1937

Tris Speaker

Only three years before the Red Sox sold Babe Ruth, they sold Tris Speaker.  His first year with the Indians, 1916, he was the second best player in the AL behind only Ruth

From 1916 until his retirement, Speaker was in the top five in the league eight times.  When Lou Gehrig played alongside Ruth, they were both among the top five in the league only seven times.  Wonder how much more memorable his career would be if  Speaker was in the same outfield as Ruth winning the World Series four or five times

Until Barry Bonds, Speaker was best player in history with more than 1000 games played for two different franchises

A record 18 straight years among the top 10 in the league in WAR.  Bonds would have matched it if not for injuries in 1999.  That was the year he was first using illegal drugs, according to Game of Shadows -- perhaps all that drug abuse was what kept him off the field that year

During those 18 years, Speaker's Runs Created credits him with giving 113 runs per year for his teams.  For Ty Cobb's best 18 years, he created 122 runs for his teams.  Was the defense enough to make up for that?  Range Factor (with incomplete data) of 2.72 for Speaker, 2.55 for Cobb. . .

One way I like of deciding who was better is to ask, "If I was a General Manager and could have either player for the entirety of their career, who would I take?"  Citing character or moral issues as a source of winning baseball games is usually bullshit.  In this case I wonder if the two players are so close that it could be the deciding factor. . .