I have observed that baseball is not unlike a war, and when you come right down to it, we batters are the heavy artillery.

Meaning of the quote

Ty Cobb, a famous American athlete, believed that baseball is a lot like a war. He saw the batters as the powerful weapons, or the "heavy artillery," that can win the game, just like in a war. This means that the batters are the most important players who can make the biggest impact on the outcome of the game, similar to how the heavy artillery is crucial in a battle.

About Ty Cobb

Ty Cobb, nicknamed “the Georgia Peach,” was a legendary American baseball player who dominated the game for over two decades. Known for his fiercely competitive spirit and impressive stats, Cobb holds numerous MLB records and is considered one of the greatest players in the sport’s history.

More about the author

More quotes from Ty Cobb

Speed is a great asset; but it’s greater when it’s combined with quickness – and there’s a big difference.

Ty Cobb

American baseball player (1886-1961)

Don’t come home a failure.

Ty Cobb

American baseball player (1886-1961)

The way those clubs shift against Ted Williams, I can’t understand how he can be so stupid not to accept the challenge to him and hit to left field.

Ty Cobb

American baseball player (1886-1961)

I have observed that baseball is not unlike a war, and when you come right down to it, we batters are the heavy artillery.

Ty Cobb

American baseball player (1886-1961)

I may have been fierce, but never low or underhand.

Ty Cobb

American baseball player (1886-1961)

To get along with me, don’t increase my tension.

Ty Cobb

American baseball player (1886-1961)

The great American game should be an unrelenting war of nerves.

Ty Cobb

American baseball player (1886-1961)

The base paths belonged to me, the runner. The rules gave me the right. I always went into a bag full speed, feet first. I had sharp spikes on my shoes. If the baseman stood where he had no business to be and got hurt, that was his fault.

Ty Cobb

American baseball player (1886-1961)

The crowd makes the ballgame.

Ty Cobb

American baseball player (1886-1961)

I had to fight all my life to survive. They were all against me… but I beat the bastards and left them in the ditch.

Ty Cobb

American baseball player (1886-1961)

When I began playing the game, baseball was about as gentlemanly as a kick in the crotch.

Ty Cobb

American baseball player (1886-1961)

Baseball was one-hundred percent of my life.

Ty Cobb

American baseball player (1886-1961)

The great trouble with baseball today is that most of the players are in the game for the money and that’s it, not for the love of it, the excitement of it, the thrill of it.

Ty Cobb

American baseball player (1886-1961)

I regret to this day that I never went to college. I feel I should have been a doctor.

Ty Cobb

American baseball player (1886-1961)

I never could stand losing. Second place didn’t interest me. I had a fire in my belly.

Ty Cobb

American baseball player (1886-1961)

Every great batter works on the theory that the pitcher is more afraid of him than he is of the pitcher.

Ty Cobb

American baseball player (1886-1961)

Baseball is a red-blooded sport for red-blooded men. It’s no pink tea, and mollycoddles had better stay out. It’s a struggle for supremacy, a survival of the fittest.

Ty Cobb

American baseball player (1886-1961)