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The Truth About (the Original) Ty Cobb

Ben Lindbergh and Michael Baumann banter about Freddie Freemanu0026#39;s performance at third base, the Nationalsu0026#39; trade for Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson, and why Ty Cobb isnu0026#39;t who a lot of people think he is
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Michael Baumann banter about Freddie Freeman's performance at third base so far (00:30), the Nationals' trade for Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson (02:00), and Matt Holliday's weekend baserunning adventure (06:15). Then, with "Ty Cobb" recently trending for a surprising reason, they talk to Charles Leerhsen, author of Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty, about why the baseball legend was not the cruel, cutthroat racist he's widely believed to be (12:00), how that misconception started (26:30), and what we can learn from how hard it's been to debunk Cobb's bad reputation (49:30).

Ben is a writer, podcaster, and editor who covers culture and sports. He hosts ‘Effectively Wild’ at FanGraphs and previously wrote for FiveThirtyEight and Grantland, served as editor-in-chief of Baseball Prospectus, and authored ‘The MVP Machine’ and ‘The Only Rule Is It Has to Work.’

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