The Secret Weapon Dad

By Sheila
December 12, 2021

In the fall of 2002 while living in south Florida, I did what I typically do on any Sunday - turned on the TV, flipped to the final day PGA golf tournament, and kicked back on the couch. While watching the tournament, I casually perused the September 2002 issue of Golf Magazine settling in on an interesting piece called “Batter Up: Two of baseball’s best went head-to-head in 1941 – in a golf match” written by John Wukovits. The story was about the legendary baseball players Ty Cobb (55) and Babe Ruth (47) squaring off in a three-event golf match during their retirement years.

Halfway through the story I come across this: Cobb purposely lobbied to have the determining match played at Grosse Ile Golf and Country Club, a Donald Ross masterpiece 15 miles south of Detroit. WHAT? That is the golf course I grew up on, where my dad was a life member, and where his father was the head golf pro his entire career! HOLY COW why didn’t I ever hear about this before?

As I voraciously read on about how Cobb prepared for the match on Grosse Ile, I froze cold after reading:

He hired 15-year old Pete Devany, the son of the club’s longtime professional, as caddie.

I am now in a complete state of shock. Dad caddied for Ty Cobb and never told me? I could no longer confront Dad about his account, as he had (sadly) passed away 3 years earlier in 1999 at the age of 73.

As the match unfolded on July 29th, 1941 with a whopping 2,500 spectators all over the golf course, newspapers were excited to boast up my Dad’s caddie role, which then led to this in the story:

Cobb frequently consulted his teenage caddie. Not only did Devany remind Cobb of the best places to land the ball in the fairways, but he often dropped to his knees with Cobb to whisper advice on putts.

What a fine accolade for my favorite man! He helped Ty Cobb win the match 3 and 2 against Babe Ruth in this final tournament round, one teasingly named The Has Beens’ Golf championship of Nowhere in Particular.

This was just shocking for me to read about Pete in his life as a teenager. I had to get to the bottom of it, so I promptly drove over to my Aunt Pat’s (Pete’s then 73-year old sister) house about 10 miles away. I knew she would be watching the PGA golf tournament on TV, and I hoped she could expand on some details of this 1941 match.

Always happy to have company, Pat made me “grab a beer” before I sat down on her bedroom guest sofa - near where she retired years earlier on her king bed. I dug right in, “Aunt Pat, there’s a story in Golf Magazine about Dad caddying for Ty Cobb against Babe Ruth at Grosse Ile.” Pat said, “Really? Isn’t that swell.” I couldn’t hold back for a minute, “Why didn’t he ever tell me about this?” She said, Well, you know [with long pause]..., we were around all kinds of famous people when we grew up. It was just a part of our lives, and we got used to it. So, Pete probably didn’t think it was a big deal. Alrighty then, good enough, let’s drink to Pete!

But my story is not quite finished.

Four years later in 2006, a year after my Aunt Pat passed away, I got a phone call from a writer in Michigan named Tom Stanton. He was working on a new book about Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth, and their 1941 golf tournament. He wanted to find out more about my dad Pete Devany, and his role as Ty Cobb’s caddie. Without remembering the exact details of our conversation, I’m sure I explained how I never knew about the event while my dad was alive, and that pretty much everyone in my family whom might have known more was gone. Darn it, I wished I could have contributed somehow. He was very polite and said he would send me a copy of his book when it was finished. Sure enough, he kindly mailed me a signed copy of his book in 2007 called “TY AND THE BABE – Baseball’s Fiercest Rivals: A Surprising Friendship and the 1941 Has-Beens Golf Championship”. I love and cherish the book. Tom Stanton presents a really well-researched, true account of both baseball players' histories and real-life demeanors.

The last two chapters in the book delve into the final golf match details. Chapter 28 is aptly named “Cobb’s Secret Weapon” and Chapter 29 is named “For Eternal Bragging Rights.” Turns out my dad Pete Devany was Cobb’s Secret Weapon - the final advantage for Ty to win!

So tomorrow on December 13th, 2021 I have a first match of two (Net and Gross divisions) against Jo, my country club’s reigning Women’s Club Champion since I lost to her in 2019. I know now, ahead of time, I am going to have my own “Secret Weapon.” Dad is going to represent me as my spiritual caddie. He is going to silently coach me on the putting greens, where I always struggle the most. Afterall, Dad was even more famous for sinking very long putts in tournaments than he ever was for being a teenage caddie in a memorable final-day golf match!

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