Life dealt some ballplayers a pretty crappy hand. Take Sam Rice: The poor guy lost his wife, two kids, his mother and two younger siblings, along with a hired hand on the family farm, when a tornado hit in 1912.
John J. McGraw had a tough way to go, too. He lost his mother and four siblings from diphtheria, and after that, his father thrashed him to within an inch of his life to the point where the boy ran away from home.
And Ty Cobb had a tough personal issue to carry around with him. Imagine a young Southern boy having to deal with the fact that his mother killed his father -- and if that wasn't bad enough, the whispers about the circumstances surrounding the killing (that his mother was sleeping around on Ty's beloved father) had to weigh heavy on the mind of the 18-year-old boy.
Babe Ruth also had a tough childhood, growing up in what amounted to a prison.
What are some other personal tragedies to befall ballplayers?
John J. McGraw had a tough way to go, too. He lost his mother and four siblings from diphtheria, and after that, his father thrashed him to within an inch of his life to the point where the boy ran away from home.
And Ty Cobb had a tough personal issue to carry around with him. Imagine a young Southern boy having to deal with the fact that his mother killed his father -- and if that wasn't bad enough, the whispers about the circumstances surrounding the killing (that his mother was sleeping around on Ty's beloved father) had to weigh heavy on the mind of the 18-year-old boy.
Babe Ruth also had a tough childhood, growing up in what amounted to a prison.
What are some other personal tragedies to befall ballplayers?
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