ty cobb is in my hall of famer collection

every tuesday since the middle of june 2019 (except for the week that don sutton passed away), i have posted a card featuring a new player from my hall of famer collection. today marks the last of those posts - at least until there is someone new added to that collection.  i saved ty cobb for last, and he is represented in my collection with this card as his entry:

that is a 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic card. cobb is even sporting the black armband worn in memory of ray chapman in the photo.  here is the back of the card:

i have a lot of respect and admiration for the members of the first class of the hall of fame, as well as those that were present at the opening of the hall in 1939. and, this is my favorite relic set from which to have cards in this collection, so it makes sense to me that cobb be the last of these posts.

i believe that i first learned about cobb through the 1978 topps set thanks to card #1 in the set - the lou brock record breaker. the back of the card noted that brock passed "the immortal ty cobb" in career stolen bases and so i was introduced to cobb and part of his baseball legacy. in 1979, my curiousity was piqued to a greater degree, as cobb's image was found on a pair of new baseball cards i found as i opened packs with my friends that spring. he represented the career batting average and hits leader on those fantastic all-time record holder cards. i've mentioned before that i associated hits with my favorite player, steve garvey, more than any other stat, so i studied the back of that card and cobb's (then) hit total of 4,191 became burned in to my brain.

later that year i received the book "the image of their greatness" from my uncle, and cobb was well represented therein. he was the first player mentioned in the book, and there was a full page photo of him on page 3 with the caption "tyrus raymond cobb. lifetime batting average: .367".  'nuff said.  later in the book, cobb was referred to as being "generally acknowledged to be one of the greatest baseball players who ever lived, if not the greatest" with only babe ruth and possibly honus wagner being offered as competition to cobb for that title. i was an impressionable baseball fan, and those words made an impression upon me. of course, there were also ugly things to be learned about cobb's behavior and actions, and those were mentioned in the book in later chapters.

still, we all know the stats - the hit total (now degraded to 4,189), the lifetime batting average, three seasons with a batting average over .400, twelve batting titles, and his stolen base prowess that stood until the likes of maury wills and brock came along to pass him. for me, hits were the glory stat at the time, and there were none better in that category than ty cobb and so i thought of him as a favorite old-timey player of mine.

i also felt a connection to cobb due to the fact that his son james lived near where i grew up. my dad knew of him as they had crossed paths a few times, including at their church. once i started learning about the history of baseball as an eight-year old, i was enthralled with the idea that ty cobb had ties to my hometown, and not just because of his son. i later learned that he had owned the local coca-cola bottling plant. seems appropriate for the georgia peach.

here's my hall of famer collection as its been documented so far:

ty cobb - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic

christy mathewson - 2006 upper deck sp legendary cuts baseball chronology relic

babe ruth - 2003 topps tribute world series edition world series tribute relic 351/425

honus wagner - 2001 topps tribute relic

nap lajoie - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic

tris speaker - 2011 topps tribute dual relic green parallel 53/75

eddie collins - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic

george sisler - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic

lou gehrig - 2010 topps tribute relic 96/99

rogers hornsby - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic

jimmie foxx - 2013 topps tribute retired remnants relic 91/99

mel ott - 2011 topps tribute quad relic 15/99

paul waner - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic

dizzy dean - 2001 topps tribute relic

joe dimaggio - 1993 pinnacle joe dimaggio collector's tin autographs #1, number 0716 of 1800

hank greenberg - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic

zack wheat - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic 

bob feller - 2001 topps archives certified autograph

jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relic

ted williams - 1992 upper deck baseball heroes autograph 1067/2000

roy campanella - 2001 topps tribute relic

stan musial - 2002 topps team topps legends autograph

yogi berra - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1640/2000

sandy koufax - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1707/2000

roberto clemente - 2005 donruss greats hall of fame souvenirs relic

warren spahn - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

mickey mantle - 2000 upper deck legends legendary game jerseys relic

ralph kiner - 2000 fleer greats of the game autograph

ernie banks - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

eddie mathews - 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game autograph

willie mays - 1997 topps willie mays reprints certified autograph

al kaline - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

duke snider - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 144/250

bob gibson - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

hank aaron - 2004 topps originals 1979 topps all-time record holders rbi 03/32

frank robinson - 1995 upper deck autograph

juan marichal - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

brooks robinson - 2001 topps golden anniversary great autograph

don drysdale - 1993 nabisco all-star autographs

harmon killebrew - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures

pee wee reese - 2001 topps tribute relic

lou brock - 2018 topps archives signature series 1989 buyback 53/61

willie mccovey - 2004 upper deck sp legendary cuts legendary sigs 46/50

ray dandridge - 2006 upper deck sp legendary cuts a place in history cut autograph 31/43

