Name	Ty Cobb
Position	Outfielder
Bats	Left
Throws	Right
Birth date	December 18, 1886
Birth place	Narrows, Georgia, U.S.
Death date	July 17, 1961
Death place	Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Debutdate	August 30
Debutyear	1905
Debutteam	Detroit Tigers
Finaldate	September 11
Finalyear	1928
Finalteam	Philadelphia Athletics
Stat1label	Batting average
Stat1value	.367
Stat2label	Hits
Stat2value	4,191
Stat3label	Home runs
Stat3value	117
Stat4label	RBIs
Stat4value	1,939
Teams	As player Detroit Tigers (–) Philadelphia Athletics (–) As manager Detroit Tigers (–)
Highlights	1911 AL MVP .367 career batting average (highest ever) 54 career steals of home (most all time) Won 12 batting titles, including 9 in a row from 1907 to 1915. Third all time in stolen bases with 892. Second in runs scored with 2,245. Second in career hits with 4,191. Batted under .320 only once in his career. Batted over .400 three times. Major League Baseball All-Century Team
Hofdate
Hofvote	98.2% }}

Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "The Georgia Peach," was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He was born in Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the last six as the team's player-manager, and finished his career with the Philadelphia Athletics.

Cobb is widely regarded as one of the best players of all time. In 1936, Cobb received the most votes of any player on the inaugural Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, receiving 222 out of a possible 226 votes. Cobb is widely credited with setting 90 Major League Baseball records during his career. He still holds several records as of 2011, including the highest career batting average (.366 or .367, depending on source) and most career batting titles with 11 (or 12, depending on source). He retained many other records for almost a half century or more, including most career hits until 1985 (4,189 or 4,191, depending on source), most career runs (2,245 or 2,246 depending on source) until 2001, most career games played (3,035) and at bats (11,429 or 11,434 depending on source) until 1974, and the modern record for most career stolen bases (892) until 1977. He committed 271 errors in his career, the most by any American League outfielder.

Cobb's legacy as an athlete has sometimes been overshadowed by his surly temperament and aggressive playing style, which was described by the Detroit Free Press as "daring to the point of dementia."

Early life and baseball career

Ty Cobb was born in Narrows, Georgia, in 1886, the first of three children to Amanda Chitwood Cobb and William Herschel Cobb.

Cobb spent his first years in baseball as a member of the Royston Rompers, the semi-pro Royston Reds, and the Augusta Tourists of the South Atlantic League. However, the Tourists released Cobb two days into the season. He then tried out for the Anniston Steelers of the semi-pro Tennessee-Alabama League, with his father's stern admonition ringing in his ears: "Don't come home a failure." After joining the Steelers for a monthly salary of $50, Cobb promoted himself by sending several postcards written about his talents under different aliases to Grantland Rice, the sports editor of the Atlanta Journal. Eventually, Rice wrote a small note in the Journal that a "young fellow named Cobb seems to be showing an unusual lot of talent." After about three months, Ty returned to the Tourists. He finished the season hitting .237 in 35 games. In August 1905, the management of the Tourists sold Cobb to the American League's Detroit Tigers for $750.

On August 8, 1905, Ty's mother fatally shot his father. William Cobb suspected his wife of infidelity, and was sneaking past his own bedroom window to catch her in the act; she saw the silhouette of what she presumed to be an intruder, and, acting in self-defense, shot and killed her husband. Mrs. Cobb was charged with murder and then released on a $7,000 recognizance bond. She was acquitted on March 31, 1906. Cobb later attributed his ferocious play to the death of his father, saying, "I did it for my father. He never got to see me play ... but I knew he was watching me, and I never let him down."

Major League career

The early years

Three weeks after his mother killed his father, Cobb debuted in center field for the Detroit Tigers. On August 30, 1905, in his first major league at-bat, Cobb doubled off the New York Highlanders's Jack Chesbro who had won a record 41 games the previous season. That season Cobb was 18 years old, the youngest player in the league by almost a year, and he batted .240 in 41 games, enough to win a lucrative $1,500 contract from the Tigers for 1906.

Although rookie hazing was customary, Cobb could not endure it in good humor, and he soon became alienated from his teammates. He later attributed his hostile temperament to this experience: "These old-timers turned me into a snarling wildcat." Tigers manager Hughie Jennings later acknowledged that Cobb was targeted for abuse by veteran players, some of whom sought to force him off the team. "I let this go for awhile because I wanted to satisfy myself that Cobb has as much guts as I thought in the very beginning", Jennings recalled. "Well, he proved it to me, and I told the other players to let him alone. He is going to be a great baseball player and I won't allow him to be driven off this club."

The following year, 1906, Cobb became the Tigers' full-time center fielder and hit .316 in 98 games, the second highest batting average ever for a 19-year-old. He would never hit below that mark again. Cobb, following a move to right field, led the Tigers to three consecutive American League pennants from 1907–1909. Detroit would lose each World Series, however, with Cobb's post-season numbers being much below his career standard.

Four times in his career, the first in 1907, Cobb reached first, stole second, stole third, and then stole home. He finished the 1907 season with a league high .350 batting average, 212 hits, 49 steals and 119 runs batted in (RBI). At age 20, Cobb became the youngest player to win a batting championship and held this record until 1955 when fellow Detroit Tiger Al Kaline won the batting title when he was twelve days younger than Cobb had been. Reflecting on his career in 1930, Cobb told Grantland Rice, "The biggest thrill I ever got came in a game against the Athletics in 1907 [on September 30]... The Athletics had us beaten, with Rube Waddell pitching. They were two runs ahead in the 9th inning, when I happened to hit a home run that tied the score. This game went 17 innings to a tie, and a few days later, we clinched our first pennant. You can understand what it meant for a 20-year-old country boy to hit a home run off the great Rube, in a pennant-winning game with two outs in the ninth."

Despite great success on the field, Cobb was no stranger to controversy off it. Cobb fought a groundskeeper over the condition of the Tigers' field in Augusta, Georgia at Spring Training in 1907. Cobb also ended up choking the man's wife when she intervened. In September 1907, Cobb began a relationship with The Coca-Cola Company that would last the remainder of his life. By the time he died, he owned over 20,000 shares of stock and three bottling plants: one in Santa Maria, California; one in Twin Falls, Idaho; and one in Bend, Oregon. He was also a celebrity spokesman for the product.

In the off-season between 1907 and 1908, Cobb negotiated with Clemson Agricultural College of South Carolina, offering to coach baseball there "for $250 a month, provided that he did not sign with Detroit that season." This did not come to pass, however.

The following season, the Tigers defeated the Chicago White Sox for the pennant. Cobb again won the batting title with a .324 batting average. Despite another loss in the Series, Cobb had something to celebrate. In August 1908, he married Charlotte "Charlie" Marion Lombard, the daughter of prominent Augustan Roswell Lombard. In the offseason, Cobb and his wife lived in his father-in-law's Augusta estate, The Oaks. In November 1913, the couple moved into their own house on Williams Street.

The Tigers won the American League pennant again in . During the Series, Cobb stole home in the second game, igniting a three-run rally, but that was the high point for Cobb. He ended batting a lowly .231 in his last World Series, as the Tigers lost in seven games. Although he performed poorly in the post-season, Cobb won the Triple Crown by hitting .377 with 107 RBI and nine home runs – all inside-the-park. Cobb thus became the only player of the modern era to lead his league in home runs in a season without hitting a ball over the fence.

It was also in 1909 that Charles M. Conlon snapped his famous photograph of a grimacing Ty Cobb sliding into third base amid a cloud of dirt, which visually captured the grit and ferocity of Cobb's playing style.

1910: Chalmers Award controversy

Going into the final days of the season, Cobb had an .004 lead on Nap Lajoie for the American League batting title. The prize for the winner of the title was a Chalmers Automobile. Cobb sat out the final games to preserve his average. Nap Lajoie hit safely eight times in his teams' doubleheader. However, six of those hits were bunt singles, and later came under scrutiny. Regardless, Cobb was credited with a higher batting average. However it was later found out that one game was counted twice and so Cobb technically lost to Nap Lajoie.

As a result of the incident, Ban Johnson was forced to arbitrate the situation. He declared Cobb the rightful owner of the title. However, the Chalmers company elected to award a car to each of the players.

1911 season and onward

Cobb regarded baseball as "something like a war," Charlie Gehringer said. "Every time at bat for him was a crusade." Baseball historian John Thorn has said, "He is testament to how far you can get simply through will... Cobb was pursued by demons."

Cobb was having a tremendous year in , which included a 40-game hitting streak. Still, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson had a .009 point lead on him in batting average. What happened next is discussed in Cobb's autobiography. Near the end of the season, Cobb’s Tigers had a long series against Jackson and the Cleveland Naps. Fellow Southerners, Cobb and Jackson were personally friendly both on and off the field. Cobb used that friendship for his advantage. Whenever Jackson said anything to him, he ignored him. When Jackson persisted, Cobb snapped angrily at Jackson, making him wonder what he could have done to enrage Cobb. Cobb felt that it was these mind games that caused Jackson to "fall off" to a final average of .408, while Cobb himself finished with a .420 average.

Cobb led the AL that year in numerous categories besides batting average, including 248 hits, 147 runs scored, 127 RBI, 83 stolen bases, 47 doubles, 24 triples, and a .621 slugging percentage. The only major offensive category in which Cobb did not finish first was home runs, where Frank Baker surpassed him 11–8. He was awarded another Chalmers, this time for being voted the AL MVP by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

A game that illustrates Cobb's unique combination of skills and attributes occurred on May 12, 1911. Playing against the New York Highlanders, Cobb scored a run from first base on a single to right field, then scored another run from second base on a wild pitch. In the 7th inning, he tied the game with a two-run double. The Highlanders catcher vehemently argued the call with the umpire, going on at such length that the other Highlanders infielders gathered nearby to watch. Realizing that no one on the Highlanders had called time, Cobb strolled unobserved to third base, and then casually walked towards home plate as if to get a better view of the argument. He then suddenly slid into home plate for the game's winning run. It was performances like this that led Branch Rickey to say later that "[Cobb] had brains in his feet."

While taking advantage of the moment, Cobb also had an eye on the long view. Describing his strategy in 1930, Cobb said, "My system was all offense. I believed in putting up a mental hazard for the other fellow. If we were five or six runs ahead, I'd try some wild play, such as going from first to home on a single. This helped to make the other side hurry the play in a close game later on. I worked out all the angles I could think of, to keep them guessing and hurrying." In the same interview, Cobb talked about having noticed a throwing tendency of first baseman Hal Chase, but having to wait two full years until the opportunity came to exploit it. By unexpectedly altering his own baserunning tendencies, Cobb was able to surprise Chase and score the game's winning run.

On May 15, 1912, Cobb assaulted a heckler, Claude Lueker, in the stands in New York. Lueker and Cobb had traded insults with each other through the first three innings, and the situation climaxed when Lueker called Cobb a "half-nigger." Cobb, in his discussion of the incident , avoided such explicit words, but alluded to it by saying the man was "reflecting on my mother's color and morals." Cobb stated in the book that he warned Highlanders manager Harry Wolverton that if something wasn't done about the man, there would be trouble. No action was taken. At the end of the sixth inning, after being challenged by teammates Sam Crawford and Jim Delahanty to do something about it, Cobb climbed into the stands and attacked Lueker, who it turns out was handicapped (he had lost all of one hand and three fingers on his other hand in an industrial accident). When onlookers shouted at Cobb to stop because the man had no hands, Cobb reportedly replied, "I don't care if he got no feet!"

The league suspended him, and his teammates, though not fond of Cobb, went on strike to protest the suspension, and the lack of protection of players from abusive fans, prior to the May 18 game in Philadelphia. For that one game, Detroit fielded a replacement team made up of college and sandlot ballplayers, plus two Detroit coaches, and lost, 24–2. Some of Major League Baseball's modern era (post-1901) negative records were established in this game, notably the 26 hits in a nine-inning game allowed by Allan Travers, who pitched one of the sport's most unlikely complete games.

The strike ended when Cobb urged his teammates to return to the field. According to Cobb, this incident led to the formation of a players' union, the "Ballplayers' Fraternity" (formally the Fraternity of Professional Baseball Players of America), an early version of what is now called the Major League Baseball Players Association, and garnered some concessions from the owners. During Cobb's career, he was involved in numerous fights, both on and off the field, and several profanity-laced shouting matches. For example, Cobb and umpire Billy Evans arranged to settle their in-game differences through fisticuffs, to be conducted under the grandstand after the game. Members of both teams were spectators, and broke up the scuffle after Cobb had knocked Evans down, pinned him, and began choking him. Cobb once slapped a black elevator operator for being "uppity." When a black night watchman intervened, Cobb pulled out a knife and stabbed him. The matter was later settled out of court.

"Sure, I fought," said an unrepentant Cobb in a revealing quote. "I had to fight all my life just to survive. They were all against me. Tried every dirty trick to cut me down, but I beat the bastards and left them in the ditch."

1915–1921

In 1915, Cobb set the single-season record for stolen bases, with 96. This record stood until Maury Wills broke it in 1962. Cobb’s streak of five batting titles (believed at the time to be nine straight) ended the following year when he finished second with .371 to Tris Speaker’s .386.

In 1917, Cobb hit in 35 consecutive games; he remains the only player with two 35-game hitting streaks to his credit (Cobb had a 40-game hitting streak in 1911). Over his career, Cobb had six hitting streaks of at least 20 games, second only to Pete Rose's seven.

Also in 1917, Cobb starred in the motion picture Somewhere in Georgia for a sum of $25,000 plus expenses. Based on a story by sports columnist Grantland Rice, the film casts Cobb as "himself", a small-town Georgian bank clerk with a talent for baseball. Broadway critic Ward Morehouse called the movie "absolutely the worst flicker I ever saw, pure hokum."

In October 1918, Cobb enlisted in the Chemical Corps branch of the United States Army and was sent to the Allied Expeditionary Forces headquarters in Chaumont, France. He served approximately 67 days overseas before receiving an honorable discharge and returning to the United States. Cobb served as a captain underneath the command of Major Branch Rickey, the president of the St. Louis Cardinals. Other baseball players serving in this unit included Captain Christy Mathewson and Lieutenant George Sisler. All of these men were assigned to the Gas and Flame Division where they trained soldiers in preparation for chemical attacks by exposing them to gas chambers in a controlled environment.

On August 19, 1921, in the second game of a double header against Elmer Myers of the Boston Red Sox, Cobb collected his 3,000th hit. Aged 34 at the time, Cobb is the youngest ballplayer to reach the milestone, and in the fewest at-bats (8,093).

By , Babe Ruth had established himself as a power hitter, something Cobb was not considered to be. When Cobb and the Tigers showed up in New York to play the Yankees for the first time that season, writers billed it as a showdown between two stars of competing styles of play. Ruth hit two homers and a triple during the series, compared to Cobb's one single.

