The Ty Cobb story at the top of this thread is, I believe, attributed incorrectly to Cobb. Lefty O'Doul was asked after a dinner at which he spoke in 1960 what he thought Cobb would bat today. O'Doul said about .340. When the asker suggested that wasn't terribly good, O'Doul gave him the punchline, something like, "Well, you have to consider that he's 73 years old."
Jeff Kisseloff reports the O'Doul provenance for the story in his book, Who Was Baseball's Grestest Hitter?
I've also heard the story twisted into a Red Grange story by a College Sports Information Directors Association banquet speaker.
O'Doul's been overlooked so much, he ought to at least be recognized for his talent as a humorist.
6/4/2015 10:59 PM (edited)