Many consider this figure a more accurate representation of the dire employment scenario in America today, as people spend more time unemployed and often become discouraged from actively seeking a job.
While it's impossible to attribute all of Cobb's flaws to Stump's fabrications, Stump's portrayal of him as the most villainous figure in baseball history was accepted as fact for so long that it remains the dominant representation of him, said author Charles Leerhsen, who is researching and writing a biography of Cobb.