Babe Ruth vs Ty Cobb

5of 9 lines

4of 9 lines

Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb compared on their MLB careers: Babe Ruth played 22 seasons, 1914 to 1935, Ty Cobb 24 seasons, 1905 to 1928. Babe Ruth has .342 batting average to Ty Cobb's .366. Babe Ruth won 7 titles.

Who has the better career numbers?

Babe Ruth leads in 5 of the 9 lines, Ty Cobb in 4. Bold marks the better figure; playing time — games, minutes, at-bats, innings — is not scored.

Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb career totals

2,503	GP	3,035
8,399	AB	11,434
2,174	R	2,246, better
2,873	H	4,189, better
714, better	HR	117
1,983, better	RBI	726
123	SB	892, better
0.3	AVG	0.4, better
0.5, better	OBP	0.4
0.7, better	SLG	0.5
1.2, better	OPS	0.9

How do they compare in the postseason?

Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb postseason

41	GP	17
129	AB	65
37, better	R	7
42, better	H	17
15, better	HR	0
30, better	RBI	0
4	SB	4
0.3, better	AVG	0.3
0.5, better	OBP	0.3
0.7, better	SLG	0.4
1.2, better	OPS	0.6

Where each stands all time

Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb all-time places

3rd (714), better	Home runs	—
45th (2,873)	Hits	2nd (4,189), better
6th (1,983), better	RBI	—
—	Stolen bases	4th (892), better

Among the MLB players with a career line on file, regular season, counting stats only — the same lists the records pages run on.

Titles and awards

Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb titles and awards
Babe Ruth	Title or award	Ty Cobb
7, better	Championships	—

Awards come from the league’s published winner lists; a championship counts a season played for the club that won it.

Season by season

Lined up by career year, not by calendar: each row is the players’ nth season.

Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb season by season

1st	1914	.200	0	0	1905	.240, better	1, better	0
2nd	1915	.315	4, better	0	1906	.316, better	1	0
3rd	1916	.272	3	0	1907	.350, better	5, better	0
4th	1917	.325, better	2	0	1908	.324	4, better	0
5th	1918	.300	11, better	0	1909	.377, better	9	0
6th	1919	.322	29, better	0	1910	.383, better	8	0
7th	1920	.376	54, better	137, better	1911	.420, better	8	0
8th	1921	.378	59, better	171, better	1912	.409, better	7	0
9th	1922	.315	35, better	99, better	1913	.390, better	4	0
10th	1923	.393, better	41, better	131, better	1914	.368	2	0
11th	1924	.378, better	46, better	121, better	1915	.369	3	0
12th	1925	.290	25, better	66, better	1916	.371, better	5	0
13th	1926	.372	47, better	146, better	1917	.383, better	6	0
14th	1927	.356	60, better	164, better	1918	.382, better	3	0
15th	1928	.323	54, better	142, better	1919	.384, better	1	0
16th	1929	.345, better	46, better	154, better	1920	.334	2	63
17th	1930	.359	49, better	153, better	1921	.389, better	12	101
18th	1931	.373	46, better	163, better	1922	.401, better	4	99
19th	1932	.341, better	41, better	137, better	1923	.340	6	88
20th	1933	.301	34, better	103, better	1924	.338, better	4	78
21st	1934	.288	22, better	84	1925	.378, better	12	102, better
22nd	1935	.181	6, better	12	1926	.339, better	4	62, better
23rd	—	—	—	—	1927	.357	5	93
24th	—	—	—	—	1928	.323	1	40

What the columns mean: AVG · HR · RBI