Ty Cobb hit five home runs in two consecutive games. Does that prove he could have hit like Babe Ruth?

I've heard that Wade Boggs and Ichiro Suzuki had been observed in batting practice hitting fair balls into the stands.  The implication was that they could hit home runs in games if they wanted to.  Somewhat implied was that they chose to restrict their swings for more control, less power but for higher batting averages (BA).

This week on the MLB Network I heard the end of an interview with Danny Knobler, author of this 2015 book:

Numbers Don't Lie: Tigers
The Biggest Numbers in Tigers History

Knobler was stating that Ty Cobb had accomplished a home run (HR) feat that Babe Ruth had not: hit five home runs in two consecutive games.  The young interviewer was impressed and the two sounded as if that proved that Cobb could have hit like Babe Ruth, i.e., hit for both high BA and also many HR.
The 2015 book on Cobb by Charles Leerhsen mentions Cobb hitting five home runs in two consecutive games on pages 326-7 but it is written in a convoluted manner and the reference lacks credibility as it is a recollection by a former sports writer in 1961 who did not write about it when it happened in 1925.  Leerhsen does write that for the 1910 American League (AL) season the core of the ball was changed to make the ball more lively, which resulted in BA: Cobb .420, Shoeless Joe Jackson .408.  Supposedly Cobb did not like the more lively ball because it made it more difficult for Cobb to bunt.

SABR bio of Cobb by Daniel Ginsburg:

a scientific hitter who liked to beat out bunts and infield grounders for base hits. After 1920, Cobb became a passionate defender of the Deadball Era-style of play, derisively mocking the "swing crazy" batters of the modern game who had neglected the inside strategies mastered by the Georgia Peach.
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Through 1920 here are the career HR leaders:

Rk	Player	HR	From	To	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos	Tm
1	Roger Connor	138	1880	1897	22-39	1998	8847	7797	1620	2467	441	233	1323	1002		455	39	9			244		.316	.397	.486	.883	*35/4879	TRO-NYG-NYI-PHI-STL
2	Sam Thompson	126	1885	1906	25-46	1410	6525	5998	1261	1988	343	161	1305	451		234	63	13			232		.331	.384	.505	.890	*9/783	DTN-PHI-DET
3	Harry Stovey	122	1880	1893	23-36	1486	6832	6138	1492	1771	347	174	908	663		450	31				509		.289	.361	.461	.822	3798/1	WOR-PHA-BOS-BSN-BLN-BRO
4	Gavvy Cravath	119	1908	1920	27-39	1221	4642	3951	575	1134	232	83	719	561		578	28	105			89	20	.287	.380	.478	.858	*97/H83	BOS-WSH-CHW-PHI
5	Jimmy Ryan	118	1885	1903	22-40	2014	9124	8172	1643	2513	451	157	1093	804		491	83	65			419		.308	.375	.444	.820	897/6145	CHC-CHI-WSH
6	Hugh Duffy	106	1888	1906	21-39	1737	7841	7044	1554	2293	325	119	1302	664		268	29	104			574		.326	.386	.451	.837	879/64532	CHC-CHI-BOS-BSN-MLA-PHI
7	Dan Brouthers	106	1879	1904	21-46	1673	7676	6711	1523	2296	460	205	1296	840		238	105	20			256		.342	.423	.519	.942	*3/7195	TRO-BUF-DTN-BSN-BOS-BRO-BLN-LOU-PHI-NYG
8	Mike Tiernan	106	1887	1899	20-32	1478	6732	5915	1316	1838	257	162	853	748		376	41	28			428		.311	.392	.463	.855	*978/1	NYG
9	Babe Ruth	103	1914	1920	19-25	534	1948	1568	360	514	118	39	359	340		264	11	24			27	14	.328	.451	.650	1.101	71/9H83	BOS-NYY
10	Honus Wagner	101	1897	1917	23-43	2795	11748	10439	1739	3420	643	252	1732	963		735	125	221			723	26	.328	.391	.467	.858	*6935/847H1	LOU-PIT
11	Ed Delahanty	101	1888	1903	20-35	1837	8400	7511	1600	2597	522	186	1466	741		439	94	54			455		.346	.411	.505	.916	*7384/695	PHI-CLE-WSH
12	Sam Crawford	97	1899	1917	19-37	2517	10593	9570	1391	2961	458	309	1525	760		580	23	241			367	43	.309	.362	.452	.814	*9837/H	CIN-DET
13	Cap Anson	97	1871	1897	19-45	2524	11331	10281	1999	3435	582	142	2075	984		330	32	34		6	277	16	.334	.394	.447	.841	*352/794681	ROK-ATH-CHC

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/1/2015.