As Ruth's popularity grew, Cobb became increasingly hostile toward him. Cobb saw Ruth not only as a threat to his style of play, but also to his style of life. While Cobb preached ascetic self-denial, Ruth gorged on hot dogs, beer, and women. Perhaps what angered him the most about Ruth was that despite Ruth's total disregard for his physical condition and traditional baseball, he was still an overwhelming success and brought fans to the ballparks in record numbers to see him set his own records.

After enduring several years of seeing his fame and notoriety usurped by Ruth, Cobb decided that he was going to show that swinging for the fences was no challenge for a top hitter. On May 5, 1925, Cobb began a two-game hitting spree better than any even Ruth had unleashed. He was sitting in the dugout talking to a reporter and told him that, for the first time in his career, he was going to swing for the fences. That day, Cobb went 6 for 6, with two singles, a double, and three home runs. His 16 total bases set a new AL record. The next day he had three more hits, two of which were home runs. His single his first time up gave him 9 consecutive hits over three games. His five homers in two games tied the record set by Cap Anson of the old Chicago NL team in 1884. Cobb wanted to show that he could hit home runs when he wanted, but simply chose not to do so. At the end of the series, 38-year-old Cobb had gone 12 for 19 with 29 total bases, and then went happily back to bunting and hitting-and-running. For his part, Ruth's attitude was that "I could have had a lifetime .600 average, but I would have had to hit them singles. The people were paying to see me hit home runs."

However, when asked in 1930 by Grantland Rice to name the best hitter he'd seen, Cobb answered "You can't beat the Babe. Ruth is one of the few who can take a terrific swing and still meet the ball solidly. His timing is perfect. [No one has] the combined power and eye of Ruth."

Cobb as player/manager

Frank Navin, the Detroit Tigers owner, signed Cobb to take over for Hughie Jennings as manager for the season. Cobb signed the deal on his 34th birthday for $32,500 (or $398,000 in 2008 dollars). The signing surprised the baseball world. Although Cobb was a legendary player, he was disliked throughout the baseball community, even by his own teammates; and he expected as much from his players as he gave, a standard most players couldn't meet.

The closest Cobb came to winning the pennant race was in , when the Tigers finished in third place, six games behind the pennant-winning Washington Senators. The Tigers had finished second in , but were 16 games behind the Yankees.

Cobb blamed his lackluster managerial record (479 wins-444 losses) on Navin, who was arguably an even more frugal man than Cobb. Navin passed up a number of quality players that Cobb wanted to add to the team. In fact, Navin had saved money by hiring Cobb to manage the team.

Also in 1922, Cobb tied a batting record set by Wee Willie Keeler, with four five-hit games in a season. This has since been matched by Stan Musial, Tony Gwynn, and Ichiro Suzuki.

At the end of Cobb was once again embroiled in a batting title race, this time with one of his teammates and players, Harry Heilmann. In a doubleheader against the St. Louis Browns on October 4, 1925, Heilmann got six hits to lead the Tigers to a sweep of the doubleheader and beat Cobb for the batting crown, .393 to .389. Cobb and Browns manager George Sisler each pitched in the final game. Cobb pitched a perfect inning.

Move to Philadelphia

Cobb finally called it quits from a 22-year career as a Tiger in November 1926. He announced his retirement and headed home to Augusta, Georgia. Shortly thereafter, Tris Speaker also retired as player-manager of the Cleveland team. The retirement of two great players at the same time sparked some interest, and it turned out that the two were coerced into retirement because of allegations of game-fixing brought about by Dutch Leonard, a former pitcher of Cobb's.

Leonard accused former pitcher and outfielder Smoky Joe Wood and Cobb of betting on a Tiger-Cleveland game played in Detroit on September 25, 1919, in which they allegedly orchestrated a Detroit victory to win the bet. Leonard claimed proof existed in letters written to him by Cobb and Wood. Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis held a secret hearing with Cobb, Speaker, and Wood. A second secret meeting amongst the AL directors led to Cobb and Speaker resigning with no publicity; however, rumors of the scandal led Judge Landis to hold additional hearings. Leonard subsequently refused to appear at the hearings. Cobb and Wood admitted to writing the letters, but they claimed it was a horse racing bet, and that Leonard's accusations were in retaliation for Cobb's having released Leonard from the Tigers to the minor leagues. Speaker denied any wrongdoing.

On January 27, 1927, Judge Landis cleared Cobb and Speaker of any wrongdoing because of Leonard's refusal to appear at the hearings. Landis allowed both Cobb and Speaker to return to their original teams, and both became free agents. Speaker signed with the Washington Senators for 1927; Cobb signed with the Philadelphia Athletics. Speaker then joined Cobb in Philadelphia for the 1928 season. Cobb said he came back only to seek vindication, and so that he could say he left baseball on his own terms.

Cobb played regularly in 1927 for a young and talented team that finished second to one of the greatest teams of all time, the 1927 Yankees, which won 110 games. He returned to Detroit to a tumultuous welcome on May 11, 1927. Cobb doubled in his first at bat, to the cheers of Tiger fans. On July 18, 1927, Cobb became the first player to enter the 4000 hit club when he doubled off former teammate Sam Gibson of the Detroit Tigers at Navin Field.

1927 was also the final season of Washington Senators pitcher Walter Johnson's career. With their careers largely overlapping, Ty Cobb faced Johnson more times than any other batter-pitcher matchup in baseball history. Cobb also got the first hit allowed in Johnson's career. After Johnson hit Detroit's Ossie Vitt with a pitch in August 1915, seriously injuring him, Cobb realized that Johnson was fearful of hitting opponents. He used this knowledge to his advantage, by standing closer to the plate.

Cobb returned for the 1928 season. He played less frequently due to his age and the blossoming abilities of the young A's, who were again in a pennant race with the Yankees. On September 3, 1928, Ty Cobb pinch hit in the 9th inning of the first game of a double-header against the Senators and doubled off Bump Hadley for his last career hit. Against the Yankees on September 11, 1928, Cobb had his last at bat popping out against pitcher Hank Johnson, grounding out to shortstop Mark Koenig as a 9th-inning pinch hitter. He then announced his retirement, effective at the end of the season. Cobb ended his career with 23 consecutive seasons batting .300 or better (the only season under .300 being his rookie season), a major league record not likely to be broken.

Post professional career

Cobb retired a very rich and successful man. He toured Europe with his family, went to Scotland for some time then returned to his farm in Georgia. He spent his retirement pursuing his off-season activities of hunting, golfing, polo and fishing. His other pastime was trading stocks and bonds, increasing his immense personal wealth. Among his other holdings, Cobb was a major stockholder in the Coca-Cola Corporation, which by itself would have made him a wealthy man.

In the winter of 1930, Cobb moved into a Spanish ranch estate on Spencer Lane in the millionaire's community of Atherton outside San Francisco, California. At that same time, his wife Charlie filed the first of several divorce suits; however, she withdrew that suit shortly thereafter. Charlie finally divorced Cobb in 1947, after 39 years of marriage, the last few of which she lived in nearby Menlo Park. The couple had three sons and two daughters: Tyrus Raymond, Jr., Shirley Marion, Herschel Roswell, James Howell, and Beverly.

Cobb never had an easy time being a father and husband. His children found him to be demanding, yet also capable of kindness and extreme warmth. Cobb expected his boys to be exceptional athletes, especially baseball players. Cobb, Jr. flunked out of Princeton (where he had played on the varsity tennis team), much to the dismay of Cobb, Sr. The elder Cobb subsequently traveled to the Princeton campus and beat his son with a whip to ensure against future academic failure. Cobb, Jr. then entered Yale University and became captain of the tennis team while improving his academics; however, he was arrested twice in 1930 for drunkenness and left Yale without graduating. Cobb, Sr. helped his son address the pending legal problems and then permanently broke off ties with the younger Cobb. Though Cobb Jr. eventually earned an M.D. in obstetrics from the Medical College of South Carolina and practiced in Dublin, Georgia, until his death at the age of forty-two on September 9, 1952, from a brain tumor, his father remained distant.

A personal achievement came in February, 1936, when the first Hall of Fame election results were announced. Cobb had been named on 222 of 226 ballots, outdistancing Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson, the only others to earn the necessary 75% of votes to be elected in that first year. His 98.2 percentage stood as the record until Tom Seaver received 98.8% of the vote in 1992 (Nolan Ryan and Cal Ripken have also surpassed Cobb, with 98.79% and 98.53% of the votes, respectively). Those incredible results show that although many people disliked him personally, they respected the way he played and what he accomplished. In 1998, The Sporting News ranked him as third on the list of 100 Greatest Baseball Players.

By the time he was elected into the Hall of Fame, Cobb drank and smoked heavily, and spent a great deal of time complaining about modern-day players' lack of fundamental skills. Cobb had positive things to say about Stan Musial, Phil Rizzuto, and Jackie Robinson, but few others. However, Cobb was known to help out young players. He was instrumental in helping Joe DiMaggio negotiate his rookie contract with the New York Yankees, but ended his friendship with Ted Williams when the latter suggested to him that Rogers Hornsby was a greater hitter than Cobb.

Cobb's competitive fires continued to burn after retirement. In 1941, Cobb faced Babe Ruth in a series of charity golf matches at courses outside New York, Boston and Detroit. (Cobb won.) At the 1947 Old Timers Game in Yankee Stadium, Cobb warned catcher Benny Bengough to move back, claiming he was rusty and hadn't swung a bat in almost 20 years. Bengough stepped back, to avoid being struck by Cobb's backswing. Having repositioned the catcher, Cobb cannily laid down a perfect bunt in front of the plate, and easily beat the throw from a surprised Bengough.

Another bittersweet moment in Cobb's life reportedly came in the late 1940s when he and sportswriter Grantland Rice were returning from the Masters golf tournament. Stopping at a Greenville, South Carolina liquor store, Cobb noticed that the man behind the counter was "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, who had been banned from baseball almost 30 years earlier following the Black Sox Scandal. But Jackson did not appear to recognize him, and finally Cobb asked, "Don't you know me, Joe?" “Sure I know you, Ty,” replied Jackson, “but I wasn't sure you wanted to know me. A lot of them don't.”

Cobb was mentioned in the poem "Line-Up for Yesterday" by Ogden Nash:

Later life

At 62, Cobb married a second time in 1949. His new wife was 40-year-old Frances Fairbairn Cass, a divorcee from Buffalo, New York. This childless marriage also failed, and they divorced in 1956.

When two of his three sons died young, Cobb was alone, with few friends left. He began to be generous with his wealth, donating $100,000 in his parents' name for his hometown to build a modern 24-bed hospital, Cobb Memorial Hospital, which is now part of the Ty Cobb Healthcare System. He also established the Cobb Educational Fund, which awarded scholarships to needy Georgia students bound for college, by endowing it with a $100,000 donation in 1953 (or $820,000 in 2008 dollars).

Cobb knew that another way he could share his wealth was by having biographies written that would set the record straight and teach young players how to play. John McCallum spent some time with Cobb to write a combination how-to and biography titled The Tiger Wore Spikes: An Informal Biography of Ty Cobb that was published in 1956.

After McCallum completed his research for the book, Cobb was again alone and had a longing to return to Georgia. In December, 1959, Cobb was diagnosed with prostate cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and Bright's disease, a degenerative kidney disorder. He did not trust his initial diagnosis, however, so he went to Georgia to seek advice from doctors he knew, and they found his prostate to be cancerous. They removed it at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, but that did little to help Cobb. From this point until the end of his life, Cobb criss-crossed the country, going from his lodge in Tahoe to the hospital in Georgia.

It was also during his final years that Cobb began work on his autobiography, My Life in Baseball: The True Record, with writer Al Stump. Their collaboration was contentious, and after Cobb's death, Al Stump's side of the story was described in some of his other works, including the film Cobb. In 2010, an article by William R. "Ron" Cobb (no relation to Ty) in The National Pastime, official publication of the Society for American Baseball Research, accused Al Stump of extensive forgeries of Cobb-related documents and diaries. The article further accused Stump of numerous false statements about Cobb in his last years, most of which were sensationalistic in nature and intended to cast Cobb in an unflattering light.

Cobb is regarded by some historians and journalists as the best player of the dead-ball era, and is generally seen as one of the greatest players of all time.

Death

In his last days, Cobb spent some time with the old movie comedian Joe E. Brown, talking about the choices Cobb had made in his life. He told Brown that he felt that he had made mistakes, and that he would do things differently if he could. He had played hard and lived hard all his life, and had no friends to show for it at the end, and he regretted it. Publicly, however, Cobb claimed not to have any regrets: "I've been lucky. I have no right to be regretful of what I did."

He checked into Emory Hospital for the last time in June, 1961, bringing with him a paper bag with over $1 million in negotiable bonds. His first wife, Charlie, his son Jimmy and other family members came to be with him for his final days. He died a month later, on July 17, 1961, at Emory University Hospital.

Approximately 150 friends and relatives attended a brief service in Cornelia, Georgia, and drove to the Cobb family mausoleum in Royston for the burial. Baseball's only representatives at his funeral were three old players, Ray Schalk, Mickey Cochrane, and Nap Rucker, along with Sid Keener, the director of the Baseball Hall of Fame; however, messages of condolences numbered in the hundreds. Family in attendance included Cobb's former wife, Charlie, his two daughters, his surviving son, Jimmy, his two sons-in-law, his daughter-in-law, Mary Dunn Cobb, and her two children.

At the time of his death, Cobb's estate was reported to be worth at least US$11,780,000, including $10 million worth of General Motors GM stock and $1.78 million in The Coca-Cola Company Coke stock. Altogether, the estate was equivalent to $86,320,000 in 2008 dollars. Cobb's will left a quarter of his estate to the Cobb Educational Fund, and distributed the rest among his children and grandchildren. Cobb is interred in the Rose Hill Cemetery in Royston, Georgia. As of 2005 the Ty Cobb Educational Foundation has distributed nearly $11 million in scholarships to needy Georgians.

Legacy

Efforts to create a Ty Cobb Memorial in Royston initially failed, primarily because most of the artifacts from his life were sent to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, and the Georgia town was viewed as too remote to make a memorial worthwhile. However, on July 17, 1998, the 37th anniversary of Cobb's death, the Ty Cobb Museum and the Franklin County Sports Hall of Fame opened its doors in Royston. On that day, Cobb was one of the first members to be inducted into the Franklin County Sports Hall of Fame. On August 30, 2005, his hometown hosted a 1905 baseball game to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Cobb's first major league game. Players in the game included many of Cobb's descendants as well as many citizens from his hometown of Royston. Another early-1900s baseball game was played in his hometown at Cobb Field on September 30, 2006, with Cobb's descendants and Roystonians again playing. Cobb's personal batboy from his major league years was also in attendance and threw out the first pitch. A third Ty Cobb Vintage Baseball Game was played on October 6, 2007. Many of Cobb's family and other relatives were in attendance for a "family reunion" theme. Appearing at the game again was Cobb's personal batboy who, with his son and grandson, made a large donation and a plaque to the Ty Cobb Museum in honor of their family's relationship with the Cobb family.

