by Jane Leavy
First published 2018
Jane Leavy traces the life and career of Babe Ruth through the lens of his legendary 1927 barnstorming tour. After Ruth hit his 60th home run that September, he and teammate Lou Gehrig embarked on a three-week victory lap across America. Leavy uses this tour as her framework to examine Ruth's transformation from an uncouth Baltimore kid to baseball's first modern celebrity. She explores his crucial partnership with business manager Christy Walsh, who helped craft Ruth's public image and manage his career. Drawing from over 250 interviews and previously unused documents, Leavy reveals how Ruth lived entirely in the present moment, swinging the heaviest bat and earning the biggest paychecks while creating the template for athletic stardom. The book follows Ruth's journey from Baltimore to Boston to New York, capturing both the spectacle and the sadness that marked his career. Leavy shows how Ruth made the impossible seem routine, becoming as revolutionary as the radios and cameras that helped spread his fame across the nation.
Genres: biography, 20th-century, sports, baseball, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: rags-to-riches, rise-and-fall
Setting: America, Baltimore, Boston, New York
Period: 1927
Hardcover · Harper & Brothers Publishers