RateItAll: The Opinion Network

I don't see it happening anytime soon. With all of the changes since Cobb's time, for guys like Carew, Gwynn, and Boggs to post the lofty averages that they did is impressive in its own right, though I don't mean to denigrate Cobb's incredible skills, assuredly one of the very greatest players ever.

Cobb's .367 is highly impressive, but did you know that his 'racist stereotypical redneck average' was .957?

Short of significant changes to the game, or the arrival of some kind of superhuman hitter, this will stand forever.

Cobb's career average is the result of two things (besides his evident talent and absolute determination to succeed)Firstly, his career, particularly the most productive parts of it were in the dead ball era. This meant that pitchers did not, as they were forced to do after 1919, use their best stuff every pitch, but rather saved it for the tight spots. Cobb, who didn't know the meaning of letting up, was always looking for an edge.

Secondly, most of his career took place before the advent of farm teams, and developing players. Major league teams had scouting systems that varied from excellent to idiotically erratic, with predictable variance in the skill level of players signed. I've talked about this somewhere else on this site, but briefly, while it is true that the stars of Cobbs era would likely be stars today, many of the journeymen, everyday players of his day would be hard-pressed to make a minor league or college roster now. As a result, Cobb was often facing second, third or fourth tier pitching, which was greatly to his benefit.

This latter situation lasted, to a greater or lesser degree, well into the thirties, and goes some way to explaining why .400 seasons were not uncommon then, but haven't happened since 1941.