audiobook The Selling of the Babe: The Deal That Changed Baseball and Created a Legend by Glenn Stout in History

Review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Early Babe Ruth and how the modern game and business of baseball came to beBy Robert SlocumFabulous book. It didn't reach top gear for me until Chapter Eight; in which Stout carefully analyzes the Ruth sale. It made complete sense for both parties. Ruth was not the world-beater he would soon become. Frazee saved his Boston club with the deal; and Ruppert took a successful gamble which led the Yankees out of the shadow of the Giants of that era.Toward the end of the book Stout quickly makes the case that the "curse of the Bambino" was more a matter of management incompetence in Beantown than anything else. He tosses off the accusation that the Red Sox organization was racist without mentioning any of the evidence. (They were the last club to integrate; with Pumpsie Green in 1960 I believe--thirteen years after Jackie Robinson.) Another quibble I had was a quick passage about Ty Cobb's dismissal of The Babe--not on account of the two of them representing the Old and the New in baseball offense (which they certainly did); but on account of the Georgia Peach thinking Ruth was black. I had read this theory long ago; but I'm not sure how widely known it is. I wonder whether; for the average reader of this book; it might make sense to either elaborate upon this; or skip it.Both my proof-reading comments have to do with race; but nothing else in the book does; if you're wondering. It's a nicely written (if on the casual side); engrossing capsule of baseball in the 1915-1920 period; when the game basically went from dead ball to long ball. There have been some glances back since this time; but not too many. Ruth also was the first player to hire an agent! Who knew? Ballplayers had endorsed a few items like tobacco before he came along; but now the floodgates opened.(Top of page 222: "Pipp struck out Pennock to lead off the sixth." No; the other way around.)0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Pleases Again!!!!By ABBThis book was part of a birthday present and we were so happy it arrived a few days earlier than stated. It would have been a bit late for the birthday but we discovered it late and decided to order anyway. What a wonderful surprise!!! This pleasantry has happened before and that is why we always check out first!!!!0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Hooray for the early Bambino; the true history of Harry Frazee and the BosoxBy Francis S. BillakExcellent book! If you are a fan of early baseball history and leery of the usual public relations puff pieces; you will enjoy this one. The story of the Babe is always entertaining but is usually told about his Yankee career. This reaffirms that he was a great pitcher before he became baseball's immortal slugger. Ruth was always a big little kid; and his excesses and irresponsibilities are not glossed over. The real protagonists were Ban Johnson; the czar of baseball; and Harry Frazee; the Red Sox owner and Broadway impresario. Their hatred of each other fueled much of the machinations in the rise and then fall of the Boston franchise. Ruth was actually an annoying side story. But he was the baseball slugging headliner in this deadest period of the Dead Ball era and well before the Black Sox scandal.