Many observers believe that Ty Cobb was the fiercest player to ever play baseball. "Baseball is a red-blooded sport for red-blooded men, "said Cobb. "It's no pink tea, and mollycoddles had better stay out. It's a struggle for supremacy, a survival of the fittest." Offered is a 1927 Ty Cobb Type I photo taken by famous photographer Louis Van Oeyen. The Hall of Fame center fielder played 24 years of Major League ball (1905-28), the first 22 years with the Detroit Tigers, and the last six of those Detroit campaigns as the Tigers' player-manager. Cobb played baseball as if the game was a form of war. He once held the lifetime Major League hit record with 4,189 and the Major League steal record with 897. His lifetime batting average of .366 is the highest in history. Connie Mack managed Cobb in final two years of Cobb's career when Cobb played for the Philadelphia Athletics. In 1927, the year of the presented photo, Cobb was 40 years old, yet he hit .357 with 104 runs scored and 22 stolen bases. Perhaps playing so well at the advanced baseball age of 40 led the very rare photograph of a smiling Cobb. Perhaps famous photographer Van Oeyen coaxed a smile from Cobb. Van Oeyen began as a photographer for the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper in 1901, and he shot practically every type of photograph possible: celebrity, crime, disaster, political, etc, but his favorite subject was baseball and Van Oeyen became the Official American League Photographer in 1908 and the Official World Series Photographer until 1922. The 8x10" Type I photo depicts Cobb in his Philadelphia Athletics uniform. Written on back, in pencil by an unknown hand, is, "Phila. Athletics," and " 'Ty' Cobb." Stamped on back is "PHOTO BY - Louis Van Oeyen Cleveland Press Photographer/Cleveland, Ohio." Also stamped on back is, "REFERENCE DEPT. MAY 26 1927." The photo exhibits some very slight crinkling along the edges, a tiny stain at the bottom, and creasing running along the length of the photo on the left. Aside from the aforementioned conditions, the overall condition of the photo is very good, and a Van Oeyen photo of a smiling Cobb is a standout item in any photo collection. The photograph has been encapsulated and PSA certified Type I AUTHENTIC."