When Casey Stengel was asked by Groucho Marx, “who was the greatest player ever”.
The reply was “Tyrus Raymond Cobb, no one else was even close”.
How is it possible to ask so many questions and leave out the greatest player ever? He was also the first player to be elected to the Hall of Fame. He also had the highest lifetime batting average for players who played more than a few games.
A lot of great players emerged after that question was asked and answered.
Stengel was funny but wrong. Ruth is the greatest ever. Nobody is going to pick a singles hitter over the greatest homerun hitter of all time who also hit for average.