Holmes: The story behind Ty Cobb’s tardy arrival to his Hall of Fame induction

Uhh…the New Bomb Turks were playing that weekend?

The answer is far less sinister.

Cobb and his son were late because their train arrived late in Albany. Ever a frugal man, Ty had decided against arriving a day early in Cooperstown and staying a hotel. Instead he and his son booked an overnight train for Albany and rented the car to travel the remaining 40+ miles. He was late because of poor travel planning.

Ty arrived soon enough to climb the steps of the Museum and make a brief statement, which was recorded by movie cameras on hand. He signed autographs for fans who assembled on Main Street, and took a tour of the new Museum, where he was particularly impressed with the exhibit showing a baseball reported to be the first used in a professional ballgame (it wasn’t). He told Hall of Fame officials that he would ship several items from his baseball career to them, so they could put them on display. He also walked across Main Street and visited the Cooperstown post office, which was issuing special stamps that day for the historic occasion. Ty plunked down $1.25 and purchased a book of stamps (they were 3 cents at the time).

Cobb was very happy to see a plaque that hung outside the Museum with the list of inductees. His name – Tyrus Raymond Cobb – was at the top of the list. He was sure that his father, who never got a chance to see him play a professional game, would have been proud of his accomplishments.

In future years, Cobb would travel to Cooperstown nearly every year for the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and he campaigned for several of his former teammates (most notably Sam Crawford) and players against whom he competed. But he wa slate on theat first day in 1939, and as a result he is missing from one of baseball’s most famous photographs.