Who is the greatest player of the Pre-War Era?

[BobC]

Originally Posted by tedzan

Hey guys,

Specifically, those of you who favor Cobb over Ruth. Cobb was about the same height as Ruth, but he didn't have the weight to generate the power in his swing that Ruth had.
Besides, if I recall correctly, Cobb held his bat with sort of a "choked-up" grip. No-way, with that kind of grip, could match the long-distance drives that Ruth hit.

Furthermore, Cobb's impressive Batting Average would not be the topps in the Majors if Ted Williams had not been so "stubborn" by constantly pulling his drives to Right-Field.
With the "Williams' O-F shift", Ted could have sliced the ball into the gap in Left-Field 440 times instead of taking a Walk. Then Ted would have hit an amazing .400 career BA.
And, Cobb would not be the leader in that stat.

In 1919, Ruth hit 29 HR's (the last year of the "Dead Ball" era). Then followed that up in 1920 with 54 HR's, and 59 HR's in 1921.

Me thinks that Cobb is overrated

Whatever, there is an excellent book by Tom Stanton titled "Ty and the Babe".
I highly recommend it. In the Appendix you'll find all the At-Bats of Ty Cobb versus Babe Ruth pitching to him.

It is known that Cobb wasn't crazy about the home run style of play, much preferred the deadball era style he grew up with. Yet, there is the fact that Cobb is tied for the all-time major league record for the number of home runs hit in two consecutive games, along with the story he said something to a reporter about proving he could hit home runs if he really wanted to. A lot of speculation and debate about it, but the fact is he does hold part of an all-time major league home run record that still stands today. And one that Ruth couldn't equal. Also, Cobb did win the Triple Crown one year, Ruth never did that. Oh, and the home run record Cobb co-owns, none of the home runs he hit to match the record were inside-the-park home runs or were ones that bounced over the outfield wall. All were legit, over the fence homers.

Williams was really more of a post-war player, though he did start in the majors just before WWII began. Always considered him as post-war since that is when he played the bulk of his career.