Cocky or Confident?

Because Major League Baseball’s All-Star game is to be played tonight in St. Louis, I thought I would share a story I read in an email recently about the great Ty Cobb (of the Detroit Tigers). I find it pretty funny, although there is a great lesson we can learn from it.

No one liked Cobb – his teammates, opponents, owners or clubhouse boys; and Ty liked it that way. He sharpened his cleats, went out of the way to hurt the other guys (obviously) and was unusually cocky. And he rarely did interviews.

So when he deigned to talk to a journalist in the late 1950’s, it was a big deal. Then the question of players “today” being better than the players “back then” came up. The interviewer asked a grouchy old Ty Cobb, “What do you think you would hit if you were playing today, Mr. Cobb?”

Ty thought for a second and said, “Oh, about .285”.

A rare showing of humility from a lifetime .367 hitter. The reporter was thrown. “That’s all – really?” he stammered.

“Well”, snapped Cobb. “I am 71 years old…”

Some might view this as Cobb being confident in himself. That might be true; however, his track record is one of being pretty brash and cocky or arrogant. As a result, he was not very well liked.

This sort of prideful behavior not only doesn’t win you many friends, it also displeases our greatest Friend:

The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this; They will not go unpunished.
Proverbs 16:5