Posted By:
Gary B.Steve,
You said, "I completely don't believe this Cobb "story" at all. Did Cobb tell the story to Stump - yes, probably. Was the story true - most probably not."
I'm inclined to agree with you here. I didn't read the book, but I did see the Cobb movie, and if Cobb was even 1/4 the raving egomaniac and lunatic he was portrayed in the movie to be around the time Stump spent some time with him, I think anything he said to Stump would have been at least a little bit suspect. The way the story goes is this:
"He was sitting in the dugout talking to a reporter and told him that, for the first time in his career, he was going to swing for the fences. That day, Cobb went 6 for 6, with two singles, a double, and three home runs."
NOW, if someone can produce for me a newspaper or magazine clipping from that week where the reporter says that Cobb told him that before the fact, and then went on to hit the home runs, then and only then would I believe this story to be irrefutable fact (of course even then someone could have paid off the reporter to create a legendary myth, but we have to suspend disbelief somewhere along the line). With the absence of third party verifiable proof, the story, while wonderful and romantic, remains to me, extremely suspicious - an gigantic and stupendous myth.