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steve kI agree with some other posters about if looking strictly at offense, Cobb was overall better than Ruth. But the fact that Ruth was a terrific pitcher can't be ignored. That clearly makes him the greatest of all time, with Cobb clearly the second greatest. Third greatest can get very, very tough with Williams, Mays, Bonds and a few others but I go with Williams as third greatest. Don't forget Williams lost three prime baseball years because of serving in WW2.
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. Even if disliking Cobb, everyone agrees that he was extremely intelligent but he was also an incorrigable egomaniac. I can easily envision Cobb making up a story such as this strictly for his own entertainment/amusement purposes. In a slightly similar fashion as Ruth never denying or verifying the story about "pointing at the stands before the homerun" which absolutely was not true but the Babe always playfully "beat around the bush" whenever asked about it.