventually published My Life in Baseball: The True Record .  It was released just after Cobbs death.  Shortly after Cobbs passing, Stump somehow obtained a lot of Cobb's personal belongings including countless sheets of unused personal stationary - you can see where this is going.  It was a forger's dream - genuine blank letterhead of the great Ty Cobb. 

 

In the early 1980s, a nice collection of Cobb letters written to Stump hit the market and the content was phenomenal.  These letters had blockbuster content including comparisons of Cobb's ability to other superstars of the day like Honus Wagner, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Mel Ott and the like.  Listing Cobb's all-time baseball team, unbelievable stories about Babe Ruth, Sam Crawford, and the like.  The letters were all typewritten to Stump and signed at the conclusion is a labored and methodic hand.   Most letters were signed in green fountain pen but some were also signed in ball point pen.  The problem is that these letters were all forged, likely by Stump, and it caused great damage to not only the signature hobby but also to baseball historians who relied on these spurious letters for research. 

 

The forgeries were crudely constructed and do not look anything like a genuine Cobb signature.  The forgeries have thick methodical lines and look labored in appearance. 

 

9)

9) detail view

 

 

Example 9 is a forgery from one of the Stump letters.  Many experts questioned these signatures from the onset but buyers were told that the variant signature was due to Cobb's declining health which caused infirmity in his hand.  Most bought into this story.  Eventually these letters were exposed for what they were and today are little more than a worthless oddity.   Every once in a while these letters surface so caution is warranted.  

 

Back in the early 1990s some forger obtained a grouping of genuine postcards all postmarked around 1910, give or take a year or two.   The forger would then forge a handwritten note and sign Cobb's name.  The letters are short, given the space, and usually addressed to a woman such as Margaret or Mary.  The content is typically routine discussing an ill friend, fishing and hunting, or something to that effect.  They usually contain some profanity such as I hate the God damned off season and signed and then hand dated underneath the signature using hash marks (I.E. 8/11/10).  These forgeries are not bad but they are not considered well executed and should stand out upon examination.  The postmark gives these postcards a semblance of genuineness.  It is surprising how many of these cards still surface for sale.

 

Fake handwritten Cobb letters are also in the market and have been around for many years.  Here is what to look for:

 

First are forged letters on hotel stationary.  Old blank hotel and business stationary from as far back as 100 years ago is readily available and can be picked up at any flea market.  These letters typically have routine content and sentences seem contrived.  They are typically penned in green fountain pen but some have been accomplished in green pencil.  The handwriting evidences a labored appearance but these forgeries are not that bad and have fooled many collectors and authenticators so caution is warranted.

 

There are also a couple of forged Cobb diaries in the market that may have been produced by the same forger.  The two diaries I have seen are written in green fountain pen and dated in the late 1940s, the handwriting appears unsteady.   In short, if a Cobb signature OR handwriting appears labored or unsteady it should be considered suspect and avoided. 

 

Another type of forged letter involves fake letterhead.  About 15 years ago I was at a local baseball card show and there was a dealer selling a typed letter signed by Cobb, it was dated in the late 1950s.   The stationary was nicely toned and looked vintage but the signature was clearly a forgery.  Another aspect that caught my eye was the letterhead which read Ty Cobb 48 Spencer Lane, Atherton, Menlo Park, California looked slightly blurred. Upon close examination it was clear that the letterhead was applied not through the printing process but by a rubber stamp.  Always check the letterhead of any letter and if it appears of low quality or blurred, alarm bells should go off.  There is also fake letterhead of Ruth and Gehrig in the market as well.

 

One final thought, about museum grade signed baseballs.  Recently single signed balls of Cobb, Ruth, and Gehrig have been selling for incredible amounts.  When auction prices of these balls hit $10,000 most collectors, including myself, thought that was the ceiling, how could prices go higher?  Only a couple of years later they were being hammered down for $20,000 then $30,000 and so on.   Now some gem Cobb single signed specimens have hit $40,000 to $50,000. Most museum grade Cobb balls that sell for these phenomenal prices are well executed forgeries and nothing more and the percentage of forged Ruth and Gehrig museum grade balls is close to 100%, certified and all.

 

About five to ten years ago a certain type of forged single signed Cobb baseball entered the market. I have personally seen two of them and I am sure more exist.  In general, most Cobb signed baseballs are signed on the side panels of the ball and not the sweet spot.  His bulky signature with that ostentatious paraph works better on the fat part of the ball.  This is not to say he never signed on the sweet spot (see example 7) but it was a rare event for Cobb to place his signature there.  