Ty Cobb's legacy also includes legions of collectors of his early tobacco card issues as well as game used memorabilia and autographs. Perhaps the most curious item remains the 1909 Ty Cobb with Ty Cobb Cigarettes pack, leaving some to believe Cobb either had or attempted to have his own brand of cigarettes. Very little about the card is known other than its similarity to the 1909 T206 Red Portrait card published by the American Tobacco Company, and until 2005 only a handful were known to exist. That year, a sizable cache of the cards was brought to auction by the family of a Royston, Georgia man who had stored them in a book for almost 100 years.. The new baseball stadium at Hampden-Sydney College is named Ty Cobb Ballpark.

Crawford-Cobb rivalry

Sam Crawford and Ty Cobb were teammates for parts of thirteen seasons. They played beside each other in right and center field, and Crawford followed Cobb in the batting order year after year. Despite the physical closeness, the two had a complicated relationship.

Initially, they had a student-teacher relationship. Crawford was an established star when Cobb arrived, and Cobb eagerly sought his advice. In interviews with Al Stump, Cobb told of studying Crawford’s base stealing technique and of how Crawford would teach him about pursuing fly balls and throwing out base runners. Cobb told Stump he would always remember Crawford’s kindness.

The student-teacher relationship gradually changed to one of jealous rivals. Cobb was not popular with his teammates, and as Cobb became the biggest star in baseball, Crawford was unhappy with the preferential treatment given to Cobb. Cobb was allowed to show up late for spring training and was given private quarters on the road – perks not offered to Crawford. The competition between the two was intense. Crawford recalled that, if he went three for four on a day when Cobb went hitless, Cobb would turn red and sometimes walk out of the park with the game still on. When it was initially (and erroneously) reported that Nap Lajoie had won the batting title, Crawford was alleged to have been one of several Tigers who sent a telegram to Lajoie congratulating him on beating Cobb.

In retirement, Cobb wrote a letter to a writer for The Sporting News accusing Crawford of not helping in the outfield and of intentionally fouling off balls when Cobb was stealing a base. Crawford learned about the letter in 1946 and accused Cobb of being a “cheapskate” who never helped his teammates. He said that Cobb had not been a very good fielder, "so he blamed me." Crawford denied intentionally trying to deprive Cobb of stolen bases, insisting that Cobb had “dreamed that up.”

When asked about the feud, Cobb attributed it to jealousy. He felt that Crawford was “a hell of a good player,” but he was “second best” on the Tigers and “hated to be an also ran.” Cobb biographer Richard Bak noted that the two “only barely tolerated each other” and agreed with Cobb that Crawford’s attitude was driven by Cobb’s having stolen Crawford’s thunder.

Although they may not have spoken to each other, Cobb and Crawford developed an uncanny ability to communicate nonverbally with looks and nods on the base paths. They became one of the most successful double steal pairings in baseball history.

After Cobb died, a reporter found hundreds of letters in Cobb’s home that Cobb had written to influential people lobbying for Crawford’s induction into the Hall of Fame. Crawford was reportedly unaware of Cobb’s efforts until after Cobb had died. Crawford was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1957, four years before Cobb's death.

Regular season statistics

Both official sources, such as Total Baseball, and a number of independent researchers, including John Thorn, have raised questions about Cobb's exact career totals. Hits have been re-estimated at between 4,189 and 4,191, due to a possible double-counted game in 1910. At-bats estimates have ranged as high as 11,437. The numbers shown below are the figures officially recognized on MLB.com.

3,035	11,429	2,245	4,191	723	297	117	1,938	892	---	1,249	357	.367	.433	.513	5,859	295	94

The figures on Baseball-Reference.com are as follows. Other private research sites may have different figures. Caught Stealing is not shown comprehensively for Cobb's MLB.com totals, because the stat was not regularly captured until 1920.

3,035	11,434	2,246	4,189	724	295	117	1,937	892	178	1,249	357	.366	.433	.512	5,854	295	94

See also

Allan Travers

Cobb (film)

Al Stump

3000 hit club

List of Major League Baseball stolen base records

List of Major League Baseball hit records

List of MLB individual streaks

Ty Cobb Museum

Baseball record holders

Triple Crown

Major League Baseball titles leaders

Notes

References

(Nominee for the 2007 CASEY Award. See The Casey Award; Roy Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf.)

External links

Official site

Ty Cobb Museum

"Fast Running Got Ty Cobb to his Wedding on Time," Atlanta Georgian, August 7, 1908, Atlanta Historic Newspapers Archive, Digital Library of Georgia.

Category:1886 births Category:1961 deaths Category:National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Category:Major League Baseball center fielders Category:Detroit Tigers players Category:Philadelphia Athletics players Category:Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:American League Triple Crown winners Category:American League batting champions Category:American League home run champions Category:American League RBI champions Category:American League stolen base champions Category:Detroit Tigers managers Category:Baseball player–managers Category:Augusta Tourists players Category:Anniston (minor league baseball) players Category:United States Army personnel Category:American Episcopalians Category:Deaths from prostate cancer Category:People from Detroit, Michigan Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia Category:Cancer deaths in Georgia (U.S. state) Category:People from Royston, Georgia Category:American military personnel of World War I

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This is a list of people whose names in English are commonly appended with the phrase "the Great", or who were called that or an equivalent phrase in their own language. Other languages have their own suffixes such as e Bozorg and e azam in Persian and Urdu respectively.

In Persia, the title "the Great" at first seems to be a colloquial version of the Old Persian title "Great King". This title was first used by the conqueror Cyrus II of Persia.

The Persian title was inherited by Alexander III of Macedon (336–323 BC) when he conquered the Persian Empire, and the epithet "Great" eventually became personally associated with him. The first reference (in a comedy by Plautus) assumes that everyone knew who "Alexander the Great" was; however, there is no earlier evidence that Alexander III of Macedon was called "the Great".

The early Seleucid kings, who succeeded Alexander in Persia, used "Great King" in local documents, but the title was most notably used for Antiochus the Great (223–187 BC).

Later rulers and commanders began to use the epithet "the Great" as a personal name, like the Roman general Pompey. Others received the surname retrospectively, like the Carthaginian Hanno and the Indian emperor Ashoka the Great. Once the surname gained currency, it was also used as an honorific surname for people without political careers, like the philosopher Albert the Great.

As there are no objective criteria for "greatness", the persistence of later generations in using the designation greatly varies. For example, Louis XIV of France was often referred to as "The Great" in his lifetime but is rarely called such nowadays, while Frederick II of Prussia is still called "The Great". A later Hohenzollern - Wilhelm I - was often called "The Great" in the time of his grandson Wilhelm II, but rarely later.

Rulers

Abbas I of Persia (1571-1629), Shah of Iran

Akbar (1542-1605), ruler of the Mughal Empire of South Asia, mainly India

Alain I of Albret (1440-1522), French aristocrat

Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), King of Macedonia, Persia, Greece, Egypt, and all of Mesopotamia

Alexander I of Georgia (1386–1446), King of Georgia

Alfonso III of León (c. 848-910), King of León, Galicia and Asturias

Alfred the Great (848/849-899), King of Wessex

Antiochus III the Great (c. 241–187 BC), ruler of the Seleucid Empire

Ashoka the Great (c. 304–232 BC), Indian emperor of the Maurya dynasty

Ashot I of Iberia “the Great”(died 826/830), presiding prince of Iberia (modern Georgia),

Askia Mohammad I (c. 1442–1538), ruler of the Songhai Empire

Bhumibol Adulyadej (born 1927), King of Thailand

Bolesław I Chrobry (967-1025), sometimes called "the Great", first King of Poland

Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia (also listed in the following section)

Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (1736-1809), founder and ruler of the Rattanakosin Kingdom (in what is now Thailand)

Cnut the Great (c. 985 or 995-1035), King of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden

Casimir III the Great (1310-1370), King of Poland

Catherine the Great (1729-1796), Empress of Russian

Chandragupta II (reigned 375-413/415), also known as Vikramaditya, ruler of the Gupta empire in India

Charlemagne (died 814), King of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans

Chulalongkorn (1853-1910), King of Siam (now Thailand)

Chlothar II (584-629), King of Neustria and King of the Franks

Conrad, Margrave of Meissen (c. 1097-1157), Margrave of Meissen

Constantine I (c. 272-337), Roman Emperor

Cyrus the Great (c. 600 BC or 576 BC–530 BC), founder and ruler of the Persian or Achaemenid Empire

Darius the Great (550 – 486 BC), third ruler of the Persian Empire

Devapala (died 850), ruler of the Pala Empire in the Indian subcontinent

Dionysius I, Greek tyrant of Syracuse

Ferdinand I of León and Castile (c. 1015–1065), King of León and Count of Castile

Frederick the Great (1712-1786), King of Prussia

Genghis Khan (1162?-1227), founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire

Gero (c. 900–965), ruler of Marca Geronis, a very large march in Europe

Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (1594-1632), King of Sweden, founder of the Swedish Empire, and noted military leader

Gwanggaeto the Great, King of Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea

Hanno the Great, the name of three leaders of Carthage, in the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd centuries BC

Henry I, Duke of Burgundy (946–1002)

Henry IV of France (1553-1610), King of France and King of Navarre

Herod the Great (73/74 BC-4 BC), King of Judea

Hugh the Great (898-956), Duke of the Franks and Count of Paris

Hugh Magnus of France (1007-1025), co-King of France

Hugh I, Count of Vermandois (1057-1101)

Humphrey I de Bohun (died c. 1123), Anglo-Norman aristocrat

Ivan III of Russia (1440-1505), Tsar of Russia

John I of Portugal (1358-1433), King of Portugal and the Algarve

John II of Aragon (1398-1479), King of Aragon and, through his wife, King of Navarre

Justinian I (483-565), Byzantine Emperor

Kamehameha I (c. 1758-1819), first King of Hawai'i

Kanishka (died c. 127), ruler of the Kushan Empire in Central Asia and parts of India

Kvirike III of Kakheti (1010-1029), King of Kakheti in eastern Georgia

Kublai Khan (1215-1294), Mongol ruler in the 13th century and Emperor of China; founder of the Yuan Dynasty

Llywelyn the Great (c. 1172–1240), Prince of Gwynedd and de facto ruler of most of Wales

Louis I of Hungary (1326-1382), King of Hungary, Croatia and Poland

Mangrai the Great (1238-1317), Lanna, northern Thailand

Emperor Meiji (1852-1912), Emperor of Japan

Mircea I of Wallachia (1355–1418)

Mithridates II of Parthia (died 88 BC), ruler of the Parthian Empire (in present day Iran)

Mithridates VI of Pontus (134 BC–63 BC), ruler of Pontus and the Bosporan Kingdom

Mstislav I of Kiev (1076-1132), Grand Prince of Kievan Rus

Narai (1633-1688), King of Ayutthaya (in what is now modern Thailand)

Naresuan (1555-1605), King of Ayutthaya

Odo the Great (died c. 735), Duke of Aquitaine

Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (912-973)

K'inich Janaab' Pakal (603-683), ruler of the Mayan city-state of Palenque

Parakramabahu I of Polonnaruwa (1123–1186), King of Sri Lanka

Peter Krešimir IV of Croatia (died 1075), King of Croatia

Peter the Great (1672-1725), Tsar of Russia

Peter III of Aragon (1239-1285), King of Aragon and King of Sicily

Pompey (106 BC-48 BC), military and political leader of the late Roman Republic, rival of Julius Caesar

Radama I (1793–1828), first king of greater Madagascar

Raja Raja Chola I (c. 947-1014), Indian emperor of the Cholas.

Rajendra Chola I (reigned 1014-1044), Tamil King of India

Ramesses II (reigned 1279 BC – 1213 BC), considered the greatest pharaoh of Ancient Egypt

Ram Khamhaeng (around 1237 to 1247-1298), King of Sukhothai (in present day Thailand)

Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona (1082-1131), also Count of Provence and various other counties

Rhodri the Great (c. 820–878), King of Gwynedd (in present day Wales)

Roman the Great (after 1160-1205), Grand Prince of Kiev

Samudragupta (c. 335–375), ruler of the Gupta empire in the Indian subcontinent

Sancho III of Navarre (c. 992-1035), King of Kingdom of Navarre

Sargon of Akkad (died c. 2215 BC), ruler of the Akkadian Empire

Sejong the Great (1397-1450), Korean king

Shapur II (309-379), king of the Sassanid Empire, Persia

Simeon I of Bulgaria (864/865-927), ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire

Stephen III of Moldavia (1433-1504), Prince of Moldavia (Romania)

Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia (c. 1308-1355), King of Serbia and Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks

Taksin (1734-1782), King of the Thonburi Kingdom (Thailand)

Timur (1336-1405), better known as Tamerlane, founder of the Timurid Dynasty

Theobald II, Count of Champagne (1090–1151), Count of Blois and of Chartres as Theobald IV, Count of Champagne and of Brie

Theodoric the Great (454-526), King of the Ostrogoths, regent of the Visigoths and a viceroy of the Byzantine Empire

Theodosius I (347-395), Roman emperor

Tigranes the Great (140-55 BC), Emperor of Armenia

Tiridates III of Armenia (285-339), King of Armenia

Umar (c. 586 to 590–644), second caliph of the Muslim Empire

Valdemar I of Denmark (1131-1182), King of Denmark

Valentinian I (364-375), Roman Emperor

Vladimir I of Kiev (c. 958-1015), ruler of Kievan Rus

Vytautas (c. 1350-1430), archduke of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy

William I, Count of Burgundy (1020-1087), Count of Burgandy and Mâcon

William V, Duke of Aquitaine (969-1030), also Count of Poitou

Xerxes I (519-465 BC), King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire (Persia)

Yu the Great (c. 2200-2100 BC), legendary ruler in ancient China

Religious figures

Abraham the Great of Kashkar (ca. 492-586), monk and saint of the Assyrian Church of the East

Abraham Kidunaia (died c. 366, hermit, priest, and Christian saint of Mesopotamia

Albertus Magnus (1193/1206–1280), medieval German philosopher and theologian

Anthony the Great (c. 251–356), early Christian saint of Egypt

Babai the Great (c. 551–628), Assyrian church leader

Basil of Caesarea (330-379), Greek bishop and theologian

Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia (also listed in the previous section)

Euthymius the Great (377-473), abbot and Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox saint

Gertrude the Great (1256-c. 1302), German Benedictine, mystic, theologian and Roman Catholic saint

Pope Gregory I (c. 540-604)

Hiyya the Great, 3rd-century rabbi, Palestine

Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)

Pope Leo I (c. 391 or 400-461)

Macarius of Egypt (c. 300-391), Egyptian hermit

Pope Nicholas I (c. 800-867)

Photius I of Constantinople (c. 810–c. 893), Eastern Orthodox saint and Patriarch of Constantinople

William of Maleval (died 1157), founder of the Catholic congregation of Williamites

Other

Beli Mawr, a figure in medieval Welsh literature and genealogies

Emmy the Great, folk singer

Matteo Rosso the Great, Roman politician and father of Pope Nicholas III

Prokop the Great, Hussite general in Bohemia

See also

Epithet

List of monarchs by nickname

List of nicknames of European Royalty and Nobility: G-I

James, son of Zebedee, also known as James the Greater, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus

Ajax (mythology), called Ajax the Greater

Notes

Category:Monarchs Great, List of people known as The Category:Greatest Nationals Category:Epithets

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Show name	The Opie & Anthony Show
Format	Talk, Comedy
Runtime	6am to 10am, Monday through Friday
Creator	Gregg HughesAnthony Cumia
(former) executive producer	Steve "The Bear" Carlesi
Starring	Gregg "Opie" HughesAnthony CumiaJim Norton
Opentheme	"The Ecstasy of Gold" by Ennio Morricone "Street Fighting Man" by Rage Against the Machine
Country	United States
First aired	March 28, 1995
Last aired	present
Website	siriusxm.com/thevirus
Home station	The Virus (XM105/Sirius206)
Live video	Audible.com }}

Opie (Gregg Hughes, born May 23, 1965) and Anthony (Anthony Cumia, born April 26, 1961) are the hosts of The Opie & Anthony Show, a talk radio program airing in the United States and Canada on XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. Since the merger of the two satellite companies, this is now called Sirius/XM. It is co-hosted by stand up comedian Jim Norton. Currently based in New York City, the show was previously on WXRK-FM and WNEW-FM in New York, and prior to that, on WAAF-FM in Boston, Massachusetts.