jim hunter - 1998 donruss signature series significant signatures 0736/2000

billy williams - 2013 topps museum collection autograph 054/199

willie stargell - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures 

johnny bench - 2019 topps definitive collection legendary autograph 09/25

red schoendienst - 2012 panini cooperstown signatures 038/549

carl yastrzemski - 2000 fleer greats of the game autograph

joe morgan - 2001 upper deck hall of famers cooperstown collection signature jersey

jim palmer - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

rod carew - 2004 topps retired signature autograph

fergie jenkins - 2013 topps five star baseball autograph 154/333

gaylord perry - 2003 topps finest finest moments autograph

rollie fingers - 2018 topps archives signature series 1978 topps buyback 1/3

hal newhouser - 1993 front row premium all-time greats autograph

tom seaver - 2013 topps five star baseball autograph 44/50

reggie jackson - 2018 topps tier one tier one talent autograph 19/60

steve carlton - 2018 topps five star career year autograph 43/45

mike schmidt - 2002 topps archives autoproof 1980 topps buyback 048/147

nellie fox - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic

phil niekro - 2017 panini donruss recollection collection 1983 donruss buyback autograph 13/33

larry doby - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

don sutton - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

george brett - 2001 topps finest finest moments autograph

nolan ryan - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

robin yount - 2001 upper deck ultimate collection ultimate signatures 112/150

carlton fisk - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

tony perez - 2004 fleer national pastime 2002 fleer greats authentic autograph buyback 30/59

kirby puckett - 1998 upper deck retro sign of the times autograph

dave winfield - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 121/350

ozzie smith - 2019 topps finest finest origins autograph

gary carter - 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game autograph collection

eddie murray - 2004 upper deck sp legendary cuts legendary sigs 45/50 

dennis eckersley - 2017 topps archives signature series 1984 topps buyback 47/99

paul molitor - 2016 topps museum collection archival autographs 021/125

wade boggs - 2005 upper deck baseball heroes autograph red parallel 30/49

ryne sandberg - 2016 topps five star autographs gold parallel 17/50

bruce sutter - 2003 topps all-time fan favorites certified autograph

tony gwynn - 1997 donruss signature series millennium marks autograph 0702/1000

cal ripken jr - 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph 32/75

goose gossage - 2003 topps finest finest moments autograph

rickey henderson - 2016 topps tribute certified foundations of greatness autograph 49/50

jim rice - 2005 upper deck past time pennants past time signatures

andre dawson - 2000 fleer greats of the game autograph

roberto alomar - 2015 topps high tek pattern 1 grass/waves gold rainbow autograph 50/50

bert blyleven - 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams autograph

ron santo - 2004 topps retired signature autograph

tom glavine - 2019 topps tribute autograph 18/90

greg maddux - 2018 topps luminaries masters of the mound autograph 13/15

frank thomas - 2019 topps tier one autographs 42/70

craig biggio - 2013 topps five star baseball autograph 019/333

randy johnson - 2019 topps tek high tek autograph

pedro martinez - 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph 09/60

ken griffey jr - 2003 upper deck game face autograph

mike piazza - 2014 topps five star autograph 35/50

tim raines - 2018 topps tribute tribute autograph green parallel 26/95

vladimir guerrero - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures

chipper jones - 2018 topps tier one tier one talent autograph 11/60

jim thome - 2020 topps archives signature series 2012 topps mini 1/1

jack morris - 2004 donruss timelines recollection collection 1986 buyback autograph 23/45

alan trammell - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

roy halladay - 2017 topps archives signature series 2004 topps buyback 15/23

edgar martinez - 2017 topps tribute walk off autograph 17/50

derek jeter - 2017 topps archives 2015 topps high tek buyback autograph 05/10

ted simmons - 2013 panini golden age historic signatures

larry walker - 1997 donruss signature series authentic signature

joe jackson* - 2001 upper deck sp legendary cuts sp legendary debut bat card

pete rose* - 2018 panini flawless legendary signatures 15/25

barry bonds* - 2001 bowman heritage autographs

roger clemens* - 1995 upper deck autograph

 

rafael palmeiro* - 2016 topps tribute rightful recognition autograph 98/99

alex rodriguez* - 1998 upper deck sp authentic chirography autograph

david ortiz* - 2017 topps clearly authentic autograph 02/25

adrian beltre* - 2019 topps tier one talent autograph 56/70

ichiro* - 2019 topps museum collection archival autograph 02/25

albert pujols* - 2003 topps autograph

miguel cabrera* - 2020 topps chrome black autograph

clayton kershaw* - 2015 topps museum collection archival autographs 43/99

mike trout* - 2016 topps strata autograph green 71/75

steve garvey* - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

dale murphy* - 2015 topps tribute foundations of greatness autograph 27/89

dave parker* - 2004 fleer national pastime 2002 fleer greats autograph buyback 42/61

joe mauer* - 2020 topps archives signature series 2015 topps triple threads buyback autograph 1/1

*not currently in the hall of fame