Today's audio selections

Babe: The Legend Comes to Life, By Robert Creamer, narrated by Tom Parker (Unabridged)

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The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe , by Leigh Montiville, narrated by Scott Brick (Unabridged)

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These two biographies, written about 30 years apart, have one thing in common besides their subject matter: Both are considered the best books on Ruth, if not the entire genre of baseball biographies.

Not much has changed in the intervening years. After all, Ruth retired more than half a century ago and died relatively soon thereafter. Statistics are statistics and his exploits on the field remain unchanged.
With the passage of time — and the loosening of taboo subjects — more and more of Ruth’s personal life comes to the fore. Whether that’s a good thing, or useful, is a matter of opinion. Some will say the important part is how he played between the lines, not between the bedsheets, while others will opine that everything goes into explaining this near-mythical figure.