On April 26, 2006, Opie and Anthony returned to the terrestrial airwaves after a four year absence, replacing CBS Radio's short-lived David Lee Roth Show, which aired mainly on the eastern coast of the United States. The terrestrial portion of the show ran until March 9, 2009. The team was terminated by WXRK-FM when it flipped formats from rock to Top 40.

The Opie & Anthony Show airs weekdays live from 6am through 10am ET exclusively on XM Radio Channel 105 and Sirius Radio Channel 206 "The Virus". Replays are available throughout the day on their XM and Sirius channels.

Background and history

Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia were raised on Long Island, New York, in Centerport and Elwood respectively. Hughes graduated from SUNY Geneseo and for the next seven years, interned and worked at several western New York radio stations such as 96.5 WCMF in Rochester (where he first worked for Brother Wease) and WUFX in Buffalo. Opie eventually found his way back home to rock station WBAB on his native Long Island after breaking up with Brother Wease. Although not initially doing a talk-show, Hughes did experiment with certain talk elements, including a recurring character named "Spuds Buckley". While earning a living as an HVAC duct worker, Cumia began recording comedy songs with his brother Joe. Cumia also showed considerable skills at doing impressions. In August 1994, Hughes, seeking innovative ideas, received an entry during an O.J. Simpson parody song contest. The song was titled "Gonna Electric Shock OJ" (sung to the tune of Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay") by a local band known as Rotgut, of which Cumia was the lead singer. The song was a hit on Hughes' show, and he invited the Cumia brothers to the studio to play live in September 1994. In December 1994, Cumia also appeared on The Howard Stern Show during an impression contest in which he imitated Jackie the Jokeman, Beavis and Butt-head, and Sam Kinison. Soon afterward, Hughes and Cumia became a radio team. Hughes' show was called "The Nighttime Attitude" and aired from 8 pm-midnight on WBAB. Shortly after Cumia's arrival, he and Hughes requested that the show be moved to morning or afternoon drive, the two most listened to timeslots in radio. When the station refused, Hughes and Cumia moved the show to afternoon drive on WAAF in Boston, Massachusetts, where they premiered on March 27, 1995 as Opie & Anthony (O&A;).

WAAF-FM

One of Opie and Anthony's most notable Boston stunts was their giveaway of "100 Grand", which was hyped for weeks. When they finally gave away the prize, the winning caller laid into the duo with biting invective after he realized the repairs he needed to make to his truck would be un-affordable with a 100 Grand candy bar instead of $100,000. Listen to the prank

The duo was fired in April 1998 from WAAF for an April Fool's Day prank involving Mayor Thomas Menino. Opie and Anthony told their listeners that the Mayor had been killed in a car accident. Many believed the story, leading Menino to file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, as the FCC prohibits the broadcast of knowingly false information if it causes public harm. WAAF suggested that the duo have pies thrown at them while being held in town square stocks. The idea was summarily dismissed by the mayor's office. Facing a possible license challenge, WAAF fired them, but Opie and Anthony promised that they would return to Boston and get revenge. During the early days of XM Anthony stated that the intent of the April Fool's prank was to allow the duo to be released from their contract with WAAF. He also stated that the duo had been having illegal meetings with WNEW prior to the April Fool's prank. He preceded these comments with "The statutes of limitations must be up on this."

WNEW-FM

In June 1998, O&A; were back on New York station WNEW-FM, where they became a top 10 afternoon drive show in New York by 2000.

In November 2000, sixteen people associated with the show (including comedian Lewis Black and future show member Jim Norton) were arrested during a promotion for "The Voyeur Bus," a mostly glass-sided bus carting naked women through Manhattan with a police escort. The stunt was harshly condemned by Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

O&A; hosted the short-lived "XFL Gameday" – the pregame show for Vince McMahon's startup football league – for four weeks in February 2001. The half-hour show aired nationally on Saturday nights on select NBC affiliates prior to the evening's games. The show was taped on Wednesdays at the WWF's theme restaurant in Times Square, and was open to the public. It featured analysis by WNBC sportscaster Bruce Beck and New York/New Jersey Hitmen head coach Rusty Tillman, but also featured plenty of raunch. One particular segment featured O&A; as chefs, inserting a cucumber in between two melons. O&A; were almost banned from Giants Stadium for life during the filming of one episode when they imitated a proposed XFL rule where first possession was determined by placing the ball at midfield and having two opposing team-members attempt to get it. O&A; did this as God Bless America began to play before a game . They said that the $100,000 cost of making each new show was the cause of its demise, though no official reason was given for its cancellation.

In 2001, O&A; signed a syndication deal with Infinity to syndicate their show on 22 stations nationwide, including WBCN in Boston, longtime rival of WAAF. By this time, show friend Andrew Dice Clay had introduced O&A; to Jim Norton, a comedian who toured with and opened for Clay. Norton was a hit on O&A; and soon became a regular on the show, appearing three or four days per week.

Sex for Sam

One of O&A;'s stunts was "Sex for Sam", an annual contest where the goal was to have sex in notable public places in New York City. Couples from various states would be selected to be trailed by a comedian or member of the show, who would call the program to report the location. The contest was sponsored by Boston Beer Company, maker of Samuel Adams beer, and prizes included trips to Boston concerts sponsored by the beer company. The contest was approved by the station and had no major problems for the first two years.

However, in "Sex for Sam 3", comedian Paul Mecurio encouraged Brian Florence and Loretta Harper, a Virginia couple visiting Manhattan, to have on-air sex in a vestibule at St. Patrick's Cathedral on August 15, 2002. When a security guard ordered Mecurio and the couple to leave the church immediately, Mecurio began to argue with the guard, who then contacted police. The couple was arrested and charged with public lewdness. Intense media scrutiny led to the Catholic League demanding that Opie and Anthony be fired. The Catholic League also threatened to get WNEW's license revoked.

O&A; broadcast the next day, but were ordered not to directly address the incident for legal reasons. The show went into reruns the following week. On August 22, Infinity suspended Opie and Anthony for the duration of their contract, and canceled the show. However, the company continued to pay the duo to stay off the air for the balance of their contract. The Catholic League immediately dropped its bid to have WNEW's license revoked.

The repercussions of the incident were widespread: Infinity was fined a total of $357,500 by the FCC, the maximum amount allowed by law, and the second-largest indecency fine in American radio history. It refused to pay the fine. WNEW's ratings, already dreadful aside from Opie and Anthony, dropped even lower than those of noncommercial stations and never recovered for the rest of the time as a talk station and through most of the rest of its time as WNEW. The station returned to the music format in January 2003, starting with a Top 40 format, then going to an adult contemporary format, and later switching to a classic dance music format before returning to the AC format, at which point the station's call letters were changed to WWFS. Under WWFS, the ratings rebounded to a 3.1 rating, then cooled down to an average of a 2.5 rating. In a bit of irony, Opie and Anthony would make fun of an incident at WNEW in late 2004, in which the program director got drunk, went on air, and confused the call letters with those of WNEW's arch-rival WKTU. Harper pleaded guilty a month later to disorderly conduct and was sentenced to seven days of community service. Her partner, Brian Florence, died of a heart attack on September 25, 2003.

XM Satellite Radio

Opie and Anthony returned to the air on October 4, 2004 exclusively for XM Satellite Radio after two years off the air. Initially, the show was offered to XM subscribers at a premium cost of $1.99 a month, to which they encountered some resistance. In April 2005, "High Voltage" became part of the basic XM subscription. There are no numbers available with respect to the number of premium subscribers. Hughes gave some indication, however, when he told the Long Island press in 2006, "We went from having a show that was syndicated in 17 major markets to having a few thousand," which did not help to remove the discrepancy.

On April 17, 2006, DirecTV ceased airing the High Voltage channel on their satellite TV service, citing subscriber requests for more music channels and fewer talk and sports channels. However, less than a week elapsed before inside sources announced that, due to overwhelming audience demands that O&A; return to DirecTV, the channel would be restored on April 26, 2006.

Opie & Anthony frequently mentioned on the air that they always hated the title "High Voltage", which was selected by one of the company lawyers. They had been trying to change the name but were unsuccessful for the first 2 years, until Eric Logan announced on their October 4, 2006 broadcast that High Voltage would be renamed "The Virus" on November 20, 2006, pursuant to the demands of hardcore O&A; fans known as "The Pests".

A major part of the XM show was the "Assault on the Media", led by "The Pests" to give the show additional exposure. On May 19, 2005, show intern Nathaniel showed up behind Arthur Chi'en of WCBS-TV. The disruption caused Chi'en to shout "What the fuck is your problem, man?" while the cameras were still rolling. Chi'en was fired a few hours later. (The situation brought the show nationwide press.)

On May 15, 2007, XM suspended Opie & Anthony for 30 days, in response to a broadcast featuring a homeless and deranged man who wandered into the studio. Opie and Anthony dubbed the man "Homeless Charlie", who mentioned the possibility of raping Condoleezza Rice and Laura Bush. Charlie spoke wildly for nearly twenty minutes, commenting on a wide variety of news topics. A blogger posted a ten second excerpt of the discussion, which was later posted to The Drudge Report with no context given to the audio. Commentary on the incident was especially incendiary from Bill O'Reilly, who called the situation "the worst I have ever seen." (O'Reilly once had the radio duo on his show.) CBS (terrestrial) radio continued to air the show from 6:00 am–9:00 am Eastern time, and had a decidedly more subdued sound, due to greater scrutiny.

Fans reacted to the news of the suspension by canceling their XM Radio subscriptions, with some fans even going as far as smashing their XM units. XM did offer a free month of service to subscribers who called in complaints of the suspension. Moreover, some sponsors pulled their advertising off XM in protest of the suspension.

The radio duo's month-long suspension from XM ended on June 15, 2007, when they returned to XM's airwaves. Shortly after the suspension, Opie closed on a $3.35 million apartment in Trump Place owned by Donald Trump.

Return to broadcast radio 2006-2011

On July 17, 2006, Opie and Anthony signed a deal with CBS Broadcasting in which the first three hours of the show would be broadcast on nine of Citadel's rock stations.

After an 18-month run on XM, The Opie & Anthony Show began simulcasting on XM Radio and various terrestrial radio stations from 6 am to 9 am EST. From 9 am to 11 am (and on some days until noon), the show was broadcast exclusively on XM Radio. XM listeners were able to hear the show uncensored for the entire show (except when the main feed is "self-censored" by the hosts). During the 6-9 slot, the FM-only listeners would hear a Federal Communications Commission-compliant version of the show. In Philadelphia, O&A; achieved a threefold increase in the month of May over David Lee Roth's April ratings in the age 18–34 demographic. In Boston, O&A; doubled the the number of all age demographics and achieved an even greater increase in younger listeners. According to the winter 07 arbitron ratings, O&A; doubled Roth's ratings with their target demographic of 18 to 34-year-olds. But the improvement merely amounted to an increase of 2% to about 4% of the audience-- a third of Stern's old numbers in New York City. Following the Summer 07 Arbitron ratings, O&A;'s 18- to 34-year-olds ratings slipped, while their morning drive rating in NYC of 2.1 left them only ahead of sports based WFAN network in the morning. In the spring 2008 under the new Portable people meter ratings system, Opie and Anthony again failed to crack the top ten in morning drive, and their flagship station WXRK ranked 20th out of 24 stations in overall ratings and out of the top ten in the coveted 25-54 demographic.

Rockstar Games gave the cast and crew of the show voice roles in the PlayStation Portable game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, including Club Soda Kenny as the voice of Derek the Dodo. The only exception was Jim Norton, since he had a voice role in previous Rockstar game, Bully.

On October 23, 2007, WYSP in Philadelphia cut Opie and Anthony from their lineup in favor of the rock music format, to which the station had changed in September.

During the summer of 2008, the show featured a romance between Anthony Cumia and Jill Nicolini. Nicolini, a model/actress who currently does traffic for a local New York TV station, and Cumia were often photographed together at various events. A regular running bit on the show focused on the authenticity of this May–December romance. While many initially doubted the beautiful Nicolini would actually date Cumia, the relationship appeared to blossom over time, until it ended disastrously in August 2008.

In 2008, as part of Rockstar Games' newest addition to the Grand Theft Auto series, Cumia performed the viral "Pißwasser" (or "Piss Water") commercial for Grand Theft Auto IV, as a parody to Budweiser's "King of Beers" campaign. It was later performed by Cumia on the Opie and Anthony Show. Other members of the show's cast appear as characters in GTA IV.

During their tenure at K-Rock, almost all of O&A;'s affiliates (many of which were in major markets) systematically dropped the show, primarily due to declining ratings. By November 30, 2008, Opie and Anthony remained in only three major cities – New York, Boston and Cleveland. The following day, however, WBCN in Boston dropped them in favor of their local Toucher & Rich show, while WKRK switched to a jockless alternative rock format.

