The Big Bam Book Review

Score: 8/10

Leigh Montville’s The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth (2006) is a biography of George Herman Ruth, better known as Babe Ruth. Without a doubt, the Babe is the most mythical player in the history of baseball. He is baseball’s first superstar. In my opinion, he is clearly the greatest player of all time. While it is debatable whether he is the greatest hitter of all time, he was also a top left-handed, power pitcher at the beginning of his career. As such, no other player in the history of the game has ever been at the top of the game as a hitter and a pitcher. In addition, no one has dominated the sport as Ruth did as he was able to outhomer entire teams by himself revolutionizing the game. In addition, he hit 714 career homeruns in an era when “The balls were not made for homeruns. They also were scuffed up, roughed up, spit upon, and used for as many as 100 pitches in a game”. More importantly, he may have saved the sport of baseball. Although the “Black Sox” betting scandal could have destroyed the credibility of baseball as a sport, Ruth’s unthinkable feats made fans forget about the scandal. Consequently, it is nearly impossible for any other player to surpass Ruth’s on the field accomplishments as well as match his importance to the sport. Babe Ruth’s is nothing less than legend. His nicknames include the Bambino and the Sultan of Swat. Yankees Stadium is known as the House that Ruth Built. Even the Boston Red Sox 86 year Championship drought, known as the Curse of the Bambino, is attributed as punishment for trading the greatest player of all time.

Despite his legend, Babe Ruth is a very flawed human being. While I do not conclude that he is a terrible person from the book, he is definitely immature. Ruth is a big kid and has absolutely no control of himself. Ruth is a big man that loves food, alcohol, and woman in excess. In terms of food, Babe likes steaks uncooked and large. Of course, he is best known for his love of hot dogs. He could eat six to eight at a time and even ate them during the games. Even when eating is banned on the bench, Ruth sneaks in food. He also loves alcohol and going out every night, which puts him at odds with his managers. Ruth is also a womanizer and is known to hire prostitutes. There are rumors that Ruth was with as many as six or seven women in one night. As such, he is not at all faithful to his first wife, Helen. An explanation for his behavior is suggested years later by his granddaughter, Linda Tosetti. She is convinced that Babe had ADHD similar to her brother: “That was the way my grandfather was. He always was moving. That’s how he could eat so much, drink so much, and not be affected. He needed the energy. He would just burn it all off. That’s why he would stay out all night. He couldn’t sleep, didn’t have to sleep.”

Another one of Ruth’s flaw is his temper. When his teammates make poor plays behind him, he “grumbled loudly”. He also complains when umpires make calls against him. At the beginning of one game, he is actually ejected after walking the first batter, rushing the umpire, and punching the umpire. Interestingly enough, the pitcher that relieves Ruth gets the next 26 batters out after a caught stealing and is thus perfect for the length of a full game or 27 outs. Nevertheless, Ruth only receives a $100 fine and nine-day suspension for punching an umpire. If a player did what Ruth did today, it would be completely unacceptable. He would be suspended for at least the rest of the season. Moreover, he does not have any respect for small men and a couple of his managers with the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees are small. Overall, Ruth is a very selfish person due to his childish tendencies. When he does not get his way, he whines and threatens to quit. He also gets into many contract disputes over the course of his long career. Again, he threatens to quit if the team does not give in to his salary demands. Keep in mind that there is absolutely no free agency at the time and that teams have complete power over a player if they wanted to impose their will by forcing players to take their contract terms or go home. Nevertheless, Ruth gets most of his demands due to his stardom. With the media scrutiny today, I highly doubt Ruth could have survived. The press would destroy him for being selfish and greedy. In all honesty, I do not know if I can stand Babe’s behavior if I he played today. Then again, I could get over it he puts up his production for my team.  Nevertheless, the media is very different in Ruth’s era. Instead of tearing down heroes, the press in Ruth’s time goes out of its way to protect the image and reputation of American heroes.

As Monteville writes his biography in 2006, there are not too many sources he can go back to in order to get original content. As such, his biography is mainly comprised of material from other books that have already been written about Babe Ruth in the past. Nevertheless, it is an excellent and thorough compilation of Babe Ruth’s career and personal life. It is a great read if you want to learn about the greatest baseball player of all time. While I gain a greater appreciation and admiration for Ruth’s legendary accomplishments on the field reading Monteville’s The Big Bam, I also get an understanding of Ruth’s struggles and failings as a human being.

