Babe Ruth quotation from Babe Ruth's Own Book of Baseball

This quotation is verified in the stored text, but an edition-specific PDF page or EPUB chapter has not yet been indexed.

as the greatest natural hitter I ever saw, despite the fact that personally I found him easy to pitch to. A pitcher, over the course of his career, runs across certain players who are easy victims, and others who hit everything he offers regardless. Despite the fact that Cobb was and is a great hitter, I always found him easy to pitch to. I can name a dozen men in the league who gave me a lot more trouble than Ty up there at the bat. Joe Jackson was one. Sam Rice was another. Eddie Collins was still another. But despite that I still consider Cobb the king of them all when it comes to hitters. I’m paid to hit home runs. In a way that’s a handicap. To hit home runs I’ve got to swing from my heels with all the power in my body. Which isn’t good batting style. And the greatest tribute I can pay to Ty Cobb is simply this. If I wasn’t expected to drive the ball out of the lot every time I come up there to the plate I’d change my batting form tomorrow. I’d copy Cobb’s style in every single thing he does. Every man in the big leagues has his own individual batting style. But in a general way you can classify batters into two divisions. One is the “swing hitters.” Those are the fellows who grasp their bats at the end, take a toe hold at the plate and take a full swing at the ball with all the power they can muster. They’re the chaps who bust the fences and send the outfielders back to the wall. They’re the fellows who do most of the striking out too. The other division is the “choke hitters.” These are the men we call “smart hitters.” They choke their bats, stand flatfooted and take a half swin