Synopses & Reviews
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.
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.
Review
"...The Big Bam is a pleasure to read, filled with anecdote and Americana." Wall Street Journal
Review
"Montville...can boast of having published the best Ruth biography to date....[A]n engaging, entertaining, and eminently readable biography....Recommended..." Library Journal
Review
"[A]nother memoir of baseball's biggest legend ends in a murky miasma. Energetically written, but lacking in any revelations about this most enigmatic of sporting figureheads." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
Babe Ruth is the largest single baseball legend in history - a fact that has gone unchanged in 85 years. The time is right for the ultimate, intimate, definitive biography - the kind of biography for which Leigh Montville has attracted rave reviews and passionate fans. Other books have been written about Ruth, but Montville's treatment will give readers the kind of inside perspective that he achieved in Ted Williams, among others.
Synopsis
Babe Ruth was baseball’s original superstar, and for more than eighty-five years he has remained the sport’s reigning titan. Now Leigh Montville, whose recent
New York Times bestselling biography of Ted Williams garnered glowing reviews, brings his unerring touch to this intimate, revelatory portrait of the Babe.
Based on newly discovered documents and interviews—including thousands of pages of Ruth’s personal scrapbooks —THE BIG BAM traces Ruth’s life from his childhood in an orphanage to his brash entrance into professional baseball, from Boston to New York and into the record books as the world’s most explosive slugger. Montville explores every aspect of the man and the myths, giving readers an insider’s perspective on Ruth’s larger-than-life personality and making it clear why his legend looms as large as ever. At a time when baseball is being shaken by controversy and scandal, THE BIG BAM brings back the glory days of baseball and brilliantly illuminates its most legendary—and truly remarkable—hero.
About the Author
Leigh Montville, a former columnist at the Boston Globe and former senior writer at Sports Illustrated, is the author of the bestselling Ted Williams, At the Altar of Speed, Manute, and Why Not Us? He lives in Boston.