
TY COBB
Ty Cobb, the Georgia Peach, parlayed a tempestuous career in baseball into considerable wealth. During his 24 years and 3,033 games of slashing, spikes-high play in the big leagues he made little effort to win any popularity polls, but he was earning $50,000 a year when he quit the game in 1928.
In the past few years the old dragon seems to have mellowed. The wealth which he fought for on the baseball diamond and multiplied through shrewd investments is now being used generously to help others. Five years ago, practicing the adage that charity begins at home, Ty built a 26-bed hospital in the town of his birth, Royston, Ga., in memory of his parents (his father was a schoolteacher). And four years ago the man with the lifetime batting average of .367 set up a foundation with a million dollars to help needy youngsters finish college. The requirements for receiving a grant from the Cobb Foundation, besides scholastic rating, are that the student be a native of Georgia and that he hold no other scholarship. The recipient can choose his subject and attend any college in the U.S. To date about 75 youngsters have been helped, 23 of them last year. This fall about 16 more will receive aid.
Thus Tyrus Raymond Cobb, in his 71st year, returns to the scenes of his childhood. He has sold his home in California, settled his financial responsibilities, and will live out his life span in the Georgia countryside.
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