The Babe Ruth Story

by Babe Ruth, Bob Considine, Lawrence S. Ritter (Introduction)

The story of the greatest baseball player who ever lived, told in his own words, spans his life and includes the highs and lows, friendships, loves, and feuds, and career milestones of the man who symbolizes America's favorite game. Reissue.

Genres: Sports, Biography, Baseball, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, History

252 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1948

About the author

A pitcher for the Boston Red Sox from 1914 to 1919 and an outfielder for the New York Yankees from 1920 to 1934, American baseball player George Herman Ruth, known as Babe, hit 714 home runs, played in 10 World Series of games each fall between the winning teams of the American league and the national league to decide the championship, and held 54 major-league records; the baseball hall of fame inducted this known "sultan of swat" in 1936.

George Herman Ruth, Jr., best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935. Ruth originally broke into the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox as a starting pitcher, but after he was sold to the New York Yankees in 1919, he converted to a full-time right fielder and subsequently became one of the league's most prolific hitters. Ruth was a mainstay in the Yankees' lineup that won seven pennants and four World Series titles during his tenure with the team. After a short stint with the Boston Braves in 1935, Ruth retired. In 1936, Ruth became one of the first five players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Ruth has since become regarded as one of the greatest sports heroes in American culture. He has been named the greatest baseball player in history in various surveys and rankings, and his home run hitting prowess and charismatic personality made him a larger than life figure in the "Roaring Twenties". Off the field he was famous for his charity, but also was noted for his often reckless lifestyle. Ruth is credited with changing baseball itself. The popularity of the game exploded in the 1920s, largely due to his influence. Ruth ushered in the "live-ball era", as his big swing led to escalating home run totals that not only excited fans, but helped baseball evolve from a low-scoring, speed-dominated game to a high-scoring power game.

In 1998, The Sporting News ranked Ruth number one on the list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players". In 1999, baseball fans named Ruth to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In 1969, he was named baseball's Greatest Player Ever in a ballot commemorating the 100th anniversary of professional baseball. In 1993, the Associated Press reported that Muhammad Ali was tied with Babe Ruth as the most recognized athletes, out of over 800 dead or alive athletes, in America. The study found that over 97% of Americans over 12 years of age identified both Ali and Ruth. According to ESPN, he was the first true American sports celebrity superstar whose fame transcended baseball. In a 1999 ESPN poll, he was ranked as the third-greatest US athlete of the century, behind Michael Jordan and Muhammad Ali.

Ruth was the first player to hit 60 home runs in one season (1927), setting the season record which stood until broken by Roger Maris in 1961. Ruth's lifetime total of 714 home runs at his retirement in 1935 was a record, until first surpassed by Hank Aaron in 1974. Unlike many power hitters, Ruth also hit for average: his .342 lifetime batting is tenth highest in baseball history, and in one season (1923) he hit .393, a Yankee record. His .690 career slugging percentage and 1.164 career on-base plus slugging (OPS) remain the Major League records. Ruth dominated the era in which he played. He led the league in home runs during a season twelve times, slugging percentage and OPS thirteen times each, runs scored eight times, and runs batted in (RBIs) six times. Each of those totals represents a modern record (as well as the all-time record, except for RBIs).

Reviews

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I was a lad of about 10 I saw this book in the children's section and I borrowed it. Babe Ruth was
still a magic name and the Yankees were near invincible as they were back in the 20s when he led the
team.

You get the Babe that he wanted people to remember him by. Orphan kid from Baltimore who signs
with the Boston Red Sox who is an outstanding lefthanded pitcher and might have set all kinds of
records in that category had he not also been the owner of one powerful swing. Pitching went by the
boards as he was transferred to the outfield permanently in 1919, After setting a single season home
run record Ruth was sold to the New York Yankees where he was acknowledged as the biggest sports
figure of his or any other time.

What you get in this book is a G rated version of George Herman Ruth. He was the idol of the nation's kids and did a lot for them, visiting sick kids in hospital giving of his time and money
to various charities for them.

