Living large in the Dead Ball Era

Back in the days of the Dead Ball Era, home runs – as you can imagine simply by the name of the aforementioned era – are anything but plentiful as they are in today’s game.

Of course, baseballs back in the Dead Ball Era commonly are scuffed both by accident and on purpose. They are used over and over. So much so they eventually darken, become soft and mishappen.

At times, the same ball is used for an entire game.

So, hitting one of these pearls out of the yard is not the common occurrence it is in today’s game with its livelier baseballs and those smaller ballparks in which to hit them.

Which brings us to Ty Cobb, the game’s greatest hitter not named Ted Williams.

Cobb spends the first 15 of his 24 seasons during his Hall of Fame career playing in the Dead Ball Era, which lasts from 1900 to 1919.

In that time, Cobb only hits 67 home runs. Then, too, that is not his game as he builds his lifetime .366 batting average on singles, doubles, triples, stolen bases and terrifying anyone who gets in his way while daring around the bases.

Cobb is running at full speed 114 years ago today as he sprints around the bases for an inside-the-park home run that gives him nine homers for the season while also leading the Tigers past the St. Louis Browns 10-2 in a Monday afternoon game before a crowd of 4,743 at Detroit’s Bennett Field. Detroit.

While nine homers today represent a couple of weeks of work for, say, Trea Turner in 2023, back in 1909 the total is good enough to lead all of the majors for the season.

Coincidentally, all nine of Cobb’s homers are of the inside-the-park variety.

Cobb’s total of nine in 1909 also marks the last time the major leagues are led by fewer than 10 homers in a season.