Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark17
I was thinking the same thing. Take away Al Stump and we'd all remember Cobb as a guy who was born and grew up in the deep south, but who rose above racism and openly admired players like Willie Mays. Same with Speaker, who was Cobb's good friend, also from the deep south, mentoring Larry Doby when he helped crash the color barrier in the American League.
When you look objectively where Cobb and Speaker started out, and where they ended up, they were fine examples of southerners defeating racism. Cobb was often difficult to deal with - as some of his relatives attested - but he was a far better man than many people realize, in my opinion.
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+1 Cobb also funded a foundation in 1956 with $100,000 donation ($1,100,000 in todays dollars) to build the first hospital in Royston and another educational foundation to send low income kids to college, both of which are still running today.
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