This Day in Baseball History: July 18, 1927

Today, a new feature will be added to Top of The Third. "This Day In Baseball History" will feature a brief recap of an historic event. All comments and thoughts are welcome.

July 18, 1927

 It was on this date in 1927 that Ty Cobb, playing with the Philadelphia Athletics, collected the 4000^th hit of his Major League career. He became the first player in history to reach that milestone. He collected a double in the first inning against the Detroit Tigers, the team with which he spent the first 22 years of his career. Detroit won the game 5-3.

                Cobb would retire at the end of the following season, ending his career with 4191 hits. A record that would stand for almost 60 years when Pete Rose passed him on September 11, 1985.

                Rose and Cobb remain the only two players in baseball history with more than 4000 hits. Shamefully for baseball, only one is in the Hall of Fame.