The book begins during Ruth’s childhood although there is not much information about that period in his life. He grows up in Baltimore at St. Mary’s Industrial School for “Orphans, Delinquent, Incorrigible, and Wayward Boys” after his parents give him up. Eventually, his feats on the St. Mary’s baseball team catch the eye of Jack Dunn, the owner of the Baltimore Orioles. At that time, the Orioles are a minor league team and eventually sell Ruth to the Boston Red Sox in the Major Leagues. With the Red Sox, Ruth develops into a top left handed starter as a power pitcher. 1916 and 1917 are his best season in as he has win loss records of 23-12 and 24-13. In 1916, his ERA is a league best 1.75. Moreover, the consensus best pitcher during Ruth’s era is Walter Johnson. In 1916, Ruth is 5-0 against Johnson in their head to head matchups. Ruth stretches it to 6-0 by winning their first matchup in 1917 before finally losing to Johnson. On the other hand, Ruth loves and wants to hit. However, the Red Sox new manager, Ed Barrow, in 1918 wants Ruth to stay a pitcher. As in every era, pitching is the key to baseball. Even today, great starting pitching is the most valued commodity in the game. Moreover, great left handed pitchers are even rarer. As such, Barrow knows it is against common sense to switch his best pitcher to a starter.

However, the United States entry into World War I depletes the Major League rosters. Ruth avoids fighting in the war as he is married, head of household, and thus farther down on the draft list. With the depleted rosters, Ruth gets more opportunities to hit. Monteville does an excellent job detailing the atmosphere at the time of war. The public criticizes anyone who is not a part of the war process. For baseball players, it believes that any person that is able to play baseball should be able to fight in the war. Moreover, the government issues “work or fight” dictating that a male either works in a war related industry or fight in the war itself. As such, there is uncertainty about whether the baseball season will be completed. Eventually, the season is shortened and the World Series of 1918 is played in September in order for its players to comply with “work or fight” as soon as possible. As such, the Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago Cubs in the World Series. As we know, it is the last championship for the Red Sox until 2004.

Of course, the biggest trade in the history of baseball is the Red Sox trading Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1920. The owner of the Red Sox is New Yorker Harry Frazee. An interesting statement made by owner Frazee is that “the best part about Boston was the train ride back to New York”. Somehow, I do not see the people of Boston reacting too well to the owner of the Red Sox making such a statement today. When Frazee faces financial issues, one of the main reasons he trades Ruth is the inclusion of the money received from the Yankees in the deal and a $300,000 loan extended to Frazee by the Yankees owners. Part of the money received in the deal is used by Frazee to fund his theater interests. Many years later, his theater investments yield the Broadway hit No, No, Nanette that makes him millions of dollars. While the story over the years has been simplified to Frazee trading Ruth for No, No, Nanette, there are a lot of legitimate baseball reasons for trading Ruth. Before the trade, Ruth is in a contract dispute with the Red Sox and is deemed a greedy athlete. As noted before, he is also a very temperamental and selfish as a teammate. For these reasons, the Red Sox have valid justifications in believing they could be a better team without Ruth despite his talents. In theory, they can take money Ruth would make and disburse it to multiple good players that are more team oriented. However, that supposed plan never comes to fruition for the Red Sox.

When Ruth joins the Yankees, they allow him to completely transition away from pitching and become a full time hitter. Consequently, Ruth begins hitting homeruns at historic rates and becomes the biggest attraction in baseball. Attendance records are broken due to the excitement of watching Ruth hit homeruns. Monteville notes an interesting fact in that a spectator at the Polo Grounds died of a heart attack due to the excitement of watching Ruth play. Moreover, pitchers are intimidated by the Babe. In one story, Red Sox pitcher Allan Russell suffers a slight stroke and his doctor concludes that the stroke is due to anxiety caused from facing Ruth. Most importantly, the fans’ excitement over Ruth’s feats may have saved the game of baseball. In 1919, the White Sox throw the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds, which is known as the “Black Sox” scandal. Due to the events of the scandal, baseball has a lifetime ban for anyone who gambles on baseball. The reason for this unforgiving penalty is that your sport dies if the results are not credible in the eyes of the fans. While the scandal could end baseball, the fans are too preoccupied with following the Babe’s amazing accomplishments. While a World Series can be fixed, there is no way to fake Ruth’s majestic homeruns.

