“The best biography ever written about an American sports figure.” —Sports Illustrated Nearly a century has passed since George Herman Ruth made his major league debut, and in that time millions of words have been used to describe baseball’s greatest hero. But for a man like the Babe, for whom the phrase “larger than life” seems to have been coined, those millions of words have created a mythologized legacy. Who was the real Babe Ruth? Relying on exhaustive research and interviews with teammates, family members, and friends, historian Robert W. Creamer separates fact from fiction and paints an honest and fascinating portrait of the slugger. This is the definitive biography of a man who was, in legend and in truth, the best who ever lived.
One of the most gifted athletes in the world, Babe Didrikson Zaharias dominated track and field, winning two Olympic gold medals in 1932. She went on to compete in baseball, bowling, basketball, tennis, and particularly in golf. The American public was smitten with her wit, frankness, and "unladylike" bravado. She became an American legend. The legend was challenged, however, by members of the press and society who insinuated that her femininity, even her femaleness, were suspect--that there was something different, even wrong, about this preternaturally gifted woman in a male-dominated world. She had ably used her androgyny and her powerful athleticism to promote herself, but she soon felt compelled to craft herself into a more marketable female role model--particularly in connection with the "proper" world of golf. To increase her opportunities for competitive play in this field, she became a co-founder and officer of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). As a major step in her makeover, Babe already had married George Zaharias, a wrestling promoter who was a vital partner in her constant efforts at self-promotion. But by 1950 Babe was deeply involved with a young golfer, Betty Dodd, whose for-the-record discussion of their remarkable love is included in Babe. Stricken with cancer in her prime, Babe went on to courageously and publicly fight the disease. Babe is a comprehensive, in-depth biography of a woman who was a great athlete at a time when it was extremely difficult for a woman to be her own person. Through interviews with members of Babe's family, her golf peers, and medical personnel, Cayleff caringly reveals the life and probes the legend of this unusual American hero. She unflinchingly examines the athletic community, the media, and the society that both loved and judged Babe, whose story embodies the struggle of all women who dare to transcend stereotypes and claim their own definitions and unique identities. Babe allows her to be all the hero--and all the human being--she was meant to be.
“This exceptionally engaging chronicle recounts Ruth’s amazing rags-to-riches story. . . . Equally important, the art captures Ruth’s irrepressible personality and joy in playing baseball.” — Booklist (starred review) Before he becomes known as the Babe, George Herman Ruth is just a boy who lives in Baltimore and has a knack for getting into trouble. But when he turns seven, his father takes him to Saint Mary’s Industrial School for Boys, and his life is changed. Here, under the watchful eye of Brother Matthias, George evolves as an athlete and a man. With vivid illustrations and clear affection for his subject, Matt Tavares sheds light on an icon who learned early that life is what you make of it — and sends home a message about honoring the place you come from. Back matter includes an author’s note, Babe Ruth’s career statistics, and a bibliography.
National Bestseller He was the Sultan of Swat. The Caliph of Clout. The Wizard of Whack. The Bambino. And simply, to his teammates, the Big Bam. Babe Ruth was more than baseball’s original superstar. For eighty-five years, he has remained the sport’s reigning titan. He has been named Athlete of the Century . . . more than once. But who was this large, loud, enigmatic man? Why is so little known about his childhood, his private life, and his inner thoughts? In The Big Bam, Leigh Montville, whose recent New York Times bestselling biography of Ted Williams garnered glowing reviews and offered an exceptionally intimate look at Williams’s life, brings his trademark touch to this groundbreaking, revelatory portrait of the Babe. From the award-winning author of the New York Times bestseller Ted Williams comes the thoroughly original, definitively ambitious, and exhilaratingly colorful biography of the largest legend ever to loom in baseball—and in the history of organized sports. Based on newly discovered documents and interviews—including pages from Ruth’s personal scrapbooks —The Big Bam traces Ruth’s life from his bleak childhood in Baltimore to his brash entrance into professional baseball, from Boston to New York and into the record books as the world’s most explosive slugger and cultural luminary.
One of the most endearing of American heroes, Casey Stengel guided the New York Yankees to ten pennants in twelve seasons. Here is the brilliant manager stripped naked- the person underneath all the clowning, mugging, and double-talking.
Just in time for baseball season! Babe Ruth came from a poor Baltimore family and, as a kid, he was a handful. It was at a reform school that Babe discovered his talent for baseball, and by the age of nineteen, he was on his way to becoming a sports legend. Babe was often out of shape and even more often out on the town, but he had a big heart and an even bigger swing! Kids will learn all about the Home Run King in this rags-to- riches sports biography. With black-and-white illustrations throughout, a true sports legend is brought to life.
The most famous baseball player in history, and the most enduring legend, Babe Ruth is remembered for his dramatic heroism not only on the baseball diamond but also in his life. Kal Wagenheim illustrates this larger than life athlete in his book Babe Ruth: His Life and Legends, and describes him as both a product of his childhood in Baltimore and of his formative years as a New York Yankee. Ruth struggled desperately with the dramatic contrast between the poverty of his youth and the glamour and stardom that his famed career brought him, and although his name became synonymous with wooing women and abusing alcohol, nothing could prevent him from becoming one of history’s greatest athletes.
At six-feet-six, the hulking Martin Leo Boutilier (1872-1944) was hard to miss. Yet the many books written about Babe Ruth relegate the soft-spoken teacher and coach to the shadows. Ruth credited Boutilier--known as Brother Matthias in the Congregation of St. Francis Xavier--with making him the man and the baseball player he became. Matthias saw something in the troubled seven-year old and nurtured his athletic ability. Spending many extra hours on the ballfield with him over a dozen years, he taught Ruth how to hit and converted the young left-handed catcher into a formidable pitcher. Overshadowed by a fellow Xavierian brother who was given the credit for discovering the baseball prodigy, Matthias never received his due from the public but didn't complain. Ruth never forgot the father figure who continued to provide valuable counsel in later life. This is the first telling of the full story of the man who gave the world its most famous baseball star.
Rather than as a Falstaffian figure of limited intellect, Edmund Wehrle reveals Babe Ruth as an ambitious, independent operator, one not afraid to challenge baseball’s draconian labor system. To the baseball establishment, Ruth’s immense popularity represented opportunity, but his rebelliousness and potential to overturn the status quo presented a threat. After a decades-long campaign waged by baseball to contain and discredit him, the Babe, frustrated and struggling with injuries and illness, grew more acquiescent, but the image of Ruth that baseball perpetuated still informs how many people remember Babe Ruth to this day. This new perspective, approaching Ruth more seriously and placing his life in fuller context, is long overdue.
The Great Bambino, The Sultan of Swat, The Titan of Terror...Babe Ruth was larger than life! Here is an illustrated history of baseball's most iconic figure. Try to sum up the career of baseball legend Babe Ruth in fewer than 20 words, and the first two sentences on the Hall of Fame plaque that hangs in Cooperstown does so quite succinctly: Greatest drawing card in history of baseball. Holder of many home run and other batting records.The man known as the Great Bambino, however, represented far more than just numbers. As former teammate Joe Dugan once stated, “To understand him you had to understand this: He wasn’t human.” Offering the definitive look at Ruth’s life both on and off the field, from his rough childhood through the larger-than-life persona he would eventually become, The Great Bambino is an intimate and beautifully illustrated portrait of a true American icon.
