Ty Cobb
The Georgia Peach wasn't just the best hitter of the dead-ball era — he might be the most complete player who ever lived. That .366 career average remains untouchable 95 years after his retirement, built on an almost supernatural ability to read pitchers and place the ball exactly where he wanted it.
Cobb's 1944 RBIs over 24 seasons tell only part of the story. He stole home 54 times in his career, a feat so audacious it's barely attempted in today's game. While his 117 home runs seem modest now, he was adapting to whatever style gave his team the best chance to win — manufacturing runs when the game demanded it, then showing surprising power when the livelier ball arrived in the 1920s.
What modern fans should understand: Cobb didn't just dominate his era, he transcended it. His first-ballot Hall of Fame induction in 1936 came with 98.2% of the vote, a figure that stood as the record for decades.
Career · Batting
24 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1905 | DET | 41 | 151 | 1 | 15 | .238 | — | — |
| 1906 | DET | 98 | 358 | 1 | 41 | .316 | — | — |
| 1907 | DET | 150 | 605 | 5 | 119 | .350 | — | — |
| 1908 | DET | 150 | 580 | 4 | 108 | .324 | — | — |
| 1909 | DET | 156 | 573 | 9 | 107 | .377 | — | — |
| 1910 | DET | 140 | 508 | 8 | 91 | .382 | — | — |
| 1911 | DET | 146 | 591 | 8 | 127 | .420 | — | — |
| 1912 | DET | 140 | 553 | 7 | 83 | .409 | — | — |
| 1913 | DET | 122 | 428 | 4 | 67 | .390 | — | — |
| 1914 | DET | 98 | 345 | 2 | 57 | .368 | — | — |
| 1915 | DET | 156 | 563 | 3 | 99 | .369 | — | — |
| 1916 | DET | 145 | 542 | 5 | 68 | .371 | — | — |
| 1917 | DET | 152 | 588 | 6 | 102 | .383 | — | — |
| 1918 | DET | 111 | 421 | 3 | 64 | .382 | — | — |
| 1919 | DET | 124 | 497 | 1 | 70 | .384 | — | — |
| 1920 | DET | 112 | 428 | 2 | 63 | .334 | — | — |
| 1921 | DET | 128 | 507 | 12 | 101 | .389 | — | — |
| 1922 | DET | 137 | 526 | 4 | 99 | .401 | — | — |
| 1923 | DET | 145 | 556 | 6 | 88 | .340 | — | — |
| 1924 | DET | 155 | 625 | 4 | 78 | .338 | — | — |
| 1925 | DET | 121 | 415 | 12 | 102 | .378 | — | — |
| 1926 | DET | 79 | 233 | 4 | 62 | .339 | — | — |
| 1927 | PHA | 134 | 490 | 5 | 93 | .357 | — | — |
| 1928 | PHA | 95 | 353 | 1 | 40 | .323 | — | — |
| Career | 3035 | 11436 | 117 | 1944 | .366 | — | — | |
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.