Cobb was number 34 with 69 in 7,729 AB, about the same as Roger Connor, the record holder with 138.   In his first season with the Yankees Ruth had become the first batter to reach 30 HR in a season, the first to reach 40, the first to reach 50. Ruth roared past Cobb by hitting 54 HR. Through 1920 Ruth had 103 HR in 1,568 AB.  The next season Ruth would take over the career lead in HR, when he hit 59, and hold it until April 1974 when Hank Aaron past him. Ruth is currently number three behind Barry Bonds and Aaron.  Note Cobb's long time teammate Sam Crawford with 97.

Cobb hit 117 HR in 11,434 AB.  In 1920 and 1921 Ruth hit 113 HR (54+59).  In 1927 and 1928 Ruth hit 114 HR (60+54).  Of Cobb's 117: 46 were inside the park HR (IPHR) and 3 bounced over as was the old rule through 1930.  So only 68 went over the fence on the fly.
Cobb led the AL in HR only in his triple crown season: 9 in 1909, all IPHR:

1909 HRs	#car	#yr	#gm	Date	@Bat			Pitcher	Score	Inn	Out	RBI	BOP	Pos	WPA	Notes
12	12	1	1	1909-06-20 (1)	DET	@	SLB	Rube Waddell		t 5	2	2		9		IPHR
13	13	2	1	1909-07-15 (2)	DET		WSH	Charlie Smith		b 1		3		9		IPHR
14	14	3	2	1909-07-15 (2)	DET		WSH	Charlie Smith		b 5		2		9		IPHR
15	15	4	1	1909-07-19	DET		NYY	Pete Wilson		b 5		2	4	9		IPHR
16	16	5	1	1909-07-29	DET	@	NYY	Slow Joe Doyle		t 7		1		9		IPHR
17	17	6	1	1909-08-06	DET	@	PHA	Harry Krause		t 2		1		9		IPHR
18	18	7	1	1909-08-27	DET		NYY	Jack Chesbro		b 4		3	3	9		IPHR
19	19	8	1	1909-09-01	DET		BOS	Eddie Cicotte		b 1		2		9		IPHR
20	20	9	1	1909-09-13	DET		SLB	Chuck Rose		b 8		3		9		IPHR

Supposedly the ball was juiced again around 1920 and many other players in addition to Ruth suddenly started hitting a lot of HR.

Home Run hitting on steroids: 1920s? Tuesday, December 4, 2012

For purposes of this topic, I'll consider the modern HR record to have been set at 24 in 1915 by Gavvy Cravath who had led the National League (NL) the previous two seasons with 19...

While Ruth is playing like he's from another planet (You don't think ...?) he is not alone.  Including Ruth, the 1915 record of 24 HR was broken 43 times in the 1920s.
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Cobb played for the Detroit Tigers from 1905-1926 (ages 18- 39),then two years for the Philadelphia Athletics.  Cobb was the Tigers Player/Manager for his final six seasons: 1921-1926 (.519).

Cobb reached double digits in HR twice, hitting 12 in both 1921 (507 AB) and 1925 (415 AB).  In 1921 four of Cobb's twelve were IPHR.  In 1925 all 12 went over the fence on a fly; none bounced over as was the old rule through 1930.

95	95	4	1	1924-08-31	DET	@	SLB	Elam Vangilder		t 3		1	3	8
1925 HRs	#car	#yr	#gm	Date	@Bat			Pitcher	Score	Inn	Out	RBI	BOP	Pos	WPA	Notes
96	96	1	1	1925-05-05	DET	@	SLB	Bullet Joe Bush	ahead 1-0	t 1	0	2	3	8
97	97	2	2	1925-05-05	DET	@	SLB	Elam Vangilder	tied 4-4	t 2	2	2	3	8
98	98	3	3	1925-05-05	DET	@	SLB	Milt Gaston	ahead 11-8	t 8	0	1	3	8
99	99	4	1	1925-05-06	DET	@	SLB	Dave Danforth	ahead 2-1	t 5	1	2	3	8
100	100	5	2	1925-05-06	DET	@	SLB	Chet Falk	ahead 8-4	t 9	2	3	3	8
101	101	6	1	1925-06-02	DET		CHW	Ted Blankenship	tied 15-15	b 9	1	1	4	8		Walk-Off
102	102	7	1	1925-06-09	DET	@	PHA	Slim Harriss		t 8		2	4	8
103	103	8	1	1925-06-10	DET	@	WSH	Stan Coveleski		t 6		1	4	8
104	104	9	1	1925-06-17	DET	@	NYY	Hank Johnson	ahead 9-0	t 6	0	4	4	8
105	105	10	1	1925-06-18	DET	@	NYY	Urban Shocker	tied 3-3	t 8	0	1	4	8
106	106	11	1	1925-06-25	DET		SLB	Dave Danforth		b 1	2	2	4	8
107	107	12	1	1925-10-04 (1)	DET	@	SLB	Ernie Wingard		t 8		1	4	8
1926 HRs	#car	#yr	#gm	Date	@Bat			Pitcher	Score	Inn	Out	RBI	BOP	Pos	WPA	Notes

