Posted By:
Ryan ChristoffJim Creighton probably used to be considered the greatest player ever at one time. Just like Anson or Delahanty after Creighton. Just like Cobb after that. Then came Ruth, unfortunately for Cobb. And that was that.
If you disagree with Creighton, Anson or Delahanty having been considered the greatest ever, I'm sure you can still understand my point. Replace those guys with whoever you want. Then Cobb came along. And then Ruth.
Ted brings up a point that everyone seems to ignore when discussing the greatest players. Ted's team of 9 Ruth's would definitely beat a team of 9 Cobbs because Ty Cobb was not a winner. Babe Ruth was. And not just because he was on the Yankees. Your Cobb team would have a higher batting average, though. So congrats. But you still lost. And don't try to tell me how terrible Cobb's teams were and how it wasn't his fault and blah blah blah. Replace Cobb with Ruth and there are several Tiger championships that would have materialized in all those years. Walter Johnson won a championship with the lowly Washington Senators, after all.
Personally, I don't even consider Cobb to be the greatest player of his era because of that Wagner guy.
If Cobb was such a great competitor, why didn't he win? He won lots of batting titles and had great personal accomplishments. But I thought he was playing for a team. In team sports, the objective is to win. Maybe Cobb should have been a boxer or a tennis player or a golfer. That way he would have won when he performed better as an individual than his opponent, also an individual.
I'm also shocked at how diverse Cobb's picks on his all-time team were. You usually don't hear Cobb being described as tolerant or open-minded, but the melting pot he's thrown together with his picks tells the real story. Cobb's team has fat white guys, skinny white guys, white guys with blonde hair, white guys with brown hair, white guys with freckles, alcoholic white guys, white guys who like to gamble, white guys who like to go to church, and everyone in between. You name it, this team has it. With such a crazy mix of different kinds of people I think his team name would have to be "TY COBB'S RAINBOW COALITION."
The answer to the original question, of course, is Babe Ruth.
Oh, and my team of 9 Martin Dihigos would absolutely crush your team of 9 Ruths or Cobbs or any other player in the history of the game.
-Ryan