Best Ruth Biography

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Posted By: John S

I am in the process of making a holiday wish list for my wife which will include a few books. I have not read any of the more recent Ruth bios (last twenty years) and would like some opinions regarding the best read. Thanks in advance.

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Posted By: Wade

I just read The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth by Leigh Montville. It was fantastic and I believe it came out in 2006? It spends a lot of time discussing Ruth's years at St. Mary's orphanage in Baltimore as well as the inconsistencies in previous reports concerning his family. I am sure it must have been released in 2006 because Montville briefly discusses recent steroid allegations concerning Barry Bonds and Mark Mcgwire. I would highly recommend it.

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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

Babe, by Robert Creamer, 1974. Get her to look at abebooks.com

And I really suggest you read some of these:

The Glory of Their Times, Lawrence Ritter. A cornerstone of even a modest baseball library.

The Celebrant, Eric Rolfe Greenberg, fiction about a fellow who befriends Mathewson, one fantastic read. A++++++

Bill James' Historical Baseball Abstract. I'm partial to the mid 1980s edition, there is a revised edition about 5 years old.

Baseball When the Grass was Real, Donald Honig. Closely follows on the heels of Mr. Ritter's book, great stuff!

1941, by Robert Creamer.

The Politics of Glory, Bill James, 1994. Upon reading this, you will really understand the National Baseball Museum's Hall of Fame. And it will make a baseball fan's blood boil. After you calm down, watch ESPN, read some baseball articles and listen to friends.... then your HOF knowledge will evaporate and you'll return to blissful ignorance. But then, in the back of your mind, you'll recall that you could reread Mr. James' book and return to a cogent understanding of how the HOF works.

Pennant Races, Dave Anderson. This is really a pretty good book.

Memories of a Ballplayer, Bill Werber, 2001, a not too old decent read. And you could mail it to him and get it signed.

Sleeper Cars and Flannel Uniforms, Elden Auker, 2001. A nice small book.

Moneyball, Michael Lewis. This is about how the Oakland A's ignored old baseball wisdom and used statistics and "new" wisdom to draft players so they could compete with a fraction of the salary of the Yankees. Eye opening stuff.

One more book that should be treasured and read would be The Fix is In, A history of baseball gambling and game fixing scandals, Daniel E. Ginsburg. If you mindlessly think Pete should be in the HOF, then don't buy this book. You will think it is blasphamy. If even the slightest bit of openmindedness is present, this book will explain about how gambling affected professional baseball in its early days, why the rules are as they are today, and why Pete stays out. Forever.


Glory of Their Times, Historical Baseball Abstract, and The Celebrant, they deserve repeating...

Frank.

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Posted By: Dave Rey

Creamer's Babe biography is the standard -- and it's one of the best baseball bios ever written. His "1941" is also excellent.

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Posted By: Rich Klein

I personally believe the Marshall Smelser book The Life that Ruth Built is an even better book than Creamer's book. Both are great, just my opinion

Rich

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Posted By: Glenn

I haven't read any of the recent ones, but I just read the Creamer book over the summer. It is excellent. If you're like me, you'll end up searching ebay for items related to any obscure event or person mentioned in the book.

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Posted By: John S

Glenn,

That is exactly what I do...for me the hidden costs of any baseball or football book can be tremendous. I read "Glory of Their Times" about ten years ago and spent five years acquiring the cards of just about every player mentioned in the book.

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Posted By: Glenn

Ah, so I'm not the only one with the index-as-checklist illness. I'm relieved.