Cobb vs. Ruth

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Posted By: Gary B.

This is rather a famous story about Cobb that I have a question about:

"After enduring several years of seeing his fame and notoriety usurped by Ruth, Cobb decided that he was going to show that anybody could hit home runs if he chose to. On 5 May 1925, Cobb began a two-game hitting spree better than any even Ruth had unleashed. 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. His 16 total bases set a new AL record. The next day he had three more hits, two of which were home runs. His single his first time up gave him 9 consecutive hits over three games. His five homers in two games tied the record set by Cap Anson of the old Chicago NL team in 1884. Cobb wanted to show that he could hit home runs when he wanted, but simply chose not to do so. At the end of the series, 38-year-old Cobb had simply gone 12 for 19 with 29 total bases, and then went happily back to bunting and hitting-and-running."

My question to you all is, first of all, is there any proof to this story being true, like has anyone seen a newspaper clipping from the reporter that Cobb said this to with the statistics of that day or two next to it, but more so, if Cobb really could hit like that when he wanted to, why would he ever NOT want to hit like that? Was it really better to go for a style of trying to get base hits to gaps, stealing bases, etc., rather than get a home run if one had the ability to do so? Isn't a home run always preferable to getting a single or double, and perhaps not getting a run or getting the player(s) on base a run? Why did Cobb abhor Ruth's style? Was it jealousy? What was so bad about Ruth's way of playing, that is, if one could even play like Ruth, which few could. One would think that almost anyone who COULD get home runs regularly, would go for it, and the only reason I could think of where that would be a bad idea is if a person could only rarely get home runs, and was always swinging away and striking out when they could be getting a higher average if they didn't try so hard. This was obviously NOT Ruth's problem, as he had a phenomenal batting average, and he got PLENTY of hits that weren't 4-baggers. Anyone have any commentary?