 

The forgeries in question are signed on cream white and very clean Rawlings Official League baseballs and the forged Cobb signature is place on the sweet spot in green fountain pen and the forger even had the nerve to signed them as Tyrus R. Cobb a signature mostly limited to checks and other official documents.   The forgeries are fairly well executed but lack rapid flow of a genuine signature.  I have never seen a genuinely signed Cobb ball employing his full signature.  If you ever run across a ball signed as Tyrus R. Cobb my advice it to avoid it altogether.

 

MRS. COBB

 

Many a player throughout baseball history has employed the use of a secretary or the so called ghost-signer to handle correspondence, fan mail, and signing duties.  Christy Mathewson, Earle Combs, Joe DiMaggio, Mordecai Brown, and Shoeless Joe Jackson were notorious for this. 

 

Legendary 19th Century star Cap Anson, for example, was elected Clerk for the City of Chicago in 1905.  He would serve one term and signed many letters, documents, and endorsements.  There is countless Anson material signed as clerk but the majority (about 75%-80%) are signed by a secretary and not by Anson at all.

 

Now, Cobb was a gracious signer and personally signed all material himself.  But there was a period when Cobb seemed to delegate letter writing duties to his wife, at least the consensus is that it was his wife but maybe an assistant.

 

Ty allowed Mrs. Cobb to pen his name on many letters and even a few bank checks.  The time frame in question seems to be around mid 1947 through mid 1948.    Cobb was hit with some type of prolonged illness that sidelined him for months.  In fact many of the Cobb letters penned by Mrs. Cobb during this time reference Ty's period of convalescents 

 

 

The illustrated check (example 10) dated December 30th 1947 is a key specimen.  Cobb signs his name and also writes the line directly above but everything else is in Mrs. Cobb's hand.  Note the hand is different than Ty's and looks more feminine.   Many Cobb letters during this period were written AND signed by Mrs. Cobb and she became rather skilled at signing Ty's name, with the mushroom-cap T and all.  My advice is if you run across one of these letters penned by Mrs. Cobb (and her handwriting stands out) study it well and as just about all of the letters written by Mrs. Cobb are also signed by Mrs. Cobb.

 

Don't get the impression that anything signed around this time is secretarially signed, far from it.  Just about all signatures (in non-letter form) from this time period were signed by Ty himself.    

 

THE CONLON PHOTO

 

It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words and can capture the essence of history in one fleeting flash.  Such was the case of fame sports photographer Charles M. Conlon.  Back in 1909 the Tigers were playing at old Hilltop Park, home of the Highlanders.  Cobb had been on base and tore hard into third and beat the throw.  The Peach slammed into the sack and New York third baseman Jimmy Pepper Austin was vaulted into the air.  Cobb's face burns with intensity and dirt is flying every which way looking as if a hand grenade had just exploded.   After viewing this photo you can see why so many view Cobb as homicide in spikes.

 

It is the most famous photo in baseball history and has been reproduced more than any other sports picture.  In his retirement years Austin was fond of saying he had the most famous rear in history.   This is one of the most desired of all signed photographs and if you can find one they are worth their weight in gold.   Genuinely signed photos of this famed picture are very rare and only a handful exist, which is surprising given the amount of genuinely signed 8x10 photos of Cobb in the market. 

Example 11 is a choice example of Conlon's most famous photo signed by the Peach, it is one of the true gems of the autograph hobby and would easily sell for $15,000 to $20,000.    

 

 

Cobb has always been and will continue to be a fine investment.  I have often said that the world could be coming to an end and the values of Cobb (and Ruth) would continue to rise.  As to a guide of values: A signature generally sells for $750-1,000 with pre-1930 specimens selling for over $1,500.
Typed letters signed sell for about $1,500 while autographed letters signed (which are far more common that typed letters) sell for $2,000 to $3,000, ones with historical baseball content can easily sell for several times more.  Signed 8x10 photos are worth a minimum of $2,500 as are Hall of Fame plaque postcards.  Bank checks generally sell for $1,000 but early specimens are worth closer to $2,000.   A signed T-206 Tobacco card is a true rarity and would easily sell for over $10,000.  A single signed baseball of fair and average disposition will sell for anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 while a nicely signed museum grade ball is valued at a minimum of $40,000. 

 

There are a couple of Cobb's major league contracts in existence and if ever a one came up for auction I don't think $100,000 is out of the question.  The value of Cobb material over the next decade will likely increase at a stunning rate and he is worth adding to your collection.

 

Ty Cobb died on July 17th 1961, he was 74 years old.  On that date the boy from a sleepy little town in Northern Georgia slipped into history.  Legend became immortality that endures for the ages, after all he was the greatest there ever was - his signature is a fond memento of the Georgia Peach and the game of yesteryear that he represented so well.

 

sincerly yours

Ronald B. Keurajian

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