Montreal gets a lot of tourists each year but early in the 20th century an unlikely one traveled “up north”. The visitor was the “Georgia Peach” himself, Ty Cobb, who played an exhibition game in Montreal in 1915. Much has been told about Babe Ruth’s visits to Montreal in 1926 and 1928 still not that many people know that the Bambino was not the first big league superstar to barnstorm in Montreal. Ty Cobb did it before him, and surprisingly not once but twice as he traveled back to Montreal in October of 1917 for a somewhat less successful visit.

Ty Cobb’s first time in Montreal was the brainchild of Montreal entrepreneurs and sports promoters Leo Dandurand and Jos. Cattarinich. Together, they would be owners of the Canadiens hockey club in the 1920s and 30s but in the fall of 1915 they persuaded Cobb to make room for an exhibition game in Montreal in his barnstorming schedule. Cobb was to play with other big leaguers and some local talent against another team formed mainly of all-star players from the Montreal City League. The game was expected to be played at Delorimier Downs, a horse racing track owned by Dandurand, but was moved to the grounds of the National athletic club due to a scheduling conflict. Rumors soon circulated that many big leaguers would follow Cobb to Canada including his teammates Hooks Dauss, Oscar Stanage and Bernie Boland. Franco-Americans Napoleon Lajoie, Rabbit Maranville and Jean Dubuc were also expected.

The big day came on October 10 but only Dubuc and Boland were in Montreal with Ty Cobb. Depending on the sources, between 4,000 and 6,000 packed the small grounds of the National on a sunny and mild afternoon. The game was described as ordinary by contemporary commentators. The great Ty Cobb was not. In four at bats, he hit two doubles, scored three times and stole two bases. He even pitched the last three innings of the game and managed to strike out two batters while allowing only one hit. Dubuc, a Vermonter who had attended Ste. Therese Seminary north of Montreal, was also spectacular. Playing for Cobb’s team, he was three for four with one double and two runs scored. Boland pitched against Cobb and collected three strike outs in five innings. Cobb’s team lost 9 to 5 and after the game the “Peach” exhibited his talent further by running the bases and sliding a couple of times, much to the satisfaction of the public who afterwards crowded the playing field.

Ty Cobb was back in Montreal two years later this time at the invitation of Cecil Hart, a well-known Montreal sportsman and future head-coach of the Montreal Canadiens. The same game format was retained and again many big leaguers were rumored to make the trip to Montreal with Ty Cobb. Napoleon Lajoie was once more expected in the city as was Tigers pitcher Willie Mitchell. Frank Gilhooley and Homerun Baker both of the Yankees were also briefly mentioned in the newspapers. The exhibition game was to be played Saturday, October 7 at the Shamrocks Grounds but the organizers added at the last minute another match for the following day, this time at the National’s grounds since the field of the Shamrocks was already being used for the City League championship game that day.

Unlike the raging success of the 1915 visit, 1917 brought nothing but misery for Cobb and the organizer. Willie Mitchell was the only big leaguer on hand for the game. Things even turned to the worst when the Saturday game was called off on account of pouring rain. The Sunday game was played despite the lingering unfavorable weather and the fact that many of the best local players had to abandon Cobb to play in the City League championship. Because of all that, attendance for the game was poor, Some sources state that as few as 1,500 people gathered to watch the game. Ty Cobb was incapable of making one single hit in two at bats and was even fanned once by his teammate Mitchell. The hero of the day was Henri Clement, a City league player, who pitched seven full innings and struck out five. His team was the winner 3 to 2 against Cobb’s team. All in all, Cobb’s 1917 visit was almost an event to be forgotten.

The 1917 visit was a failure compared to 1915 but it was not entirely imputable to bad weather. The timing was all wrong. The Royals, Montreal’s entry in the International League, had just ended the season with a miserable record of 56-94 and the final game of the season attracted only a few faithful baseball lovers. The war in Europe was still raging and victory was nowhere in sight. Baseball was not the first thing on Montrealers’ minds. Also, Dandurand and Cattarinich were better salesmen than Hart and were more effective in attracting a large crowd by playing on the desire of the French-Canadians to see French speaking players. Jean Dubuc, a Franco-American, was instrumental in the success of the first game and many other French speaking players were at hand that day. The second game included only a few. Hart also made a faux-pas in scheduling his 1917 game at the Shamrocks Grounds in the English part of Montreal, a mistake he tried to fix at the last minute by adding a Sunday game at the National’s grounds in the French part of town. It was probably too late. And Dandurand, by letting people think until the very end that Napoleon Lajoie was to attend the 1915 game had the stroke of a marketing genius. Because let’s face it, people didn’t want to see Cobb, they wanted Lajoie.