What you won't read about is his closing down many a speakeasy during those Prohibition years,
his carousing, his womanizing, His second wife was able to get some tenuous control of their
finances otherwise Babe would have spent that $80,000.00 salary down to the coins in his pocket.

In a later publication I learned that Bob Considine had a lot of trouble getting Ruth to sit down and
talk about his life for publication. Ruth was in the deaththrows of throat cancer then and his voice
was gone and he tired easily.

The dean of baseball writers Fred J. Lieb gave Considine access to his collection of Ruthiana and
gave some ghosting help to get the book out, It was like the rush to get Ulysses S. Grant to finish
his memoirs. It was a photo finish between the subject and the grim reaper.

The Babe Ruth Story is still an interesting read, but it's the G rated version of a colorful life.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the age of 53, baseball legend, George Herman Ruth, Jr. known as “Babe Ruth” originally nicknamed same when he was a young minor league player for being a naïve, “babe in the woods,” passed away from cancer in New York City, on August 16, 1948. This book gives an excellent history of Babe Ruth’s life. I felt like it was also a good "history" book, in that not only is this book about Babe Ruth and his baseball achievements, it gave a good overall of what baseball was like in the mid-1900's through 1948, and how WWI and WWII and the Depression affected the sport. It also showed how some things have changed and how some things have not. For instance, Babe Ruth was able to get a huge salary early in his career because of his status and fame as a prime baseball player. When the Yankee stadium opened, a news reporter claimed that it was "The House that Ruth built," because of his popularity. Today, players still bring in huge salaries, and even much more than Babe Ruth would have imagined. Babe Ruth also invested some of his money in a cigar business and starred in a fictitious movie about a baseball player called "Babe Comes Home" which is now a "lost" film which was made by a now defunct American movie picture production company. Today some athletes end up in film and/or television shows, and some invest their money in other things, such as restaurants. I liked this book and it did sadden me that Babe Ruth had died at such a young age. Fortunately today there are more ways to help people with cancer. Babe Ruth did allow himself to be a genie pig for some experimental drugs hoping it might help others in the future and perhaps it has, directly or indirectly. Additionally, he was involved in charitable events and was very respectful of his fans. He responded to their letters personally and was happy to give his autograph. He was not perfect as he liked to party and had his share of affairs when he was young, but overall he loved his sport, was respectful of his second wife, and seemed like someone I would have loved to have seen played the game of baseball.

[Dave Estela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Over the years I've read many, many books on baseball and at least a half dozen on Ruth alone, so this book did not provide me any information that I did not already know. And like all autobiographies it only gives the reader the perspective of the writer, so a lot of the boozing and womanizing described in most of the books on Ruth were glossed over if not ignored totally. I did enjoy his thoughts and descriptions of the old baseball players he played alongside and against, and his thoughts on his all-time all-star team and his explanation of why he chose who he did. Biggest surprise was his choosing Hal Chase over his teammate and the person most baseball experts consider the best 1st baseman ever --Lou Gehrig. But he explains his reasoning and he has a right to his opinion. He barely spoke of his first wife and only mentioned her tragic death in passing while talking about his second wife. Just a lot of ambiguity but I guess when you write your own story you talk about what you want to and ignore what you don't want to talk about. A decent read overall.

[Melsene G · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars. This is written or told by Babe with Bob Considine as the writer. It is short and sweet-sticks to baseball stats and not personal life. His daughter Dorothy is not mentioned at all, nor is there much if anything about his other daughter Julia. Wife #2 Claire is mentioned only several times. The life of Babe takes an arc and it's sad to read about his life after retirement. All the Babe books cover this. Babe is the greatest baseball player ever because of his stats. They are amazing. Times were different then so comparing current day ballplayers is impossible.