On March 9, 2009, Opie & Anthony were heard on WXRK for the last time, and spent much of the time discussing the impending format change, and how their services were "no longer needed" at the station. Their executive producer for the FM portion, Michael "Stuntbrain" Opelka, was fired the following day.

As of October 1, 2010, the Opie and Anthony show renewed their contract with Sirius/XM satellite radio for 2 years. The two occasionally mention that they will not renew their contract after the current contract expires, citing their disgust with the poor way they are often treated by Sirius management as the primary reason.

Run-ins with the FCC

The Federal Communications Commission has twice fined O&A; for broadcasting material deemed in violation of decency standards. The first fine involved several November 2000 – January 2001 airings of a jingle produced by Dru Boogie, a DJ/producer who regularly produces content for the show. The $21,000 fine also involved a segment of "Guess What's in My Pants", as well as a song titled, "I'm Horny for Little Girls". O&A;'s second FCC violation – the "Sex for Sam" broadcast – set a precedent for being the first time that a fine was issued to each individual station airing the alleged indecent material. The total was $357,500; $27,500 against each of the thirteen CBS Radio/Infinity-owned stations that broadcast the show. Infinity appealed both fines, after which its parent company Viacom made a $3.5 million settlement which canceled all pending indecency violations. The show has not been in trouble with the FCC since that time.

Program content

Opie and Anthony often comment on American sociopolitical and popular culture. Their "cringe" style of entertainment sometimes leads people to categorize them as "shock jocks". Hughes, Cumia and Norton broadcast for approximately four hours per day. Generally speaking, Opie sets the daily flow of the show and introduces topics, while Cumia and Norton provide color commentary. The show has few limits, and covers a wide array of topics interactively, with a great deal of time devoted to callers, and sound bites sent in by listeners. Some of the more hardcore O&A; fans, nicknamed "Pests", have been known to go to extreme grassroots efforts to promote the show.

Friends and regular guests on the show include Adam Ferrara, Jim Jeffries, Joe DeRosa, Louis C.K., (who famously asked Donald Rumsfeld if he was a Mexican baby eating space lizard) Bill Burr, Larry Hennig, Joe Derosa, Patrice O'Neal, Brian Regan, Robert Kelly, Otto & George, Bob Saget, Rich Vos, Colin Quinn, and Nick DiPaolo all of whom have substituted for Norton when he has left New York to pursue his stand-up comedy and acting. Frequent guests include Doug Stanhope, Stephen Lynch, Joe Rogan, Lazlow Jones, Jay Mohr, Kevin Smith and Mike Birbiglia. Host Anthony Cumia does impressions of various personalities such as Charlton Heston, Don West, Sylvester Stallone, Fred Flintstone, Bill Cosby, Ben Stein, Richard Nixon, Sam Kinison, Andrew Dice Clay, Tom Brokaw, Ronald Reagan, Mike Tyson, Tony Boselli, Tony Danza, Christopher Reeve, Ted Knight, Robert Reed, Regis Philbin, Vince McMahon (dubbed "Angry Vince" for the consistently violent tone of Anthony's voice in channeling McMahon's wrestling persona), Neil Diamond, Robin Williams, Winnie the Pooh, Popeye the Sailor, Don Imus, Marty McFly and The Greaseman. O&A;'s style and jokes typically target males in the 18-49 demographic.

The songs played at the beginning the O&A; show are Ennio Morricone's "The Ecstasy of Gold" from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly followed by Rage Against the Machine's song "Street Fighting Man", a cover of the Rolling Stones' song of the same name.

Film references

O&A;'s show features many inside jokes that a new listener may not immediately understand. There are many references to films, The Shining was once one of the most prominent. Other referenced films include Fargo, The Silence of the Lambs, The Accused, Predator, Boogie Nights, American Psycho, Blazing Saddles, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Apocalypse Now, Bad Lieutenant, Ed Wood, Jaws, Platoon, A Clockwork Orange, Full Metal Jacket, Death Wish, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Schindler's List, Caddyshack, The Godfather, My Baby is Black, Mondo Topless, The Shawshank Redemption, Back to The Future, Sling Blade, Office Space, Caligula and anything starring Robert De Niro (most notably The King of Comedy).

Staff

Travis Tefft, Executive Producer – (aka T-Storm) – Former intern who became a regular staff member. Travis typically acts as the phone screener as well as providing minute-to-minute research. He is currently the acting 'Executive Producer'. Tefft was briefly suspended from the show for kicking former intern "Blind Stevie" in the crotch.

Erik Nagel, Senior Producer – (aka Erock) – Hired from Day 1 of the show coming to XM Radio. Co-Hosts 'Worst Of The Week Countdown' and the 'Worst-Of' shows with Sam Roberts. Erik is often a target of ridicule on the show, and does a character on the show called 'The Virus' which stemmed from the annual Jocktober bit.

Danny Ross, Senior Producer (aka Big Doodies) – Former intern who became a regular staff member. Danny originally started as a writer for former Executive Producer Steve Carlisi's web site, foundrymusic.com. Carlesi brought him on board as an intern. He is responsible for the show's daily content and has been the in-studio producer since 2008.

Derek Blair, Production Director – (aka D-Boi) – Former intern who became a regular staff member. Derek does not appear on the show to the same extent as the rest of the staff, as his primary responsibilities include show production i.e. sweepers, promos and intros.

Sam Roberts, Associate Producer – (aka Prime Time Sam Roberts) – Former intern who became a regular staff member. Co-Hosts 'Worst Of The Week Countdown' and the 'Worst-Of' shows with Erock on weekends. He currently hosts 'After O&A; Live', which airs from 10am to 11am on The Virus following the live show. Sam is very involved in screening radio shows for Jocktober, and contributes regularly on-air when the subjects of professional wrestling and Scorch's PFG TV (a public access TV show, hosted by a former radio colleague of O&A;'s) come up. He now hosts 'After Opie & Anthony Live' and 'Special Delivery' with East Side Dave, a former member of The Ron and Fez Show.

John Feder, Security – (aka Club Soda Kenny) – A 22-year retiree of the West Orange, New Jersey Police Department, Kenny met O&A; while working for Andrew Dice Clay. He was a part-time member of O&A;'s security staff since the summer of 2004, and joined O&A; full-time in 2006 following his fully-reinstated retirement. He is often ridiculed for his "oafish" demeanor.

Callers who became frequent guests

Pat from Moonachie (Patrick Philbin) – A 44-year old, 340-pound self-employed courier with 9 toes (due to diabetes), who became a friend after winning O&A;'s first annual Eggnog Drinking Contest. Philbin consumed 71 double shots of eggnog and subsequently vomited. He is a competitive eater, ranked 19th in the world by the I.F.O.C.E and placed 10th in Nathan's Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest. The "Baby Bird" video which came about from the 2006 Eggnog Drinking Challenge earned him infamy and caused him to be barred from the I.F.O.C.E for his "effluvic interchange." Philbin's banishment was rescinded and he was eventually re-instated on December 6, 2006.

Big A (Andrew Gold) A Bronx cab driver with a speech impediment. (He has a severe stutter, especially when pronouncing words that begin with the "st" sound). Co-host of the 'Big A & Twitchels News Cast' segment. Recently, he has co-hosted the segment with show regular Bobo.

Tom – Tom was discovered after they took a call from "an elvish sounding man". He is now the focus of "Is Tom alive? Friday", as Tom has a fatal lung disease, was kicked out of his apartment, and has had a broken back and lesioned spinal column; he was told by his doctor that he is now likely in his last year of life, however Tom has repeatedly claimed he will commit suicide to avoid the pain accompanying his passing. On June 12 of 2008 Tom called into the show to thank Opie and Anthony for the show and planned to kill himself. After talking with Tom, Opie, Anthony and Jim convinced him to unload his weapons and come on the show the following day. As of January 26, 2010, Tom is still alive and in better health.

Characters

Paul Harghhis/Hahrrgis – (AKA Uncle Paul) A character voiced by Jim Norton. Uncle Paul is a child molester with a creepy voice. Norton need only utter "huh?" in the voice to bring the character into a conversation, particularly one involving young children. Paul does not seem embarrassed by or even understand that his antics are inappropriate. He has recently demonstrated a hostile streak, as he yells at call-in guests or about "those goddamn meddling parents." Hahrrgis, along with Ted Scheckler were referenced in "The Substitute", the fourth episode of the sixth season of Lost. In the episode, a series of surnames associated with certain numbers were featured. Hargghis's number was 202, the XM channel number where the show can be heard.

Steve from Yellowstone – (AKA Ben from Boston, Danny from W-Town, Jimmy from New Jersey, Erik from Breathtown, Po from Jersey, etc.) Fake characters that are voiced by Norton, occasionally used to mock bad guests on the phone or in-studio.

Ted Sheckler – A character voiced by Jim Norton. Ted is an entrepreneur, said to own many odd boutique emporiums. He often recommends callers to purchase specific items at his emporiums. He also enjoys a variety of activities such as ghost hunting, light bulb manufacturing, race car driving, and serial killing by blowing second-hand smoke into crowds. The Sheckler character, along with Paul Hargghis were referenced in "The Substitute", the fourth episode of the sixth season of Lost. A series of surnames associated with certain numbers were featured in the episode. Sheckler's number was 197, the Sirius channel number where the show can be heard.

Lyle Delmar "Chip" Chipperson - Is a character voiced by Jim Norton known for his horrendous jokes. He has recently changed his name to Jerry Sherbert in order to make it in Hollywood.

Helen Bergeron – A character voiced by Jim Norton. Helen is an older Jewish woman who enjoys gossiping about celebrities and popular culture. She would be characterized as a "yenta". She usually says, "Helen Bergeron, signing off" when finished speaking.

Edgar Mellencamp -Another character voiced by Norton, created primarily to antagonize Norton's girlfriend. Edgar is known for his perpetually dry teeth, which he likes to have licked.

The Virus – A character reluctantly voiced by "E-Rock". The character was "born" when Sam told a clueless but compliant E-rock to perform the character on the air. Virus is asked for comedic takes on daily events, but cannot come up with a punchline or any relevant material. When asked to say something amusing, there is merely a pregnant pause followed by a lame excuse, such as "You know I'm not good at this" or "The Virus is totally unprepared." Whenever he makes an appearance, the song "Baby Elephant Walk" is played.

Bill Tetley - A fictional variety show host created by Jim Norton. (Jim uses the character to harass Anthony at home).

Other enterprises

Demented World

A CD released in November 1997 which includes a compilation of bits done on WAAF.

Cherry Darts http://www.cherrydarts.com/ Cherry Darts is based off the popular Opie & Anthony show from XM Radio. Cherry Darts is a friendly game of accuracy and skill. The object of the game is to land the whipped-cream covered cherry on or closest to the bullseye, of a girl or girls who are bent over.

The Opie & Anthony Traveling Virus

The Traveling Virus is a comedy tour headlined by Opie and Anthony, as well as friends of the show, that began in 2006. In its first year, it spanned several locations in the eastern United States during the summer. In 2007, it visited 10 cities through the spring and summer. It was an event they had discussed for many years, but were never able to bring it to fruition until they made their latest deal with CBS radio.

The 2008 Traveling Virus Tour was canceled in favor of one show, held at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey on August 2, 2008. On the morning of Monday, August 4, 2008, Opie stated that the August 2nd show in New Jersey would be "the last Traveling Virus show ever", due to the crowd consistently booing new comedians off the stage, causing established comedians to refuse to appear at the venue

Search and Destroy

On the morning of March 26, 2008, Opie & Anthony revealed they had taped a pilot for Comedy Central. The show is titled Search & Destroy and features teams of comedians performing various tasks throughout New York City. Opie and Anthony believe that it may have been too graphic even for cable television. Although Opie and Anthony considered the pilot a success, Comedy Central did not pick the show up.

Controversies

April Fool's Day: On April 1, 1998, while still on WAAF in Worcester, O&A; announced that the mayor of Boston, Thomas Menino, had been killed in a car accident in Florida. Things became heated after Menino's daughter called the station believing the story to be true, and the duo was terminated the following week. During the early days of XM, Anthony stated that the intent of the April Fool's prank was to allow the duo to be released from their contract with WAAF. He also stated that the duo had illegal meetings with WNEW before the April Fool's prank. He prefaced these comments with "the statutes of limitations must be up on this." Despite the controversy that was started by the April Fool's Day prank, the duo was hired by WNEW-FM in New York City less than five months later.

W.O.W.: During their WAAF years, O&A; established "Whip 'em Out Wednesdays," which encouraged women to flash their breasts to anyone with a "W.O.W." sign. Consequently, it was common around Massachusetts to see cars with W.O.W. stickers, signs and even painted lettering. The campaign came to an end on WAAF in the summer of 1997, when the station forced the duo to discontinue the stunt and suspended the show for three weeks. W.O.W. has since been reintroduced to the show; W.O.W. stickers and signs are more common in O&A;'s biggest markets: New York and Boston. The campaign gained notoriety when a woman flashed the famous crowd fly-by camera during a broadcast of The Today Show. They are less visible in other markets, such as San Francisco, as they are more reluctant to back the W.O.W. promotion.

Voyeur Bus: Fifteen participants in the show's "Voyeur Bus", including the driver, six dancers, and eight associates of the show, were arrested for disorderly conduct. The dancers had performed topless, fully visible through the vehicle's large transparent windows, which was driven along busy Manhattan streets. Charges against the eight associates were later dropped. New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani described the publicity stunt as "stupid."

Homeless Shopping Spree: In late 1999, shortly before Christmas, O&A; held the first "Homeless Shopping Spree", which has since become an annual event. The bit involves a dozen of New York's homeless, who are each given several hundred dollars by the show and much more by the fans, and are taken to a posh shopping mall, most notably the Mall at Short Hills in Short Hills, New Jersey. They are allowed to buy whatever they want, including warm clothes and other items they could not normally afford, while being cheered on by the thousands of listeners who show up. In the 1999 Spree, the mall reacted by closing several of the nicer stores and eventually have the twelve homeless men removed from the mall by security. Boston mayor Thomas Menino expressed outrage at the event, declaring that the Homeless Shopping Spree degraded and humiliated the contestants, and that it was immoral to hold such an event on the same day the city was to do a census count of the homeless townspeople. The event was repeated at the same mall on December 16, 2006.

"100 Grand": Early in the team's radio career, O&A; announced a contest at WAAF in which the 107th caller would receive "100 Grand". They continued this bit throughout the show, careful not to say "$100,000", only "100 Grand". The 107th caller was ecstatic, believing that he had actually won $100,000, and exclaimed that he was planning to buy a new truck with his good fortune. He became furious when Opie informed him that the prize was merely a 100 Grand candy bar, and proceeded to curse loudly on the air, famously calling the duo "a bunch of douche bags."

