BABE RUTH: His Story in Baseball

by Lee Allen ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 7, 1966

The beginning and ending of Babe Ruth's life story are quite moving here as they were in real life. For the years between the orphan asylum and the Baseball Hall of Fame, Mr. Allen concentrates on Ruth's career on the baseball field, his concern for children, and his run-ins with the Yankee management. This approach preserves the hero-figure gloss. Ruth's gluttony, inability to accept discipline and really rough diamond moments are soft-pedalled. These are, perhaps, difficult to present to juvenile readers when the man's record shows that his playing got better and better in spite of late hours, high living and uncontrollable overeating. Rex Lardner managed to encompass all this in a short biography included in Ten Heroes of the Twenties (1966, p. 482-J162) that captured the man, his game and his times with real gusto. What Mr. Allen has produced is a readable portrait of Ruth's baseball career without any attention to his private life and, in the process, he has failed to find or illuminate the personality of the man.

Pub Date: June 7, 1966

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1966

Categories: NONFICTION