"In legend I am a sadistic, slashing, swashbuckling despot who waged war in the guise of sport." Ty Cobb

"An extremely peculiar soul, brooding and bubbling with violence, devious, suspicious and combative all the way." Grantland Rice on Cobb

"There's nothing so useless on earth as knocking a string ball around a pasture with ruffians." William Cobb, to his son Ty

After the 1926 season, Cobb was accused by former Tigers teammate Dutch Leonard of fixing a 1919 game against Cleveland. Leonard said he, Cobb, and the Indians' Tris Speaker and Joe Wood were in on the fix. He sent two letters, one written by Cobb, to A.L. President Ban Johnson as evidence. The matter was referred to Commissioner Landis, who exonerated the players. However, many baseball people believed Leonard and thought that Landis ruled as he did because he didn't want another gambling scandal to taint baseball.

(Source: ESPN's Sports Century's bio and sidebar on Ty Cobb)

A conservative philosophy professor-Tigers fan argues Pete Rose's exclusion renders the Hall of Fame a meaningless institution, while another right-leaning Tiger loyalist argues the Hall as institution would be diminished by Rose's inclusion.

My own view: I lean toward keeping him out, particularly in the wake of his recent revelations.

While you're at it, pay a visit to Shoeless Joe Jackson's Virtual Hall of Fame.

See an essay by the philosopher above, Keith Burgess-Jackson, on his embrace of conservatism:

As I've aged, I've come to appreciate the vastness, complexity, and intricate beauty of things. I've come to see the delicate evolved equilibria in human institutions. Just as it is unwise to disrupt a natural ecosystem, it is unwise to disrupt, disregard, or disrespect longstanding human practices. I've come to appreciate the other side of various issues. (There is always another side, although liberals seldom acknowledge as much.) I've come to appreciate and respect the wisdom of our forebears, from whom we inherited so much: everything from marriage to mechanisms of wealth transmission to free markets to individual rights to our rambunctious, expressive language. Conservatives don't live for the moment, as liberals do. They respect the past and care deeply about the future. The present, in their view, is merely a bridge (or contract) between the dead and the unborn. Conservatives love history; liberals love sociology. Conservatives are archaeologists; liberals are engineers. (Via ELC)

And courtesy of Bob Wills aficionado Richard Starr, listen to this mp3 version of "My Window Faces the South" and find yourself almost halfway to heaven.