Babe Ruth: A Biography (Baseball's All-Time Greatest Hitters)

Babe Ruth: A Biography (Baseball's All-Time Greatest Hitters) by Stewart, Wayne. Hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780313335969.

This brief but readable biography tells the story of the most recognized figure in baseball―Babe Ruth. Besides vividly describing the highlights of Ruths career, author Wayne Stewart examines the unprecedented impact Ruth had on the nature and future of the game. Ruths ability to hit the long ball and the flamboyance of his off-field persona infused the game with a new excitement that rescued baseball from the negative effects of the 1919 Black Sox scandal. Making extensive use of interviews conducted by the author with members of Ruths family and with players who knew Ruth, this biography is an engaging exploration of how Ruth helped shape modern baseball. Babe Ruth is the most recognized figure in baseball and a true American icon. In this brief but readable biography, author Wayne Stewart engagingly describes the highlights of Ruths career and deftly examines the reasons for the unprecedented impact Ruth had on the game. Ruths ability to hit the long ball and the flamboyance of his off-field persona infused the game with a new excitement that rescued baseball from the negative effects of the 1919 Black Sox scandal. The author draws new insights into Ruths life and career through interviews he conducted with members of Ruths family and with other baseball players who knew him. Readers are also provided with a quick reference chronology to Ruths career, a bibliography of important print and non-print information resources on Ruth, a statistical appendix summarizing Ruths on-field production by season, and a discussion of how Ruth has been depicted in books, movies, plays, and other media since his death. This biography will both explain and satisfy the continuing curiosity about Ruth among young basbeball fans who never had the opportunity to see him play.