In 1921, Ruth carries the Yankees to their first World Series against the New York Giants in the last best of 9 games World Series. Due to jealousy over the phenomenon of Babe Ruth, the Giants ask the Yankees to move out of their stadium. For this reason, Yankee Stadium is known as the House that Ruth Built. Nevertheless, the stadium will not open until 1923. Moreover, the tension between the two teams add to the hype of the 1921 World Series as it is also between two teams in the same city. In addition, the media names the Yankees lineup “Murderor’s Row”. While the Yankees take a 2-0 series lead, the tide turns when Ruth is injured in the second game. As such, the Giants rally to win the next 5 games to win the series. As Ruth lives in the era way before the mega millions contracts of today, baseball players, including Ruth, go on barnstorming tours around the country to make additional income. However, baseball prohibits participants from the World Series to participate in the offseason tours. The reason is that it did not want players to restage the World Series in the offseason as to confuse fans on who the real winner of the World Series is for each individual season. Nevertheless, Ruth thinks he is above the game and disregards the warnings of the commissioner. As baseball could not allow any person to be above the game, Commissioner Judge Landis suspends the violators, including Ruth, for seven weeks. If the great Babe Ruth is not above the game, no one should believe himself to be above it either. It is a precedent baseball needed to set, especially after the “Black Sox” scandal. Despite the long suspension of its best player, the Yankees make it back to the World Series in 1922 but lose again to the Giants.

In 1923, Yankee Stadium is opened. Accordingly, Ruth hits the first homerun in the history of the stadium and does it against his former team, the Boston Red Sox. The Yankees would also go on to finally beat the Giants in the World Series in their third attempt. History only remembers Ruth’s greatness as a Yankee. However, there are a lot of rough patches. As noted before, Ruth loves staying out late and often misses curfews. In 1925, Yankees manager Miller Huggins fines him and decides to suspend him for the rest of the season due to missing curfews and repeatedly being late. After Ruth is contrite and apologizes to the manager, the suspension is rescinded. Nevertheless, this story highlights the need for his managers and his teams to treat and control Ruth like a child. One of Ruth’s on the field blunders I find unthinkable is during the 1926 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. In the deciding Game 7, the Yankees are down 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning. After Ruth gets a walk, he gets caught trying to steal second to end the World Series. If today’s media was around at that time, Ruth would have been completely crucified 24/7 on sports radio for months if not years for such a terrible decision.  He is fortunate to have not played in today’s environment. Nevertheless, the Yankees also incorporate rookie first basemen Lou Gehgrig on to their team during the 1926 season. Gehrig will be an all-time great player in his own right. Together with Ruth, they form the greatest middle of the order combination in the history of baseball.

In the middle of his career, Ruth’s abuse of his body begins to catch up to him and affect his performance negatively. As such, he eventually hires Artie McGovern to train him. McGovern is unrelenting in forcing Ruth to work out regularly. As such, McGovern is Ruth’s personal trainer. Another significant figure in Ruth’s turnaround is his mistress, widow Claire Merritt Hodgson. After Ruth’s first wife Helen dies in a tragic fire in Boston, Ruth feels a lot of guilt for how poorly he treated her. Nevertheless, Ruth marries Claire shortly afterwards. As a result, Claire is instrumental in controlling Ruth’s excesses and forcing him to live in moderation. Through the efforts of McGovern and Claire, Ruth is able to regain his top form. In 1927, Ruth finally accomplishes the great feat of hitting 60 homeruns in a single season. To make things more interesting, he duels teammate Lou Geghrig in one of the most epic homerun races in the history of the game. A comparable comparable one is between Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle in 1961 when Maris hit 61 homeruns to break Ruth’s single season record. Both of these homerun races are between teammates and between two Yankees. One of the best chapters in the chapters in the book is when Monteville details the seesaw homerun battle between Ruth and Geghrig during that season. Moreover, the 1927 Yankees are considered to be one of the best teams in history. In the fabled story, the Pittsburgh Pirates lose the World Series in 4 straight games. However, it is often said that they lost the Series before it even started when they were completely overwhelmed after watching the Yankees, especially Ruth, take batting practice. The Yankees also repeat as World Series Champions in 1928 against the St. Louis Cardinals in a 4 game sweep, avenging the loss in 1926. For the 1928 World Series, Ruth hit .625 and also hit 3 homeruns in the deciding 4^th game. Ruth’s accomplishments in 1927 and 1928 solidified his position as the best player in the game.

In 1929, the stock market crashes and starts the Great Depression. Nevertheless, Ruth decides to hold out for an $85 thousand salary as compared to the $80 thousand salary the Yankees are offering him. Oblivious to the ridiculousness of his position during such a trying, economic time for the country, Ruth accepts the offer quickly once someone explains to him the country’s current situation and admits he had no idea. In my opinion, it is another example of how Ruth is immature rather than a bad person. Nevertheless, Ruth still complains about his salary in the next few years citing that the Yankees are not affected by the Depression. Ruth’s run as the top slugger in the game runs till 1932 when he is surpassed by Jimmie Foxx for the homerun title. While Ruth hit 41 homeruns, Foxx hit 58. In Monteville’s words, “Although the drop-off in the Babe’s numbers wasn’t great, the symbolic shift of coming in second in both categories was huge. The inventor now saw someone use his invention better than he did.”

