May

21

If Cobb saw a pitcher more than 20 times, he was able to hit better than .300 (the batting average that now gets you into the Baseball HOF). The two exceptions was Red Ruffing and Waite Hoyt.

Once Cobb saw what you had, he owned you; but he had to see what you had. This explains the anomaly of his doing badly against the "pitchers" who were not, in fact, pitchers but field players - Clark Griffith and George Sisler.

David Lillienfeld adds:

It depends on the pitcher, too, though. Willie Mays commented once that Sandy Koufax would tip off batters all the time as to what pitch he was going to use. A Koufax curve was as wicked as a Koufax fastball to Mays. He said that trying to hit that pitch, even knowing what pitch Koufax had thrown, was "like eating soup with a fork. You just can't do it."


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