The greatest Baseball Player Period!
The legend and lore of Babe Ruth has filled thousands of pages and many Movie and TV scripts. Leigh Montville has put together the ultimate story of the great Babe Ruth.
Montville has done all the due diligence. He describes the Babe in his early youth in Baltimore. His matriculation at St. Mary's Industrial School was indeed an accomplishment The scheming of Jack Dunn and the buying of the contract for the Baltimore Orioles came to roost. Babe's entry into Major League ball with the Boston Red Sox as a young flame throwing pitcher made him a Star. He was more than good, he was great. He led the Red Sox to a World Series victory. However it was noted that the Babe could also hit. By 1919 Mr. Ruth hit 29 Home Runs which at that time was a Major League Record. In 1920 Babe was sold to the New York Yankees. The rest is History. Mr. Ruth went on a 13 year tear in Major League Hitting. During this time he has set marks in hitting that won't be broken. It is true that 2 people did hit more Home Runs. However nobody has come close to Babe's batting average within the context of sluggers along with slugging percentage.
Babe only lived 53 Years. Montville points out that Babe had a full life. Babe lived 53 years but he indeed crammed 100 years into a meager 53. Great read!!

Achilles in Pinstripes
Leigh Montville's The Big Bam is an exhaustively researched book on the life and times of Babe Ruth. Even for the non-sports fan, this book reads like the best of fiction, with a huge personality at its center and a fascinating exploration of how that personality influenced a generation of post war Americans. Entertaining and informative, Montville never shirks from probing into the faults and flaws of this iconic athlete. The book's triumph is in its evocation of supreme glory fading away with time, age, and illness. A milestone biography of a fascinating and elusive personality.

Donald Gallinger is the author of The Master Planets

The Man and the Legend
"The Big Bam" tells the fascinating story of the man behind the legend. Author Leigh Montville does an excellent job of intertwining the man into the baseball hero, without neglecting either.

Babe Ruth was a character "from the wrong side of the tracks" whose make-up was often "lost in the fog." Was he really part Negro? Who were the parents of his daughter? We may never know for sure.

Raised in St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, he first learned to play ball from the Xavierian Brothers who ran the school. Growing up with nothing, he exercised no restraint when he had everything. The tales of his undisciplined drinking (including during prohibition) and philandering leave the reader aghast at the life style led by the Babe. The failure of his first marriage and strange relationship with his daughter baffle the mind. Yet, through it all, Ruth emerges as worthy of hero worship and, in the end, a sympathetic character, a big kid who never grew up.

The Sultan of Swat is never ignored in the book. For the baseball fan, this book highlights a legendary career and brings out some facts that may have gone unnoticed. For example, I have seen pictures of the window he broke across the street from Sportsman's Park, but I never knew that he was pitching for the Red Sox that day. I had not realized that he was the one who wanted to quit pitching in order to hit more. His sparing with the owners and his managers make for interesting reading. His performance is even more astonishing when compared to his contemporaries, such as the year that he hit more home runs than six teams in the American League. Ultimately, it was his undisciplined character which defeated his last dream, that of managing in the major leagues.

This is a good read for any fan of the Golden Age of Baseball. It makes you admire the athlete and understand the man. Play Ball!

A Solid Base-Hit
If you only read one biography of the Babe, then the Big Bam would be an excellent choice. It's a solid, well researched look at the biggest name in baseball history. One of the strong points - the author's decision not to speculate - results in a lack of titillating vignettes from both the Babe's earliest years and some of his escapades. However, the reader gains that back in his confidence in the reliability of the book. Besides, the Sultan of Swat generated more than enough stories that are reported.

A number of photographs are included and they add a great deal to the biography. The excellent bibliography also allows one to reasearch further.

Overall, I was wishing it was a longer book by the time I was done.

Solid, Readable, Revealing
This is a nicely revealing look at the Sultan of Swat, one that informs about George Herman Ruth (1895-1948) both on and off the field. The narrative begins by examininig the Babe's turbulent childhood and upbringing in a Baltimore orphanage. Readers see how this young man's incredible pitching arm and all-around skill led to a professional contract. Reaching the majors in 1914 at just 19, Ruth helped pitch the Red Sox to three World Seriers titles from 1915-1918. After switching to the outfield, Boston foolishly sold him to the Yankees, where New York media, radio, newsreels, plus the Babe's tape-measure clouts turned him into a national icon. As the author shows, the Babe was an equally-enthused drinker and skirt-chaser (particularly prior to 1926). We also learn about his 60-homer season in 1927, his relations with Lou Gherig, teammates, and management, barnstorming, calling his shot in his last (1932) World Series, and his inevitable slide. The author concludes with a briefer look at Ruth's post-baseball days, frustrated desire to manage, and untimely death from cancer.

Author Leigh Montville provides much information about the Babe, his emotions, genuine sympathy for kids and orphans, and his troubled family life. Sadly, Montville didn't uncover every relevant fact - in such instances he pleads ¨fog.¨ Still, this is a very good biography, nearly matching THE LEGEND COMES TO LIFE by Robert Creamer.