Of course, no Babe Ruth biography is complete without telling the story about his “Called Shot” in the 1932 World Series against the Chicago Cubs. In the series, there are excessively nasty feelings between the two teams. Former Yankee shortstop mark Koenig joins the Cubs midseason after their shortstop Billy Jurges is out for a season after being shot by a scorned lover. Despite Koenig’s contributions to the Cubs in getting to the World Series, they only vote him half a share. As such, the Yankees constantly rip the Cubs for being cheap and the Cubs fire back. In Game 3 of the series, the score is tied 4-4 in the fifth inning. After the count on Ruth goes 2-2, Ruth points to center field to signal that he will hit it to the spot for a homerun. As such, he hits the very next pitch for a homerun and is laughing and mocking the Cubs infielders as he rounds the bases. The Yankees would go on to sweep the series in 4 games. I have heard many theories about the moment. One of them is that Ruth is actually pointing to the scoreboard to say that it is only 2 strikes and he still had one more left. Monteville points out that Ruth may have been pointing at the centerfielder and implying that he would hit the ball down the centerfielder’s throat. On the other hand, Monteville notes that the best evidence that Ruth did call his shot is when the Cubs hit him with the baseball the next game. Regardless, Babe Ruth is the ultimate showman and maintains that he called his homerun for the rest of his life. Consequently, it becomes mythical over the years.

Although Ruth is clearly on the decline after the 1932 season at age 39, he is still a star and has a few more moments. First, he hits the first homerun in the first All-Star Game in 1933. Next, he decides to pitch in the final game of the 1933 season. Against the Boston Red Sox, he pitched scoreless baseball in the first five innings before completing the game for a victory. As Monteville notes, “It was a remarkable achievement – 39 years old, stepping in from the outfield to pitch a complete game – probably as remarkable as “the Called Shot” homer of a year earlier.” Nevertheless, Ruth’s playing career does not have a happy ending. Ruth believes that he should be a manager but the Yankees have no interest in the idea. As such, they devise a plan with the Boston Braves to trade Ruth. The Braves want to acquire Ruth as a sideshow to sell tickets. As the Yankees no longer want to deal with Ruth’s ego at his advanced age and diminished skill, they need to find a way to get Ruth off their team without public backlash as he is a hero. As such, the Braves agree to lead Ruth on by putting suggestive wording in the trade agreement that implies they will make Ruth manager. On the other hand, the Yankees would pretend that they cannot get stand between Ruth and such a great opportunity. The plan works and Ruth is duped into jumping at the trade thinking he will finally get the manager job he covets. Of course, Ruth figures out the trick too late when he plays for the Braves. While it is a nightmare situation to end his career, he does have one great moment with the Braves as he hit 3 homeruns in a single game to end up at his final career total of 714.

Ruth never gets a manager job after he retires as a player. After years of getting his way for so long because of his superstardom, he is just not willing to start at the bottom of the managing totem pole and work his way up. He has a sense of entitlement and wants things handed to him. When he is finally ready to accept lesser managing jobs in the minors, it is too late as teams are no longer interested. In retirement, he is also not treated well by the Yankees. While other teams give Ruth free tickets to their games, the Yankees make him pay to attend a game in the house he built. The reason is probably due to the team’s resentment of having to submit to his poor attitude at times and contract demands over the years because they had no other choice because of how great of a ballplayer he is. When he is no longer that great ballplayer, they throw him to the curb. Without baseball, Ruth has a difficult time in retirement with golf being his only solace. At the end of his life, he also develops a very painful cancer behind his nose and dies a very painful death as it spreads across his body. Overall, it is a very sad end of a legendary life.

While I cherry pick some of my favorite parts of the book, there are countless more great stories and details in Monteville’s biography of Babe Ruth. Some of the better parts of the book I did not go into much detail on is the barnstorming tours, his gambling and trips to Cuba, the deterioration of his relationship with Lou Gehrig after an incident with Gehrig’s wife, Ruth’s appearance at Lou Gehrig’s Day when the first basemen announced he had terminal ALS disease, and his relationship with his second wife Claire. Similarly, Monteville does an excellent job elaborating on Ruth’s development of a player on the Red Sox and the feuds he had with his managers on the Red Sox and Yankees. Monteville’s The Big Bam is a thorough account of Babe Ruth’s life and career. I recommend it to anyone that wants to learn more about the greatest baseball player of all time.

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