It seems only fitting that this book about Babe Ruth's first year with the Yankees should hit shelves just as the Red Sox–Yankees rivalry will be reaching new heights. Looking back on Ruth's sale to and first season with the Yankees, Reisler (Babe Ruth Slept Here
; Before They Were the Bronx Bombers
) analyzes the Babe's impact on baseball, America and the roaring '20s. While the detail in covering every game of a season slows the book at times, it does capture the great media attention Ruth received in his first year in the Big Apple. The book also demonstrates how Ruth revolutionized America's pastime and how he helped save the game from the "Black Sox" scandal that turned much of the nation away from the sport. Reisler's book has morsels of revisionist baseball history (e.g., he supports arguments that Red Sox owner Harry Frazee did not sell Ruth for the money to open his play No, No, Nanette
, as has often been reported). The end of the 1920 season is slightly anticlimactic since Ruth, though the main box-office draw, didn't bring the Yankees a championship—that came three years later, when he had the help of a few more former Red Sox players. Given the countless books that have been written on Ruth, there is sure to be some overlap here, but Reisler's telling makes for a fresh take on some familiar topics. (Apr.)