T&A; with O&A;: Opie and Anthony held a station-promoted beach party on the shores of Angola, NY (a suburb of the city of Buffalo) on Saturday July 13, 2002; they claimed 5,000 persons were in attendance. Several female attendees appeared nude or topless, and at least one inserted vegetables into various orifices. Buffalo officials quickly dispersed the crowd, warning O&A; and crew not to return, lest they endure legal action. Additionally, FCC complaints were filed despite the event not being broadcast on any medium. Furthermore, reminiscing about the event on their July 25, 2011 show, Opie claimed that shortly after the event took place, management at WNEW informed the duo off-air that police in Erie County (who received over 250 complaints from area residents) had begun the process of securing warrants for their arrest over the incident. The aftermath went unrealized, as it was overshadowed by the more serious "Sex For Sam 3" incident roughly a month later.

The Eggnog Drinking Challenge: An annual challenge where contestants have to drink as many shots of eggnog as possible before vomiting. On December 1, 2006, during the Challenge, Pat from Moonachie drank 75 double-shots of eggnog and subsequently vomited all over prospective intern Pat Duffy's mouth. This has been dubbed the "Baby Bird" (Joe Rogan), and became a hit on both the O&A; website as well as Break.com due to Youtube's initial refusal to carry the video.

Condoleezza Rice, Laura Bush & Queen Elizabeth II: A homeless man (Homeless Charlie) making a guest appearance on the XM version of the show described how he would like to have sex with the United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, First Lady Laura Bush, also calling Queen Elizabeth II "horse-faced", an act which the hosts joked could only happen through force. In the wake of the Don Imus firing, there has been speculation that O&A; may be fired following that segment that aired on their program May 9, 2007. On their Friday show, Opie and Anthony apologized for the bit by begrudgingly saying, "We apologize to the public officials for comments that were made on our XM show on May 9. We take very seriously the responsibility that comes with our creative freedom and regret any offense that this segment has caused." On May 15, 2007, XM suspended Opie and Anthony for 30 days.

Donald Trump made a handful of calls to the show to promote his television series The Apprentice, and it appeared that relations between the radio show and Donald Trump were positive. However, Trump was later interviewed and called Opie and Anthony "two slobs" and swore never to appear on the show again, seemingly over a press release made by O&A; that stated that Trump called them. Trump interpreted that statement as implying that he was desperate for media attention. Trump was supposed to call the show on January 10, 2008, but did not.

Weinergate Photo Release During his June 8th, 2011 appearance, Andrew Breitbart showed Opie and Anthony a picture of Anthony Weiner's erect penis. A listener forwarded them a screenshot captured from their live Paltalk video feed, and Opie posted it on Twitter. Andrew Breitbart was very upset at what transpired. Opie had also taken a picture of the photo during the showing without the knowledge of Breitbart.

Stations

The O&A; Show can now be heard on Sirius XM Radio, live from 6 AM – 11 AM Eastern (the show regularly runs live until 10 AM and runs "After Opie & Anthony Live" (hosted by Sam Roberts) until 11) on XM channel 105, The Virus or on Sirius channel 206.

Show rundowns / recaps

Shows from October 2004-February 2006 Written by Mellinda

Shows from June 2006-October/November 2006 Written by Happytypingirl

Shows from October/November 2006-Mid 2008 Written by Struff

Current Shows Written by Struff

O&A; show rundowns (on KROCK) by Steven S from Bayshore; were lost following the K-Rock format change

See also

The Virus (XM)

References

External links

;Official Sites

XM Satellite Radio (XM 202 "The Virus" – The Virus Homepage)

OA Pedia An Opie and Anthony Encyclopedia

Category:American talk radio hosts Category:American comedy radio programs Category:Duos Category:Viral marketing Category:Radio programs on XM Radio Category:Living people

Name	Pete Rose
Position	OF / 1B / 3B / 2B / Mgr
Bats	Switch
Throws	Right
Birth date	April 14, 1941
Birth place	Cincinnati, Ohio
Debutdate	April 8
Debutyear	1963
Debutteam	Cincinnati Reds
Finaldate	August 17
Finalyear	1986
Finalteam	Cincinnati Reds
Stat1label	Batting average
Stat1value	.303
Stat2label	Hits
Stat2value	4,256
Stat3label	Home runs
Stat3value	160
Stat4label	Runs batted in
Stat4value	1,314
Teams	As player Cincinnati Reds (–) Philadelphia Phillies (–) Montreal Expos () Cincinnati Reds (–) As manager Cincinnati Reds (–)
Highlights	3× World Series champion (, , ) 1973 NL MVP 1975 World Series MVP 3× National League Batting Champion (, , 17× All-Star (1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1985) 2× Gold Glove Award winner (1969, 1970) Silver Slugger Award winner (1981) 1963 NL Rookie of the Year 1968 Hutch Award 1969 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award 1976 Roberto Clemente Award Major League Baseball All-Century Team Holds numerous other records and achievements MLB Records 4,256 career hits 3,562 career games played 14,053 career at-bats }}

Peter Edward Rose (born April 14, 1941), nicknamed "Charlie Hustle" and "Hose Ose", is a former Major League Baseball player and manager. Rose played from 1963 to 1986, and managed from 1984 to 1989.

Rose, a switch hitter, is the all-time Major League leader in hits (4,256), games played (3,562), at-bats (14,053) and outs (10,328). He won three World Series rings, three batting titles, one Most Valuable Player Award, two Gold Gloves, the Rookie of the Year Award, and made 17 All-Star appearances at an unequaled five different positions (2B, LF, RF, 3B & 1B).

In August 1989, three years after he retired as an active player, Rose agreed to permanent ineligibility from baseball amidst accusations that he gambled on baseball games while playing for and managing the Reds, including claims that he bet on his own team. In 1991, the Baseball Hall of Fame formally voted to ban those on the "permanently ineligible" list from induction, after previously excluding such players by informal agreement among voters. In 2004, after years of public denial, Rose admitted to betting on baseball and on, but not against, the Reds. The issue of Rose's possible re-instatement and election to the Hall of Fame remains a contentious one throughout baseball.

Early life

Peter Edward Rose was born April 14, 1941 in Cincinnati, Ohio, one of four children born to Harry Francis "Pete" and LaVerne Rose. He was a member of the Order of DeMolay as a young boy, and was encouraged by his parents to participate in sports. According to Rose, his father was the biggest influence on Rose and his sports career.

Rose played both baseball and football at Western Hills High School. He was small for his age but earned the starting running back position on his freshman football team. When he was not promoted to the varsity football team in his sophomore year, Rose was dejected and lost interest in his studies. At the end of the school year, Rose's teachers decreed that he would have to attend summer school or be held back. Harry Rose decided that it would be better for Pete to repeat a year of school than miss a summer playing baseball. Plus, it would give Pete an extra year to mature physically. When Pete reached his senior year, he had already used up his four years of sports eligibility, so in the Spring of 1960, he joined the Class AA team sponsored by Frisch's Big Boy of Lebanon, Ohio in the Dayton Amateur League. He played catcher, second base, and shortstop and compiled a .626 batting average. This would have been the pinnacle of Rose's baseball career if not for the help of his uncle Buddy Bloebaum. Bloebaum was a bird dog scout for the Reds and he pleaded the case for his nephew. The Reds, who had recently traded away a number of prospects who turned out to be very good, decided to take a chance on Pete. Upon his graduation from high school, Rose signed a professional contract. He got a $7,000 ($}} today) signing bonus and was promised $5,000 ($}} today) more if he made it all the way to the Major Leagues and managed to stay there for 30 days.

Minor leagues

Rose was signed by the Reds as an amateur free agent on June 18, 1960, and was assigned to the Geneva Redlegs of the New York-Penn League. He played second base, pushing new teammate Tony Perez to third base. Pete hit only .277 and struggled in the field. However, the Geneva fans appreciated his hustling style and voted him Most Popular Player at the end of the season. Pete's manager in Geneva was not very positive about Pete's skills, sending a report back to Cincinnati that said, "Pete Rose can't make a double play, can't throw, can't hit left handed, and can't run." In 1961 Rose was promoted to the Class D Tampa Tarpons of the Florida State League, where he batted .331 and led the league in hits, total bases, and triples. He actually set a new league record for triples, besting the old mark by more than 10. In 1962 Rose played for the Macon Peaches in Class A Sally League. He hit .330 and led the league in triples and runs scored.

Cincinnati Reds

Rookie of the Year

During a spring training game against the Chicago White Sox in 1963, the Reds' regular second baseman, Don Blasingame, pulled a groin muscle; Rose got his chance and made the most of it. During another spring training game against the New York Yankees, Whitey Ford gave him the derisive nickname "Charlie Hustle" after Rose sprinted to first base after drawing a walk. Despite (or perhaps because of) the manner in which Ford intended it, Rose adopted that nickname as a badge of honor. In Ken Burns' documentary Baseball, Mickey Mantle claimed that Ford gave Rose the nickname after Rose, playing in left field, made an effort to climb the fence to try to catch a Mantle home run that everyone could see was headed over everything.

Rose made the club, and made his major league debut on April 8, 1963 (Opening Day) against the Pittsburgh Pirates and drew a walk. After going 0-for-11, Rose got his first Major League hit on April 13, a triple off Pittsburgh's Bob Friend. He hit .273 for the year and won the National League Rookie of the Year Award, collecting 17 of 20 votes.

Rose entered the US Army Reserves after the 1963 baseball season. He was assigned to Fort Knox for six months of active duty, which was followed by six years of regular attendance with a 478th Engineering Battalion USAR at Fort Thomas, Kentucky. At Fort Knox, he was a platoon guide and graduated from United States Army Basic Training January 18, 1964, one week before his marriage to Karolyn. Rose then remained at Fort Knox to assist the sergeant in training the next platoon and to help another sergeant train the Fort's baseball team. Rose received some special treatment during basic training, including befriending the colonel and not having his head shaved. Later in his Fort Thomas service, Rose served as company cook which entailed coming in early for the one weekend/month meeting so that he could get out early enough to participate in local Reds games. Other Reds players in the unit included Johnny Bench, Bobby Tolan, and Darrel Chaney.

Early years

On April 23, 1964, in the top of the ninth inning of a scoreless game in Colt Stadium, Rose reached first base on an error and scored on another error to make Houston Astros Ken Johnson the first pitcher to lose a complete game no-hitter. However, he slumped late in the season, was benched, and finished with just a .269 average. Rose came back in 1965, leading the league in hits (209) and at-bats (670), and finishing sixth in NL MVP balloting. It was the first of his ten seasons with 200-plus hits, and his .312 batting average was the first of nine consecutive .300 seasons. He hit a career-high 16 home runs in 1966, then switched positions from second base to right field the following year.

In 1968, Rose started the season with a 22-game hit streak, missed three weeks (including the All-Star Game) with a broken thumb, then had a 19-game hit streak late in the season. He had to finish the season 6-for-9 to beat out Matty Alou and win the first of two close NL batting-title races with a .335 average. He finished second to St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson for the NL MVP award, earning six first place votes.

Rose had his best offensive season in 1969, setting a career high in batting (.348) and tying his career-best 16 homers. As the Reds' leadoff man, he was the team's catalyst, rapping 218 hits, walking 88 times and pacing the league in runs with 120. He hit 33 doubles, 11 triples, He drove in 82 runs, slugged .512 (by far the highest mark of his long career), had a .432 OBP (also a career best). Rose and Roberto Clemente were tied for the batting title going into the final game; Rose bunted for a base hit in his last at-bat of the season to beat out Clemente (.345).

1970 All-Star game

On July 14, 1970, in brand-new Riverfront Stadium (opened just two weeks earlier), Rose was involved in one of the most famous plays in All-Star Game history. Leading off against the California Angels' Clyde Wright in the 12th inning, Rose hit a single and advanced to second on another single by the Los Angeles Dodgers' Billy Grabarkewitz. The Chicago Cubs’ Jim Hickman then singled sharply to center. Amos Otis' throw went past Cleveland Indians catcher Ray Fosse, as Rose barreled over Fosse to score the winning run. It has been written that Fosse suffered a separated shoulder in the collision, but it went undiagnosed initially. Fosse continued to hit for average (he finished the season at .307), but with diminished power — he had 16 homers before the break but only two after. He played through the 1979 season, but never approached his first-year numbers. The collision also caused Rose to miss three games with a bruised knee. As can be seen in a replay of the event, Rose initially intended to slide headfirst as he usually did, but when Fosse blocked the plate prior to the throw reaching home, an off-balance Rose came back up and ran through Fosse as the throw went by. Immediately after the play, Rose can be seen trying to check on the injured Fosse as Rose's National League teammates ran onto the field to celebrate his winning run.

1973 season

In 1973, Rose led the league with 230 hits and a .338 batting average en route to winning the NL MVP award, and leading "the Big Red Machine" to the 1973 National League Championship Series against the New York Mets.

During the fifth inning of game three of the series, Joe Morgan hit a double play ball to Mets first baseman John Milner with Rose on first. Rose's slide into second attempting to break up the double play incited a fight with Mets shortstop Bud Harrelson, resulting in a bench-clearing brawl. The game was nearly called off when, after the Reds took the field, the Shea Stadium crowd threw objects from the stands at Rose, causing Reds manager Sparky Anderson to pull his team off the field until order was restored. Mets Manager Yogi Berra and players Willie Mays, Tom Seaver, Cleon Jones, and Rusty Staub were actually summoned by NL President Chub Feeney out to left field to calm the fans. The Reds ended up losing the game, 2-7, and the NLCS, 2-3, despite Rose’s .381 batting average in the series, and his eighth-inning home run to tie Game One and his 12th-inning home run to win Game Four.

The Big Red Machine

The Cincinnati Reds of the 1970s earned the nickname "the Big Red Machine," and is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest teams ever. On a team with many great players, Rose, along with Hall of Famers Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Tony Pérez, was viewed as one of the club's leaders.

In 1975, Rose earned the Hickok Belt as top professional athlete of the year and Sports Illustrated magazine's "Sportsman of the Year" award. The following year, he was a major force in helping the Reds repeat as World Series champions. The 1976 Reds swept the Phillies 3–0 in the 1976 National League Championship Series, then swept the Yankees 4–0 in the World Series. The 1976 Cincinnati Reds remain the only team since the expansion of the playoffs in 1969 to go undefeated in the postseason. The Reds have not lost a World Series game since Carlton Fisk's extra inning home run in 1975, a span of 9 straight wins. What tends to get overlooked was that in 1975 and 1976, it was the successful changing of Rose's primary position from the outfield to fill the void at third base (3B) that seemed to solidify the Reds team for these 2 championship seasons as this move enabled the Reds to use power hitting outfielder George Foster more.

