The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth (47 page)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

T
HANKS AGAIN
to Bob Creamer, Kal Wagenheim, and Jerome Holtzman. Thanks, too, to the late Marshall Smelser. The raw material from four books is not a bad start in writing one book. The generosity and encouragement from these writers, who followed the trail of the Babe when it still was reasonably fresh, was a wonder.

Thanks to Jeff Idelson, Claudette Burke, and Jeremy Jones at the Baseball Hall of Fame. Thanks to Faigi Rosenthal and Scott Browne at the library at the
New York Daily News,
and to Luisa Tuite at the
Boston Globe
library. Thanks to the staff at the Boston Public Library, the Winthrop, Massachusetts, Public Library, the Enoch Pratt Free Library, the library at the University of Notre Dame, the libraries at the
Baltimore Sun,
the Society for American Baseball Research, and assorted other libraries. Thanks to writers Harry Rothgerber, Paul F. Harris Sr., Jonathan Eig, Chris Martens, Matthew Crenson, Allan Wood, and Wayne Coffey. Thanks to Marty Appel, Esther Newberg, Jenny Choi, and Jason Kaufman.

Also, Clarke Booth, Kevin Connolly, Tommy Shea, Ian Thomsen, Mark Linehan, Kevin McGonagle, Paul Doyle, all members of the Garden Street Athletic Club; my son, Leigh, and my daughter, Robin Moleux, and her husband, Doug. And thanks to anyone else who helped, held my hand, and/or listened to me talk about all this stuff that happened long ago.

ALSO BY LEIGH MONTVILLE

Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero

At the Altar of Speed: The Fast Life and Tragic Death of Dale Earnhardt

Manute: The Center of Two Worlds

Why Not Us?: The 86-Year Journey of the Boston Red Sox Fans from

Unparalleled Suffering to the Promised Land of the 2004 World Series

PHOTO INSERT

The only known photo of Ruth’s mother. The baby in her lap is the Babe.

The recreation yard at St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys. Where it all began.

The 16-year-old baseball apprentice at St. Mary’s. The athlete.

Can a team win with a left-handed catcher? The Red Sox, St. Mary’s champs, could with this catcher (standing, left).

Providence, R.I., 1914. The journey into the outside world has begun.

The best left-handed pitcher in baseball. Fastballs and a good curve.

Boston. The pitcher becomes a hitter. He can see what his future should be.

The famed St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys band always had room for an alumni addition. The Babe was always willing to pose.

Signed contract, 1918. (L–R) Red Sox manager Ed Barrow, the Babe, Harry Frazee, and new first baseman Stuffy McInnis finish business dealings prior to the World Championship season.

Cover boy. In October 1920, the erstwhile pitcher revealed “My Secrets of Batting.” As the season unfolded, he showed that these were pretty good secrets.

The Babe and Miller Huggins. The big man and the little man were not always this close.

Col. Tillinghast L’Hommedieu Huston. He once flipped a coin to settle a contract dispute with the Babe.