Perception of pre war baseball players vs other sports

[BobC]

Originally Posted by steve B

Would and could are very different.

He played in an era where stealing bases was what was done by everyone who could. Getting a good jump I've been told is the key, maybe more important than speed.
So I think, given a perpetual green light like Henderson was Cobb would still steal a lot of bases.

But I also think he was all about the competition, and winning. If someone explained the concepts that usually a stolen base attempt isn't always "better" he would probably make fewer attempts.

And that's one of the big differences between the way it was played then and now.

Yes, but isn't the idea to "get into scoring position" even more important? Back during Cobb's prime, there were very few home runs hit, so someone getting on 1st base wasn't actually a person considered in scoring position. Having a guy on 1st steal 2nd to get into scoring position was a big deal back then. Nowadays with all the big guns going for home runs, once a player gets on 1st base, to the home run hitters that may be coming up to bat behind them they are already in scoring position. So why take a chance on stealing and getting thrown out, and thus removing them from a scoring position in today's modern game, right?

In Cobb's case it would likely depend on the type of modern team he was playing on. A team like the Indians/Guardians this past year were not all about the home run, like most current MLB teams, and Cobb would have fit in a lot better. They were into players getting on base, and then moving them around via steals, hit and run, etc. Plus, if you had a guy that could steal bases like Cobb was able to, it could change some of the dynamic of the team, and how much stealing they would consider doing. Good food for thought question though.