44-game hitting streak

On May 5, 1978, Rose became the 13th player in major league history to collect his 3,000th career hit, with a single off Montreal Expos pitcher Steve Rogers. On June 14 in Cincinnati, Rose singled in the first inning off Cubs pitcher Dave Roberts; Rose would proceed to get a hit in every game he played until August 1, making a run at Joe DiMaggio’s record 56-game hitting streak, which had stood virtually unchallenged for 37 years. The streak started quietly, but by the time it had reached 30 games, the media took notice and a pool of reporters accompanied Rose and the Reds to every game. On July 19 against the Philadelphia Phillies, Rose was hitless going into the ninth with his team trailing. He ended up walking in the eighth inning and the streak appeared over. But the Reds managed to bat through their entire lineup, giving Rose another chance to bat in the ninth innning. Facing Ron Reed, Rose laid down a perfect bunt single to extend the streak to 32 games.

He would eventually tie Willie Keeler's 1897 single season National League record at 44 games; but on August 1, the streak came to an end as Gene Garber of the Atlanta Braves struck out Rose in the ninth inning. The competitive Rose was sour after the game, blasting Garber and the Braves for treating the situation "like it was the ninth inning of the 7th game of the World Series" and adding that "Phil Niekro would have given me a fastball to hit."

Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies had won the National League East three years running (1976–1978) two of which were won with 101 win seasons, but were unable to make it to the World Series. In 1979, believing that he was the player who could bring them over the top, the Phillies temporarily made Rose the highest-paid athlete in team sports when they signed him to a four-year, $3.2-million contract as a free agent. With perennial All-Star Mike Schmidt firmly entrenched at third, Rose made the final position change of his career to first base.

Although they missed the postseason in his first year with the team, they earned three division titles (one in the first half of the strike shortened 1981 season), two World Series appearances and their first ever World Series title () in the following four years.

The worst season of Rose's career was also the season that the Phillies played in their second World Series in four years, 1983. Rose batted only .245 with 121 hits, and found himself benched during the latter part of the '83 season, appearing periodically to play and pinch hit. Rose did blossom as a pinch-hitter, with 8 hits in 21 at bats - .381 average.

Rose bounced back in a big way during the postseason, batting .375 (6-for-16) during the N.L. Playoffs against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and .312 in the World Series (5-for-16). Rose collected only one hit in his first eight at-bats in the first two games in Baltimore against the 1983 A.L. Champions. Rose found himself benched for game three back in Philadelphia, and would ground out in a pinch-hitting appearance. Worse yet, Rose showed some unsportsmanlike attitude toward his own manager, Paul Owens, complaining about his benching in a pre-game interview with ABC's Howard Cosell. Rose bounced back with four hits in his last seven at-bats in the remaining two games. Still, the Phillies lost decisively to the Baltimore Orioles in the 1983 World Series, 4 games to 1.

Montreal Expos

Rose was granted an unconditional release from the Phillies in late October 1983. Phillies management wanted to retain Rose for the 1984 season, but he refused to accept a more limited playing role. Months later, he signed a one-year contract with the Montreal Expos. On April 13, 1984, the 21st anniversary of his first career hit, Rose doubled off of the Phillies’ Jerry Koosman for his 4,000th career hit, joining Ty Cobb to become only the second player to enter the 4000 hit club. Only his 1984 Topps Traded, 1984 Fleer Update and 1985 Donruss baseball cards show Rose as an Expo.

Back to Cincinnati

Rose was traded to the Reds for infielder Tom Lawless on August 15, 1984 and was immediately named player-manager, replacing Reds' manager Vern Rapp. Though he only batted .259 for the Expos, his average jumped to .365 with the Reds, as he managed them to a 19–22 record for the remainder of the season.

On September 11, 1985, Rose broke Ty Cobb’s all-time hits record with his 4,192nd hit, a single to left-center field off San Diego Padres pitcher Eric Show. According to its Web site, MLB.com, Major League Baseball continues to recognize Cobb's final hit total as 4,191, though independent research has revealed that two of Cobb's hits were counted twice. Because of this, it has been suggested that Rose actually broke Cobb's record against the Cubs' Reggie Patterson with a single in the first inning of a Reds' 5–5 called game against Chicago on September 8. Because Rose broke Cobb's record, ABC's Wide World of Sports named Rose as its Athlete of the Year that year. Rose accumulated a total of 4,256 hits before his final career at-bat, a strikeout against San Diego’s Rich Gossage on August 17, 1986.

Retirement from playing

On November 11, Rose was dropped from the Reds’ 40-man roster to make room for pitcher Pat Pacillo, and he unofficially retired as a player, however, he continued as manager. "Charlie Hustle" finished with an incredible number of Major League and National League records that have lasted for many years. Rose, always proud of his ability to hit .300 or better in 15 of his 24 playing seasons, has a lifetime .303 batting average.

Rose managed the Reds from August 15, 1984, to August 24, 1989, with a 426-388 record. During his four full seasons at the helm (1985–1988), the Reds posted four second-place finishes in the NL West division. His 426 managerial wins rank fifth in Reds history.

Rose was the manager when Tom Browning posted his perfect game at Riverfront Stadium on September 16, 1988, the first one pitched in the National League since Sandy Koufax pitched one in 1965. Coincidentally, it was against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Koufax's old team.

30 days suspension

On April 30, 1988 during a home game against the New York Mets, following a call by umpire Dave Pallone, which allowed the Mets' eventual winning run to score in the 6–5 game, Rose argued and made physical contact with the umpire, pushing him. Rose claimed that Pallone had scratched him in the face during the argument, which provoked the push. National League president A. Bartlett Giamatti suspended Rose for 30 days, which was the longest suspension ever levied for an on-field incident involving a manager. The shove caused a near-riot at Riverfront Stadium, and fans showered the field with debris. The length of the suspension did allow Rose to undergo and fully recuperate from knee surgery.

Permanent ineligibility

Amid reports that he had bet on baseball, Rose was questioned in February 1989 by outgoing commissioner Peter Ueberroth and his replacement, Bart Giamatti. Rose denied the allegations and Ueberroth dropped the investigation. However, three days after Giamatti became Commissioner, lawyer John M. Dowd was retained to investigate these charges against Rose. Sports Illustrated, who first reported the story of Rose's gambling on March 21, 1989 , gave the public their first detailed report of the allegations that Rose had placed bets on baseball games. Sports Illustrated ran the cover story in issue for the week of April 3rd, 1989 .

Dowd interviewed many of Rose's associates, including alleged bookies and bet runners. He delivered a summary of his findings to the Commissioner in May. In it, Dowd documented Rose's alleged gambling activities in 1985 and 1986 and compiled a day-by-day account of Rose's alleged betting on baseball games in 1987. The Dowd Report documented his alleged bets on 52 Reds games in 1987, where Rose wagered a minimum of $10,000 a day. Others involved in the allegations claim that number was actually $2,000 a day.

According to the Dowd Report itself, "no evidence was discovered that Rose bet against the Reds." This is in contrast to the case of "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and his teammates in the Black Sox Scandal, who were accused of intentionally losing the 1919 World Series. Those critical of Rose's behavior, including Ohio's own Hall of Fame baseball reporter Hal McCoy, have observed that "the major problem with Rose betting on baseball, particularly the Reds, is that as manager he could control games, make decisions that could enhance his chances of winning his bets, thus jeopardizing the integrity of the game."

Rose continued to deny all of the accusations against him and refused to appear at a hearing with Giamatti on the matter. He filed a lawsuit alleging that the Commissioner had prejudged the case and could not provide a fair hearing. A Cincinnati judge issued a temporary restraining order to delay the hearing, but Giamatti fought to have the case moved to Federal Court. The Commissioner prevailed in that effort, after which he and Rose entered settlement negotiations.

On August 24, 1989, Rose voluntarily accepted a permanent place on baseball’s ineligible list. Rose accepted that there was a factual reason for the ban; in return, Major League Baseball agreed to make no formal finding with regard to the gambling allegations. According to baseball's rules, Rose could apply for reinstatement in one year. Rose, with a 412-373 record, was replaced as Reds manager by Tommy Helms. Rose began therapy with a psychiatrist for treatment of a gambling addiction.

In a December 2002 interview, investigator Dowd stated that he believed that Rose may have bet against the Reds while managing them.

Rose's ban has prevented the Reds from formally retiring his #14 jersey. However, aside from his son Pete Jr.'s brief stint with the team in 1997, the Reds have not issued that number since Rose's ban. Even though the number has not been retired, it is highly unlikely that any Red will ever wear that number again. Uniform number 14 was retired in Rose's honor by the Cincinnati Cyclones of the East Coast Hockey League.

Tax evasion

On April 20, 1990, Rose pleaded guilty to two charges of filing false income tax returns not showing income he received from selling autographs and memorabilia, and from horse racing winnings. On July 19, Rose was sentenced to five months in the medium security Prison Camp at the United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois and fined $50,000. He was released on January 7, 1991 after having paid $366,041 in back taxes and interest, and was required to perform 1000 hours of community service.

Hall of Fame eligibility

On February 4, 1991, the Hall of Fame voted formally to exclude individuals on the permanently ineligible list from being inducted into the Hall of Fame by way of the Baseball Writers Association of America vote (though it was already an "unwritten" rule prior). Rose is the only living member of the ineligible list. Players who were not selected by the BWAA could be considered by the Veterans Committee in the first year after they would have lost their place on the Baseball Writers' ballot. Under the Hall's rules, players may appear on the ballot for only fifteen years, beginning five years after they retire. Had he not been banned from baseball, Rose's name could have been on the writers' ballot beginning in 1992 and ending in 2006. He would have been eligible for consideration by the Veterans Committee in 2007, but did not appear on the ballot. In 2008 the Veterans Committee barred players and managers on the ineligible list from consideration.

MLB All-Century team

In 1999, Rose was selected as an outfielder on the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. To select the team, a panel of experts first compiled a list of the 100 greatest players from the past century. Fans then voted on the players using paper and online ballots.

An exception was made to his ban to allow him to participate in the pre-game introduction of the All-Century team before Game 2 of the 1999 World Series between the Braves and Yankees. Despite never having been a member of the Braves, Rose received the loudest ovation of the All-Century team members from the crowd at Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia.

After the ceremony on live television, NBC's Jim Gray repeatedly asked Rose if he was ready to admit to betting on baseball and apologize. Many people were outraged over Gray's aggressive questioning, feeling that it detracted from the ceremony. In protest, Yankees outfielder Chad Curtis, at the behest of his team, refused to speak with Gray after his game-winning home run in Game 3. Earlier that season, Rose had been ranked at number 25 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players.

While allowing him to participate in the All-Century Team, MLB has refused to allow him to participate in local events in Cincinnati, such as the 25th anniversary reunion of the Big Red Machine, the closing of Cinergy Field, and the opening of the Great American Ballpark, as well as the closing of Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia and 1980 Phillies anniversary celebrations.

Reinstatement efforts

In September 1997, Rose applied for reinstatement. Bud Selig, the Commissioner of Major League Baseball, never acted on that application. He had previously applied for reinstatement in 1992, but then-commissioner Fay Vincent also never acted on it.

In public comments, Selig said he saw no reason to reconsider Rose's punishment; however, in March 2003, Selig acknowledged that he was considering Rose's application, leading to speculation that Rose's return might be imminent. Ultimately, however, Selig took no action. Even supporters of Rose's reinstatement concede that it is not likely that reinstatement will occur under Selig's tenure as commissioner.

On July 27, 2009, the New York Daily News reported that Commissioner Selig has seriously considered lifting Rose's lifetime suspension from baseball. The next day, Selig shot down these rumors and Rose will in fact remain suspended, indefinitely.

Coming clean

In his autobiography My Prison Without Bars, published by Rodale Press on January 8, 2004, Rose finally admitted publicly to betting on baseball games and other sports while playing for and managing the Reds. He also admitted to betting on Reds games, but said that he never bet against the Reds. He repeated his admissions in an interview on the ABC news program Primetime Thursday. He also said in the book that he hoped his admissions would help end his ban from baseball so that he could reapply for reinstatement.

In March 2007 during an interview on The Dan Patrick Show on ESPN Radio, Rose said, "I bet on my team every night. I didn't bet on my team four nights a week. I bet on my team to win every night because I loved my team, I believed in my team," he said. "I did everything in my power every night to win that game." Whether Rose bet every night is significant to whether he had an incentive to influence the team's performance depending on whether he had a bet down on a particular game. John Dowd disputed Rose's contention that he bet on the Reds every night, asserting that Rose did not bet on his team when Mario Soto or Bill Gullickson pitched. Both Gullickson and Soto had ERA's substantially poorer than others in the National League during 1987.

The criticism of Rose did not diminish after this admission—even some Rose supporters were outraged that Rose would suddenly reverse fifteen years of denials as part of a book publicity tour. In addition, the timing was called into question—by making his admission just two days after the Baseball Hall of Fame announced its class of 2004 inductees, Rose appeared to be linking himself publicly to the Hall. Further adding to the debate was the 2004 ESPN made-for-TV movie Hustle, starring Tom Sizemore as Rose, which documents Rose's gambling problem and his subsequent ban from baseball.

WWE

Between the years 1998 and 2000, Rose appeared at World Wrestling Entertainment's annual WrestleMania pay-per-view event. At WrestleMania XIV he served as "guest ring announcer" during a match between Kane and the Undertaker, before which he took a Tombstone Piledriver from Kane (nicknamed "The Big Red Machine" for his red ring attire). For the next year's WrestleMania XV, Rose was portrayed as seeking revenge. To do so he dressed as the San Diego Chicken and "attacked" Kane before his scheduled match, only to take another Tombstone. He returned for a third time the following year, at WrestleMania 2000, but again was thwarted by Kane, as well as his tag team partner that night, Rikishi.

In addition to these three appearances, he appeared in a Halloween-themed commercial for WWE's No Mercy event in 2002 and was chokeslammed by Kane. In 2004, Rose was inducted into the "Celebrity Wing" of the WWE Hall of Fame. He was the first celebrity to go into the Hall, and was inducted at a ceremony prior to WrestleMania XX by Kane himself.

On March 22, 2010, he appeared as the guest host on WWE Raw, which was the last episode of Raw before WrestleMania XXVI. As his first order of business, he setup a match between Shawn Michaels and Kane, which Michaels won. Later on in the night, Kane attacked Rose offscreen.

Personal life

Pete Rose married Karolyn Englehardt on January 25, 1964, and the couple had two children, daughter Fawn (born on December 29, 1964) and son Pete Rose Jr. (born on November 16, 1969). The couple divorced in 1980.

