James Fargo Lanier, 93: Batboy for Ty Cobb

Print
E-mail

By Rick Badie

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

James Lanier cleaned Ty Cobb's shoes.

Enlarge photo

Family photo James Fargo Lanier, 93, of Atlanta died Feb. 13.

More Atlanta area news »

He rubbed saddle soap on the Georgia Peach's glove and honed the slugger's bats with bone to make them smoother.

Mr. Cobb played for the Detroit Tigers for 16 years and was a player-manager for six. In 1925 and 1926, Mr. Lanier was a Tigers batboy. He was tapped for the job because he had been Mr. Cobb's neighbor. They lived in an area of Augusta known as "The Hill." The Cobb family lived on Williams Street; the Laniers resided on Kings Way.

There, Mr. Lanier befriended Mr. Cobb's middle son, Herschel Cobb. The boys were at each other's house all the time. Mr. Cobb read them comics. He called the young Lanier "Jimmy, my boy."

As batboy, Mr. Lanier didn't travel with the Tigers. He worked home games while living with the Cobb family. His mother had to alter his team uniform so that it fit and he didn't appear clownish.

"He had an unbelievable relationship with Mr. Cobb," said a son, James McCrary Lanier of Cumming. "Mr. Cobb was as fond of my dad as he was of his own children. My dad grew up like a lot of young people fascinated and enamored by sports heroes. He looked at Mr. Cobb through the eyes of a child, even after he became an adult."

Recently, Mr. Lanier's health had turned sour. The Atlanta resident had fallen three times and received treatment for a severe kidney infection.

On Saturday, James Fargo Lanier died of apparent heart failure at Golden Living Center-Northside. He was 93. A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Feb. 27 in the Martha Wilson Chapel of Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. Cremation Society of the South is in charge of arrangements.

In 1935, Mr. Lanier graduated from Augusta's Richmond Academy. He attended Oglethorpe University on a football scholarship and earned a bachelor's degree in journalism.

After college, he worked briefly for Sherwin-Williams, then joined the Glidden Co. He retired as vice president of sales after a career of 40-plus years. He was past president of the Buckhead Civitan Club and the Knights of the Golden Circle. He belonged to the Lions Club and the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Throughout life, the Tigers batboy often talked about his bond with Mr. Cobb. He made appearances at baseball symposiums and affairs until his health prevented it. He was on hand for the 1998 dedication of the Ty Cobb Museum in Royston, the star's hometown.

Wesley Fricks, a baseball historian who lives in Temple Terrace, Fla., interviewed Mr. Lanier on numerous occasions.

"His memories of his association with Mr. Cobb were very clear, even back to his childhood," Mr. Fricks said. "The angle of the stories might be different, but the facts were the same every time."

"His recall was amazing," said Dr. Millard Fisher of Stone Mountain, a decades-long friend. "Even after Cobb retired, they were still good friends. He would visit Jimmy in Atlanta and they would eat in the hotel room because they'd get attention."

In a 2008 article written by Mr. Fricks, Mr. Lanier, an Army veteran, reflected on his relationship with Tyrus Raymond Cobb.

"I asked Mr. Cobb hundreds of questions as a boy and as a man," he said at the time. "He always answered me. He never turned me away or said, ‘I don't have time to talk to you.' Our association was about as close as a father-son relation could be. I loved Mr. Cobb and he loved me.

"I know that."

Additional survivors include his wife of 66 years, Martha McCrary Lanier of Atlanta; another son, Dr. John Palmer Lanier of Atlanta; three grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.