Posted By:
Gilbert MainesI might as well put my few sense in here too.
I imagine if Cobb could hit HRs like Ruth, he would have. However, if Ruth could have maintained the batting average of Cobb, I don't think he would have changed anything. Actually, Ruth may have been able to hit for better average than Cobb. He "only" finished up about 25 points lower, but with about 600 more homeruns.
Their styles were totally different. Cobb once said "Baseball is a red-blooded sport for red-blodded men. It's no pink tea, and mollycoddles had better stay out. It's a struggle for supremacy, survival of the fittest". Ruth once said "Gimme a beer and a dog, and where's the ..."?
Cobb was a man who devoted himself to the sport, quite successfully.
Ruth was a man who had fun, quite successfully.