Cobb

I don't know if i buy it, but Ty Cobb's theory on why, unlike the chippy little hitters of the day,  Babe Ruth was such a free-swinger at the plate is an interesting one:

For Cobb, the idea that Ruth had come into the pastime as a pitcher was key to his somewhat unearned success. As a pitcher Ruth “could experiment at the plate,” Cobb said years later. “He didn’t have to get a piece of the ball. He didn’t have to protect the plate the way a regular batter was expected to. No one cares much if the pitcher strikes out or looks bad at bat, so Ruth could take that big swing. If he missed, it didn’t matter. And when he didn’t miss, the ball went a long way. As time went on, he learned more and more about how to control that big swing and put the wood on the ball. By the time he became a full-time outfielder, he was ready.”

No word on Cobb's thoughts re: all that trim the Babe was getting.