“Ruth and Cobb come together as never before in this charming story of rivalry and friendship. Stanton, a keen storyteller, has written a book that surprises and delights.”
—Jonathan Eig, author of Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig
“The wardrobe mistress of baseball history seems to have assigned the white hat to Babe Ruth and the black hat to Ty Cobb for all time. The Babe, the legendary Sultan of Swat, has become the patron saint of the sport, flamboyant and loud, larger than life, hail fellow well met, a character who hit mammoth home runs and wiped the runny noses of neighborhood urchins. Cobb has become the villain, foul mouthed and cantankerous, unliked and unloved by even his teammates. . . . Now Tom Stanton comes along to rearrange the roles in his terrific new book, Ty and The Babe, which chronicles the relationship between the two baseball icons. He takes off the hats and tells us about the real people. And it all is great fun.”
—Leigh Montville, author of The Big Bam
“Wonderful! Ty and The Babe is rich, elegant, and powerful. Tom Stanton vividly brings back to life two rival sports icons in a rollicking tale filled with tension, humor, and warmth. It's fantastic.”
—Ernie Harwell, Hall of Fame broadcaster
“Frankly, Ty and The Babe had me hooked from the opening page, a thoroughly absorbing tale that has all the charm and elements of an unforgettable film—the two greatest players from baseball's Golden Era, blood feuds, dueling rivals, brawling fans, mythologizing sportswriters and the consequences of a rapidly changing game . . . all capped off by a poignant golf match between a pair of fading titans. Tom Stanton has beautifully re-created the most romantic period of American sports, provided new and powerful insights into a pair of greatly misunderstood figures in Cobb and Ruth, and given baseball and golf fans everywhere something to cheer lustily about.”
—James Dodson, author of Final Rounds and Ben Hogan: An American Life
Customer Review: Ty and The Babe
An excellent resource for the baseball fan, who is always looking for good books about the Legends of baseball.
Customer Review: Strange--but interesting--little book
This is a strange little book. For one thing, it presents a far more positive picture of Ty Cobb than one often encounters. Second, golf becomes a key part of the relationship between two bitter antagonists--Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb.
Ty Cobb was an exemplar of the old fashioned "scientific" approach to baseball, bunts, stolen bases, sacrifices, etc. Babe Ruth was a harbinger of a new era--focusing on the home run.
Cobb versus Ruth, while they were in the major leagues together, had a pretty negative relationship. Cobb had little respect for Ruth; Ruth despised Cobb.
The book tells of their slowly evolving relationship, to the point where they expressed respect toward one another by the end of Cobb's career.
Their rivalry took a turn after their respective retirements. Both became avid golfers. They took part in a series of golf matches, where there was much greater camaraderie than when they played baseball.
The book chronicles that strange evolution in their relationship.
There is a nice appendix, which chronicles those games in which they opposed one another. Interesting. . . .
An offbeat little book that ends up humanizing Cobb.
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