Rose married his second wife, Carol J. Woliung, in 1984. They have two children, son Tyler (born on October 1, 1984) and daughter Cara (born on August 22, 1989). Rose filed for divorce from Carol in March 2011. The 69-year-old Rose cited irreconcilable differences for the split, but his petition did not offer any additional details. Rose didn’t include a date for their separation. Further documents in the filing say that Rose is looking to acquire all memorabilia and other possessions before the marriage.

Rose began openly having an affair with glamor model Kiana Kim while still married to his wife Carol. During a 2009 interview, Rose discussed his relationship with Kim while omitting her name, stating, “My girl has finally decided to try to shoot for Playboy, and they were kind enough to give her an opportunity to come to Houston for an interview, and we’re excited about that.”

Two of Rose's children have lived public lives. Cara has worked as a television actress, appearing as a regular in the first season of the soap opera Passions and playing a recurring role on Melrose Place. She uses the stage name "Chea Courtney".

His oldest son, Pete Rose Jr., spent sixteen years as a minor league baseball player, advancing to the majors once for an 11-game stint with the Cincinnati Reds in 1997. In his first Major League at-bat, Pete Jr. paid tribute to his father by imitating Pete Sr.'s famous batting stance. In November 2005, Rose Jr. was indicted for distributing gamma butyrolactone (GBL) to his Chattanooga Lookouts teammates in the late 1990s. Rose Jr. pled guilty to this charge on November 7, 2005, claiming that he distributed GBL to teammates to help them relax after games. On May 1, 2006, Rose Jr. was convicted on this charge and was sentenced to one month in federal prison, from June 5 to July 5, 2006, and house arrest for 5 more months after release from prison. He currently resides in Boca Raton, Florida.

Records and achievements

Major League records:

*Most career hits - 4,256

*Most career outs - 10,328

*Most career games played - 3,562

*Most career at bats - 14,053

*Most career singles - 3,215

*Most career runs by a switch hitter - 2,165

*Most career doubles by a switch hitter - 746

*Most career walks by a switch hitter - 1,566

*Most career total bases by a switch hitter - 5,752

*Most seasons of 200 or more hits - 10

*Most consecutive seasons of 100 or more hits - 23

*Most consecutive seasons with 600 or more at bats - 13 (1968–1980)

*Most seasons with 600 at bats - 17

*Most seasons with 150 or more games played - 17

*Most seasons with 100 or more games played - 23

*Record for playing in the most winning games - 1,972

*Only player in major league history to play more than 500 games at five different positions - 1B (939), LF (671), 3B (634), 2B (628), RF (595)

National League records:

*Most years played - 24

*Most consecutive years played - 24

*Most career runs - 2,165

*Most career doubles - 746

*Most career games with 5 or more hits - 10

*Modern (post-1900) NL record for longest consecutive game hitting streak NL - 44

*Modern record for most consecutive hitting streaks of 20 or more games - 7

See also

3000 hit club

List of Major League Baseball hit records

List of Major League Baseball doubles records

Major League Baseball scandals

DHL Hometown Heroes

Major League Baseball All-Century Team

Major League Baseball record holders

List of Major League Baseball players with 2,000 hits

List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles

List of Major League Baseball players with 100 triples

List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs

List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI

List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases

List of Major League Baseball batting champions

List of Major League Baseball runs scored champions

List of Major League Baseball doubles champions

Major League Baseball consecutive games played streaks

Major League Baseball titles leaders

References

External links

PeteRose.com - Official website

WWE Hall of Fame Profile of Pete Rose

baseball1.com - the Dowd Report on Rose's gambling

baseball1.com agreement between Rose & MLB

Will a new All- Time Hit King be Crowned?

Category:American people convicted of tax crimes Category:Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners Category:National League batting champions Category:Major League Baseball player–managers Category:Cincinnati Reds managers Category:Cincinnati Reds players Category:Gold Glove Award winners Category:Philadelphia Phillies players Category:Major League Baseball first basemen Category:Major League Baseball left fielders Category:Baseball players from Ohio Category:Baseball players from Cincinnati, Ohio Category:Major League Baseball second basemen Category:Montreal Expos players Category:National League All-Stars Category:Sportspeople from Cincinnati, Ohio Category:Sports betting scandals Category:WWE Hall of Fame Category:1941 births Category:Living people Category:Geneva Redlegs players Category:Tampa Tarpons players Category:Macon Peaches players Category:Major League Baseball controversies Category:American people of German descent

da:Pete Rose es:Pete Rose fr:Pete Rose ja:ピート・ローズ sv:Pete Rose zh:彼得·羅斯

Name	Christy Mathewson
Nicknames	Big Six, The Christian Gentleman, Matty
Position	Pitcher
Bats	Right
Throws	Right
Birth date	August 12, 1880
Birth place	Factoryville, Pennsylvania, United States
Death date
Death place	Saranac Lake, New York, United States
Debutdate	July 17
Debutyear	1900
Debutteam	New York Giants
Finaldate	September 4
Finalyear	1916
Finalteam	Cincinnati Reds
Stat1label	Win-Loss record
Stat1value	373–188
Stat2label	Earned run average
Stat2value	2.13
Stat3label	Strikeouts
Stat3value	2,502
Stat4label	Shutouts
Stat4value	79
Teams	As Player New York Giants (–) Cincinnati Reds () As Manager Cincinnati Reds (–)
Highlights	World Series champion () 373 career wins (3rd all-time) 2.13 career ERA (8th all-time) 1.059 career WHIP (5th all time) Won 20 games or more 13 times, won 30 games or more 4 times. Pitched 79 shutouts (3rd all time) Won NL Pitcher's Triple Crown in 1905 and 1908 Five-time ERA champion (1905, 1908, 1909, 1911, 1913) Five-time strikeout champion (1903, 1904, 1905, 1907, 1908) Pitched two no-hitters. Name honored by the Giants. Major League Baseball All-Century Team
Hofdate	1936
Hofvote	90.7% (first ballot) }}

Christopher "Christy" Mathewson (August 12, 1880 – October 7, 1925), nicknamed "Big Six", "The Christian Gentleman", or "Matty", was an American Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He played his entire career in what is known as the dead-ball era. In , Mathewson was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of its "first five" inaugural members.

Early life

Mathewson was born in Factoryville, Pennsylvania and attended Bucknell University, where he served as class president and played on the school's football and baseball teams. He was also a member of the fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. His first experience of semi-professional baseball came in 1895, when he was just 14 years old. The manager of the Factoryville ball club asked him to pitch in a game with a rival team in Mill City, Pennsylvania. Mathewson helped his hometown team to a 19–victory, but with his batting rather than his pitching. He continued to play baseball during his years at Bucknell, pitching for minor league teams in Honesdale and Meridian, Pennsylvania. Matthewson was selected to the Walter Camp All-American football team in 1900. He was a drop-kicker.

Professional career

Minor league career & early major league career

In , Mathewson left college and signed to play professional baseball with Taunton of the New England League. The next season, he moved on to play on the Norfolk team of the Virginia-North Carolina League. He finished that season with a 20–2 record.

In July of that year, the New York Giants purchased his contract from Norfolk for $1,500. Between July and September 1900 Mathewson appeared in six games for the Giants. He started one of those games and compiled a 0–3 record. Displeased with his performance, the Giants returned him to Norfolk and demanded their money back. Later that month, the Cincinnati Reds picked up Mathewson off the Norfolk roster. On December 15, 1900, the Reds quickly traded Mathewson back to the Giants for Amos Rusie.

Career with the Giants

During his 17-year career, Mathewson won 373 games and lost 188 for an outstanding .665 winning percentage. His career ERA of 2.13 and 79 career shutouts are among the best all-time for pitchers, and his 373 wins is still number one in the National League, tied with Grover Cleveland Alexander. Employing a good fastball, outstanding control, and, especially, a new pitch he termed the "fadeaway" (later known in baseball as the "screwball"), which he learned from teammate Dave Williams in 1898, Mathewson recorded 2,502 career strikeouts against only 844 walks. He is famous for his 25 pitching duels with Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown, who won 13 of the duels against Mathewson's 11, with one no-decision.

Mathewson's Giants won the 1905 World Series over the Philadelphia Athletics. Mathewson was the starting pitcher in Game 1, and pitched a 4-hit shutout for the victory. Three days later, with the series tied 1–1, he pitched another 4-hit shutout. Then, two days later in Game 5, he threw a 6-hit shutout to clinch the series for the Giants. In a span of only six days, Mathewson had pitched three complete games without allowing a run.

The 1905 World Series capped an impressive year for Mathewson as he had already won the National League Triple Crown for pitchers, and threw the second no-hitter of his career. He claimed the Triple Crown again in , and by the time he left the Giants, the team had captured four more National League pennants, in addition to the aforementioned appearance in the World Series.

As noted in The National League Story (1961) by Lee Allen, Matty was a devout Christian, and never pitched on Sunday. The impact of this on the Giants was minimized, since, in the eight-team National league, only the Chicago Cubs (Illinois), Cincinnati Reds (Ohio), and St. Louis Cardinals (Missouri), played home games in states that allowed professional sports on Sunday.

Mathewson played with his brother Henry Mathewson, also a pitcher, in 1906 and 1907; Mathewson had 1 win and no losses.

Three years with the Reds

On July 20, , Mathewson's career came full circle when he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds along with Edd Roush. He won one game with the Reds and served as their manager for the next three seasons.

Mathewson and Brown wrapped up their respective careers by squaring off on September 4, 1916. The game was billed as the final meeting between the two old baseball warriors. The high-scoring game was a win for Mathewson's Reds over Brown's Cubs.

WWI and after

In 1918, Mathewson enlisted in the United States Army for World War I. He served overseas as a Captain in the newly formed Chemical Service along with Ty Cobb. While in France, during a training exercise he was accidentally gassed and subsequently developed tuberculosis. Although he returned to serve as a coach for the Giants from –, he spent a good portion of that time in Saranac Lake fighting the illness, initially at the Trudeau Sanitorium, and later in a house that he had built. In , Mathewson got back into professional baseball when he served as part-time president of the Boston Braves.

Death and legacy

Two years later, he died in Saranac Lake, New York. He is buried at Lewisburg Cemetery in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Members of the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Washington Senators wore black armbands during the 1925 World Series. Mathewson had died on the day the Series began, October 7.

Christy Mathewson Day is celebrated as a holiday in his hometown of Factoryville, Pennsylvania, on the Saturday closest to his birthday.

Christy Mathewson Day and Factoryville, PA are the subjects of the Documentary, "Christy Mathewson Day"

Bucknell's football stadium is named "Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium".

The former Whittenton Ballfield in Taunton, Massachusetts, is named in memory of Christy Mathewson, who played for the Taunton team in the New England Baseball League before he joined the New York Giants.

Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver has often been compared with Mathewson.

Singer/pianist/songwriter Dave Frishberg's song "Matty" is a sentimental tribute to Christy. The song may be found on Frishberg's albums "Quality Time" and "Let's Eat Home," plus a live version on "Retromania: At the Jazz Bakery," which contains other baseball related songs. Frishberg's liner notes and occasional commentary to his audience help explain the background to many of these songs.

The band Family Groove Company has a song on their first album Reachin' entitled "Christy" that relates some of Mathewson's achievements.

Mathewson is mentioned in the poem "Line-Up for Yesterday" by Ogden Nash:

Baseball honors

In 1936, Christy Mathewson was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of the famous "First Five" inductees into the HOF, along with Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson and Honus Wagner. He was the only one of the five who didn't live to see his induction.

His jersey, denoted as "NY", has been retired by the Giants and hangs in the left-field corner of AT&T; Park. Uniform numbers were not used in those days.

In 1999, he ranked number 7 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, the highest-ranking National League pitcher.

ESPN selected his pitching performance in the 1905 World Series as the greatest playoff performance of all time. During World War II, a 422 foot Liberty Ship named in his honor, SS Christy Mathewson, was built in Richmond, CA in 1943.

His plaque at the Baseball Hall of Fame says: "Greatest of all of the great pitchers in the 20th century's first quarter" and ends with the statement: "Matty was master of them all"

Professional football

While a member of the New York Giants, Mathewson played professional football in the first National Football League (NFL) in 1902. He played as a fullback for the Pittsburgh Stars. However, Mathewson disappeared from the team in the middle of their season. Some historians speculate that the Giants got word that their star pitcher was risking his life and baseball career for the Stars and ordered him to stop, while others feel that the Stars' coach got rid of Mathewson because he felt that, since the fullback's punting skills were hardly used, he could replace him with local resident Shirley Ellis.

Statistics

Career statistics: Pitching {| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="width:400px;" |- align=center | W | L | WP | GP | GS | CG | ShO | SV | IP | H | BB | SO | BFP | ERA | WHIP |- align=center | 373 | 188 | .665 | 635 | 551 | 434 | 79 | 28 | 4,780.7 | 4,218 | 844 | 2,502 | 19,136 | 2.13 | 1.059 |}

Hitting {| cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" border="1" style="width:500px;" |- align=center | G | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | R | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |- align=center | 646 | 1,684 | 362 | 50 | 12 | 7 | 151 | 165 | 20 | 116 | 74 * | .215 | .272 | .271 | .543 |}

* Strikeouts not counted for batters until 1910 in the NL, 1913 in the AL.

See also

300 win club

List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins

Triple Crown

List of Major League Baseball saves champions

List of Major League Baseball strikeout champions

List of Major League Baseball wins champions

Top 100 strikeout pitchers of all time

Major League Baseball titles leaders

List of Major League Baseball no-hitters

Notes

References

Kashatus, William C. (2002). Diamonds in the Coalfields: 21 Remarkable Baseball Players, Managers, and Umpires from Northeast Pennsylvania. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-1176-4.

External links

christymathewson.com Official site

Baseball Almanac list of brothers

SABR Christy Mathewson biography

Category:National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees Category:National League Pitching Triple Crown winners Category:National League ERA champions Category:National League strikeout champions Category:National League wins champions Category:Major League Baseball player–managers Category:Major League Baseball pitching coaches Category:Cincinnati Reds managers Category:Cincinnati Reds players Category:Major League Baseball pitchers Category:New York Giants (NL) players Category:New York Giants (NL) coaches Category:Baseball players from Pennsylvania Category:Vaudeville performers Category:19th-century players of American football Category:United States Army officers Category:American military personnel of World War I Category:Bucknell University alumni Category:Honesdale, Pennsylvania Category:People from Wyoming County, Pennsylvania Category:Deaths from tuberculosis Category:Infectious disease deaths in New York Category:1880 births Category:1925 deaths Category:American Christians Category:Players of American football from Pennsylvania Category:Pittsburgh Stars players Category:Taunton Herrings players Category:Norfolk Phenoms players Category:Semi-professional baseball players

da:Christy Mathewson de:Christy Mathewson es:Christy Mathewson fr:Christy Mathewson lv:Kristijs Metjusons ja:クリスティ・マシューソン