The Babe Ruth Story

[pwdennis]

Got lucky last Sunday while waiting for my wife to finish playing bridge in Daytona Beach. I found a copy of THE BABE RUTH STORY by Babe Ruth as told to Bob Considine. This is a book I enjoyed enormously as a kid. Finding a copy after all these years, I wondered if I would find the book to be as compelling now as I did back when I was a young teen.

While many sports "autobiographies" are whitewash jobs, this effort, while fairly brief, is considerably more candid than many such books of the past. Witness the opening paragraph of the book: " I was a bad kid. I say that without pride, but with a feeling that it is better to say it. Because I live with one great hope in mind: to help kids who now stand where I stood as a boy. If what I have to say here helps even one of them avoid some of my own mistakes, or take heart from such triumphs as I have had, this book will serve its purpose."

The book is a very good read - which is to be expected since Bob Considine (the "as told to") was a consumate pro. Babe points discusses some of his own escapes and shortcomings in the test but really doesn't tell any "tales out of school" about others.

Here is the Babe's all time team (remember this book was published originally in 1948 while Babe was dying of cancer - which he never labels as such in the narrative).

1B Hal Chase
2B Nap Lajoie
SS Hans Wagner
3B Jimmy Collins
C Ray Schalk
OF Ty Cobb
OF Tris Speaker
OF **** ****
P Walter Johnson
Christy Mathewson
Grover Cleveland Alexander
Herb Pennock

The selection of Chase is interesting but the Babe found him to be superior defensively to Gehrig & Sisler



The Babe points out his own problems

[Craig S.]

I've never read this one. Does he talk much about Lou Gehrig? I know they never had a great friendship, which I bet is the real reason he picks Hal Chase on his "all time team."

Is it worth picking up a used copy if I can find one?

[pwdennis]

He doesn't discuss Gehrig at great length, although Lou shows up in the narrative frequently. Every reference to Gehrig that the Babe does make is complimentary.

For instance, Ruth describes watching Gehrig hit four homeruns in one game in 1932 as one of his greatest thrills and opines ".. He should have hat five that day, He got a fifth at bat in the ninth inning of the game and hit his longest ball of the day. But Al Simmons dragged it out of the air near the center-field flagpole."

Babe also comments " I don't think I ever would have established my home run record of 60 if it hadn't been for Lou"

I think the book is worth picking up. There was a 1980 reissue in paperback by Scholastic books that sold for $1.69 that probably could be had for $2 or $3 if you find a copy.

[SuperChief]

Just picked up a copy at one of the used bookstores....am looking forward to reading it. Slightly off topic, but have you ever read any of the Chase bios?