[Rick Zinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is a blast to read because it is in Babe Ruth’s own voice. If you want to know more, you can find more researched biographies. This is essential Baseball reading.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good so far

[Haley · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Babe Ruth Story, by Babe Ruth, takes the reader through the life and times of Babe Ruth. The book begins with a story about many of the childhood hardships that Ruth had to endure, and transitions to Ruth's teenage years when he first began playing baseball. Ruth tells all about his Major League experiences, including the three teams he's been on; the Baltimore Orioles, the Boston Red Sox, and the New York Yankees. Ruth focuses on his time with the Yankees, because most of his real achievements began here. Ruth tells the reader all of his career struggles, whether it was getting in trouble for being out too late drinking, fighting with teammates, or continuously demanding a pay raise. In fact, the Boston Red Sox sold him to the Yankees because they could no longer afford Babe Ruth as a player on their team. Ruth was a seriously materialistic person, and it did not seem like he was too appreciative of what he had in his life. He set 30, 40, 50, and 60 season home run records, and thought very highly of himself. "I don’t think i’m bragging when I say I made the country home run conscious”(Ruth 88) he stated in this (what seems like a) never-ending book.

This book was terrible. I don't think I'll ever read an autobiography again unless I have to. The entire book was told through Ruth's eyes about how awesome he was at baseball. He was, no doubt, a fantastic player, but the traces of conceitedness in his words was almost sickening. Boring doesn't even begin to describe how painful this book was to finish. My only motivation was that I'd do better on my essay and keynote presentation if I continued reading. Ruth's feats were incredible, but I think this would have been much more interesting had it been . . . say . . . one of his teammates or coaches telling the story. I don't care to hear about how much Ruth loved himself, which was entirely evident on every single page. The way he acted towards his peers and elders was horrible, and made me want to remove him from his grave and burn him. Ruth was truly a womanizer and a drunk, and this book clearly proves that. I would not recommend this to anyone unless you're looking for a book that makes you want to rip your hair out and slam your fists into someone's face (preferably Ruth's).

I'd give The Babe Ruth Story a one out of five. Honestly, this book frustrated me to an extent that I cannot even fathom. Planning out how many pages I'd have to suffer through each day helped out a little, otherwise I would have ended up saving it all until the night before everything was due. Instead of reading the book, here's a quote that pretty much sums up every single thing Ruth talks about, "But I showed them that history repeats itself, because I again knocked three out of that park"(Ruth 163). The entire book is filled with Ruth's comments about how he "saved the game" and "the team couldn't have gotten anywhere without him". What a disgusting display of arrogance. Ruth is anything but humble, which isn't always a bad thing, but after reading this book, it's obvious how he took his proudness to an extreme. Nobody in their right mind would enjoy this book.

[Sophie Gray]

The style of this biography is the type of style that I appreciate most in literature when it comes to books such as biographies. Giving the voice of Babe Ruth himself throughout the informative book gives the audience so much more insight as to what Ruth has gone through and what his life was like, inside and outside the game of baseball. Babe Ruth is famous for his love for the game of baseball and the fact that he was the one to introduce the game universally. The book gives Babe Ruth’s story in a chronological order that is easy to follow, showing the friendships he made, the challenges he conquered and most importantly the importance he maintains behind the game of baseball. This biography is much more than just an informative book, the descriptive illustrations and narration of Ruth himself through the book gives it much more character than just a simple biography.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this as a pre-teen and again as a teenager. Great book for young boys who love baseball. He tells tons of stories that you don't get from sports history books on The Babe. It also got into some of his personal life which was cool.

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting perspective on the history of baseball with lots of old timey lingo. My boys will sit and listen to anything sports related and considering they don't play baseball it was a compelling enough tale to keep them hooked.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. A great read about a great sportsman. Also, bought it at a used book store for $200 (it was autographed) and 10 years later sold it for $2500.

[Ron Kaplan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Babe Ruth,biography

[Harrison]

hi every one

[Daniel Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific story and well written. I recommend it to everyone, regardless of whether or not you're a baseball fan. Very honest.

[Richard A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not absolutely sure that this is the Babe bio I read, but I think so. The one I read was really enjoyable and I learned a lot.