Tyrus Raymond “Ty” Cobb, nicknamed “The Georgia Peach,” was an American Major League Baseball outfielder.
William “Bud” Hart, of Haverhill, shares “Success Principles”—ideas for living a greater, better and more accomplished life, and building habits that stick. He also coaches clients to incorporate strategies for boosting their mental and physical performance during everyday living.
A publication of Hillsdale College called “Imprimis” started showing up in our junk mail deliveries awhile ago. The March, 2016, issue cover featured an article by Charles Leerhsen with a catchy title, “Who was Ty Cobb? The History We Know That’s Wrong.”
The history we know that’s wrong, what could that be? I was intrigued so I started reading.
Turns out Leerhsen intended to write a book corroborating the prevailing reputation of the great baseball player Ty Cobb. The reputation is summed up in the words of Ray Liotta, who played the role of another past baseball great Shoeless Joe Jackson in the1989 movie “Field of Dreams” (I loved the movie). In the movie Liotta says the reason why Ty Cobb wasn’t invited to the ghostly cornfield reunion of past baseball greats was because, “No one liked that son of a b……”
The problem Charles Leerhsen had as he researched more and more was that he just couldn’t substantiate the validity of that line from the movie and much of the bad stuff that had been written about Cobb, beginning with a man named Al Stump shortly after Cobb died in 1961.
What he did understand after his investigation was the power stories (good or bad) can have when repeated over and over. Hence the Shoeless Joe Jackson line (which I believed) from the “Field of Dreams,” that Ty Cobb must have been an awful person.
So, what is the reality? Was Ty Cobb an awful person or the more likeable person Charles Leerhsen was finding him to be? I don’t know, but I can tell you there is a lesson here.
The words we think and speak have power, power to destroy when used maliciously and power to heal when used judiciously. In Leerhsen’s piece about Ty Cobb, as with most stories, it’s not the truth so much as the message words convey that is the takeaway.
So, when you don’t really know what you’re talking about you might want to do the world a favor and heed the words of the 13th century mystical poet Rumi, “Silence is the language of God, all else is poor translation.”
William “Bud” Hart is a certified “Mindset” Coach, Accountability Partner and Business Consultant. Founder of Hart Group, www.hartgroupma.com.