Considerable cloudiness. Occasional rain showers this afternoon. High 79F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..
Overcast with showers at times. Low 71F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Updated: August 10, 2025 @ 10:26 am
LAMAR GARRARD
LAMAR GARRARD
“World’s Greatest Baseball Player Has Signed (His) Contract (With Detroit).”
— Augusta Herald, April 6, 1919
A few days ago, my wife Ruth and I made a pleasant visit to the Augusta home of Dr. Francis J. Tedesco, M.D., and his lovely wife, Luann.
The esteemed former president of the Medical College of Georgia, now Augusta University, is the longtime chairman of the Ty Cobb Educational Foundation. He has served in that capacity since 1998.
A Connecticut native, Dr. Tedesco was president of MCG from July 1988 until retirement in February 2001. Described as “a visionary thinker” by one of his colleagues, the school prospered and expanded under his leadership. A 2011 article in the Augusta Chronicle stated the school experienced the most remarkable growth in MCG’s history under the tutelage, guidance and leadership of the former president.
Since 1998 Dr. Tedesco has been the chairman of the Ty Cobb Educational Foundation and the fund has given out over $21 million of aid to worthy Georgians who are pursuing their education in the medical field. Each year the total amount given is about $500,000 and it has been stated the fund is perpetual and will never run out of money. This past grant was parceled out and donated to about 200 worthy students.
How did Ty Cobb come up with the idea of starting this fund? Where did he get the money to seed the initial investment? These questions and a few others I made to Dr. Tedesco were answered on my visit.
Go back to 1904 when a 17-year-old lad from Royston, Georgia, made his first step into professional baseball with the predecessor to the Augusta GreenJackets, the Augusta Tourists.
The team played in downtown Augusta in what is now the Exchange Club Fairgrounds. The field is intact except for a few buildings on the property, but there is no historical marker there to note that Cobb started his pro baseball career there.
The point is that Cobb was introduced to Charlie Marion Lombard, an Augusta girl, and they married and raised all of their five children in the city. To further clarify, she was the daughter of Roswell Lombard of the Lombard brothers and men who were all very successful businessmen. Primarily, the money from the first investment into the fund was from Cobb’s investments into Coca-Cola stocks. When Ty Cobb died, his estate was valued at between $11 million and $12 million. Of this, he allocated around 25% to charity and the balance to his children and grandchildren. How did this great ballplayer gain his acumen for making money?
The Lombard Iron Works back in Cobb’s time was one of the most successful foundries anywhere under the ownership of the Lombard family. Today’s Georgia Ironworks in Grovetown grew out of the different transitions of the original Lombard business. It would be easy to assume that Cobb, who had a brilliant mind, would take advice and listen to his older relatives when it came to the matter of investments and finance. Cobb invested heavily in Coca-Cola and General Motors along with owning real estate and other business investments.
Keep in mind also that Cobb founded another philanthropic endeavor when he also funded the beginnings of the Ty Cobb Healthcare System by donating the money to build the Cobb Memorial Hospital in Royston. This branched out to include another hospital in Hart County and a nursing home, a rehab facility and other medical services in the North Georgia area.
In 1953 Cobb started the Ty Cobb Educational Foundation. Some of the early board or trustees were Dr. Daniel C. Elkin, head of the Emory Medical Department; Dr. Harmon W. Caldwell, chancellor of the University System of Georgia; Dr. Fred W. Rankin, (died before the first board meeting); A.B. “Happy” Chandler, governor of Kentucky and baseball commissioner; Earl Combs, Baseball Hall of Fame; Dr. Harry Downs, president of Clayton State College; and Dr. Walter Y. Murphy, president of LaGrange College.
Cobb has been described in author Charles Leershen’s book: “Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty.” Leershen carefully researched and scholarly dispelled many of the earlier myths about Cobb and showed the man to be full of humanity, but also a man with heart and character. Don Rhode’s book: “Safe at Home” gives a vivid and picture of Cobb’s family and the family life of the man known as “The Georgia Peach.”
Dr. Tedesco pointed out to me the long-reaching effects of Cobb’s charitable giving. He said that a successful doctor that got the scholarship back in the ‘50s and ‘60s, etc., had children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren who are reaping the rewards birthed from the foundation, enabling the doctor to finish medical school. The scholarship details can be examined on the website: www.tycobbfundation.com.
Congrats and kudos go out to Dr. Francis J. Tedesco for his long-standing service to the medical world in providing positive leadership to this endeavor and I am sure Ty Cobb would also be amply pleased with the status of his scholarship fund. Cobb not only had a passion for baseball, but had great compassion for the students he wanted to help. It is known that the great Tyrus often cried when reading the application letters of many of the recipients of his philanthropy.
Email him at rlgarrard@nu-z.net.
LAMAR GARRARD
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