Cobb's last HR in 1924 was off one of the three pitchers off whom Cobb homered in one game. Note the dates: Aug. 31, 1924 and May 5, 1925.  That's a huge stretch without hitting any HR.  Cobb would then hit two HR the next day, May 6, 1925.  That's the five in two consecutive games.  Note also that Cobb hit six more HR in June 1925, then one final HR on OCTOBER 4, 1925.  Let's look at Cobb's game logs.

1924:
Cobb played 27 games in September, all in CF, and had at least 4 plate appearances (PA) in each game.  Cobb finished with 4 HR in 625 AB.

1925:Cobb hit 11 HR from May 5 through June 25, 45 games.  Prior to Ma
y 5 Cobb had played in only 8 of the Tigers 19 games.  Cobb would play 121 games that season.  Cobb played in 69 games after June 25 but starting August 6 Cobb pinch hit (PH) a lot.  Cobb PH and had only one PA in 16 games.  In five games, only two PA.  In four games, three PA.  In 1925: 12 HR in 415 AB.


Let's take a look at the two consecutive big HR games.

Tuesday, May 5, 1925,, Sportsman's Park III
Attendance: 3,500, Time of Game: 2:44
Tigers 14, Browns 8

Tigers:
Ty Cobb CF: 6 for 6, 3 HR, 2B, CS
Heinie Manush LF: HR

Browns:
Baby Doll Jacobson CF: HR

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	BF	GSc
Bullet Joe Bush, L (2-3)	1.2	5	5	5	2	1	1	8.07	11	24
Elam Vangilder	0.2	4	4	4	1	0	2	8.22	7
Joe Giard	1.2	1	1	1	1	0	0	10.80	6
Ed Stauffer	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	9.00	4
Milt Gaston	3	6	3	3	3	0	1	6.83	17
Brad Springer	1	1	1	0	2	0	0	3.00	5
Team Totals	9	17	14	13	10	2	4	13.00	50	24

_____________________________

Wednesday, May 6, 1925,, Sportsman's Park III
Attendance: 3,000, Time of Game: 2:10
Tigers 11, Browns 4

Tigers:
Ty Cobb CF: 3 for 6, 2 HR
Harry Heilmann RF; 2 HR

Browns:
Gene Robertson 3B: HR, 2B
Baby Doll Jacobson CF: HR

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	BF	GSc
Dave Danforth, L (0-2)	6.2	13	6	6	2	2	3	5.02	34	24
Ed Stauffer	0.1	0	0	0	1	1	0	7.71	2
Chet Falk	2	5	5	5	2	0	1	16.20	13
Team Totals	9	18	11	11	5	3	4	11.00	49	24

In the first game Cobb hit three HR but two other players also homered.  In the next game Cobb hit two HR as did teammate Heilman, plus Jacobson homered again as he had in the previous and another Brown also homered.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/1925.shtml

In 1925 the Browns hitters tied the Yankees for the most HR with 110 while the Tigers were sixth with 50; AL average: 67.  Browns pitchers allowed the most HR: 99; Yanks second most: 78.  Tigers third most: 70.

Cobbs victims in those two games:
Dave Danforth: led AL with 19 HR (159 innings)
Joe Bush: second most: 18 HR (209 innings)
Elam Vangilder: 11th most: 11 HR (193 Innings)
Milt Gaston: tied 26th most: 8 HR (239 innings)
Chet Falk: 2 HR (25 innings)

So what happened?  Did Cobb intentionally swing for the fences in those two games to prove that anyone could hit homers?  Why would Cobb wait so long to make that point?  Was it just a coincidence that it was in the middle of a decade of unprecedented HR hitting?  Why would he go back to being scientific, especially since Cobb was already 38 years old in 1925?  How scientific was this:
1925 13 SB, 9 CS
1927 22 SB, 16 CS (led AL) while Ruth was hitting 60 HR?

Even at his peak (age 28):
1915 96 SB, 38 CS (led AL)

Cobb's SB record stood until Maury Wills broke it:
1962 104 SB, 13 CS  (led NL)

In his career Wills hit only 20 HR in 7,588 AB, no HR hitter he.