The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth
by Leigh Montville
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Book Summary Information
Author: Leigh MontvilleEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-05-01
ISBN: 0767919718
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Anchor
Book Reviews of The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth
Book Review: Good Bio of the Sultan of Swat
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a riveting biography of the life of Babe Ruth, the Sultan of Swat, the Big Bam (one nom de guerre that I had never heard before). The author uses notes from a series of researchers, a number of whom wrote their own biographies of Babe Ruth. Hence, he appears to have a rich vein of material from which to mine nuggets on the life of Babe Ruth.
The focus of the book (page 5): "This book is an attempt to tell the story again for the Sports Center generation. . . . The approach is not so much to tear down the myths that grew around George Herman Ruth as to explain how and why they developed in the time in which he lived."
One metaphor used throughout the volume is "fog," representing those portions of Ruth's life where there is simply little information available. Much of his early childhood is enveloped in the fog. The story of how he moved from "St. Mary's Industrial School for Orphans, Delinquent, Incorrigible, and Wayward Boys to the Baltimore Orioles emerges from the fog and makes for good reading.
The book traces Ruth's rise from such humble and inauspicious beginnings to the minor leagues to the Boston Red Sox, where he became a great pitcher and promising hitter, to his purchase by the New York Yankees. The chapters recording his career speak of high points--and low points--and the awesome statistics that he compiled. More interesting, though, is the depiction of his very flawed life.
He may have had ADHD, if Montville is correct, but that is of no great moment. The point is that he had a hard time disciplining himself. Only after a wretched year and an as yet to be diagnosed malady that cost him a whole year did he begin to take care of himself.
The book does a nice job of recalling his career, his run in with his managers, his up and down relationships with teammates (the retelling of his ties to Lou Gehrig are quite interesting), his off field excesses (whether with food, drink, or women), his almost childlike behavior (the authors equated him to a 15 year old boy), his running through his salary. It also tells the tale of his attempting to take control of his life (with his second wide playing a key role, although their time together was hardly idyllic). The book concludes with Ruth's almost pathetic effort to become a manager while major league owners used and abused him in the process.
A nice biography indeed. Montville sometimes appears to venture into terra incognita where the evidentiary bases of his reflections are open to question (e.g., the ADHD diagnosis). But his is a candid biography, showing Ruth off--warts and accomplishments alike.
Summary of The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth
He was the Sultan of Swat. The Caliph of Clout. The Wizard of Whack. The Bambino. And simply, to his teammates, the Big Bam. 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.?[Montville is] one of America?s best sportswriters.? ?Chicago Tribune
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.
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. Montville explores every aspect of the man, paying particular attention to the myths that have always surrounded him. Did he really hit the ?called shot? homer in the 1932 World Series? Were his home runs really ?the farthest balls ever hit? in countless ballparks around the country? Was he really part black?making him the first African American professional baseball superstar? And was Ruth the high-octane, womanizing, heavy-drinking ?fatso? of legend . . . or just a boyish, rudderless quasi-orphan who did, in fact, take his training and personal conditioning quite seriously?
At a time when modern baseball is grappling with hyper-inflated salaries, free agency, and assorted controversies, The Big Bam brings back the pure glory days of the game. Leigh Montville operates at the peak of his abilities, exploring Babe Ruth in a way that intimately, and poignantly, illuminates a most remarkable figure.
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