Historic letter with fascinating content written and signed by the immortal Ty Cobb regarding his contract holdout. Note that the use of his full name - "Tyrus" - and the flow of the autograph itself definitely dates this as an early Cobb signature. Apparently the second of a two-page letter to "George," Cobb asks the recipient to "give old Bennett Park my regards next summer," in reference to the Detroit Tigers' home stadium, indicating his intention to not play there. Penned in flowing black fountain ink, he concludes with inscription and full autograph, "I remain, your friend, Tyrus R. Cobb." Perhaps most relevant, the reputation of The Georgia Peach has been far from positive over the years, particularly as it relates to charges of racism; those claims have been largely refuted by historians in recent years. As Cobb notes in this letter, he was clearly aware of his treatment in the press; "I haven't seen anything in the papers of late... I like to see what they have said and read all the 'fake' stories etc." Finally, he asks for the buzz on his holdout; "How are people in general talking about it George(,) are they restless and anxious for me to return or do they take no interest in my holding out." As it turns out, Cobb's ploy was effective, signing a $12,000 deal (just over $300k in today's dollars) to become the first "five-figure" player in the Majors. Written on stationery from his accountant, the missive has typical mailing folds and remains in superb condition. PSA authenticated.

Addendum: We have changed the time period for the letter due to the fact that Cobb mentions Bennett Park, and the last year the park was in use was 1911. This news was brought to our attention by an avid Cobb collector and he showed us a letter dated 1908, on the same stationary, with similar content and handwriting. We now believe the letter to be circa 1908.