Until the day he died, the great Ty Cobb believed that Dexter’s Charley Robertson cheated.

How else could the raw rookie pitcher, in just his second game, fire a perfect game against Cobb and his mighty Detroit Tiger teammates?

Cobb and teammate Harry Heilmann were destined for the Baseball Hall of Fame. So Robertson wasn’t facing a team that couldn’t hit.

Cobb ended up with a career batting average of .367. Heilmann was the only other major league player, besides Ted Williams, to ever hit .400 in one season. Heilman had a career batting average of .342.

According to Dexter baseball historian Hal Dick, Cobb just knew that Robertson, a native of the once-bustling northeast Cooke County town, put something on the ball.

“Cobb always said that,” Dick said, “when anyone asked about that game.”

The game took place April 30, 1922, at Navin Field, where the Tigers played at the time.

“All of the Tigers thought that,” Dick said, “They even took some of the baseballs from the game and sent several of the balls to American League President Bam Johnson. They never found anything wrong with the balls.”

Dick said that one game was the highlight of Robertson’s career.

“He pitched for six or seven years after that, but was only an average pitcher," the historian said. "He had a good career in the major leagues but was never that good again.”

It was only his second career start, Dick said.

“His was the fifth perfect game ever thrown,” he said. “However, it was the first one ever thrown by a visiting pitcher.”

Robertson’s career record of 49-80 verifies Dick’s assessment that Robertson was only an average pitcher.

Against the Tigers, Robertson had to be bailed out only once, Dick said.

“The left fielder (Johnny Mostil) had to make a diving catch in the second inning, I think, to keep the Tigers from getting a hit."