Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway - Lore of the Bambino: 100 Great Babe Ruth Stories by Jonathan Weeks

Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Lore of the Bambino: 100 Great Babe Ruth Stories by Jonathan Weeks. This book tour was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I have an excerpt from the book as well as a great guest post from the author. There's also the tour wide giveaway for a chance to win a $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. Be sure to visit the other stops on the tour for more content. Enjoy!

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Title: Lore of the Bambino: 100 Great Babe Ruth Stories

Author: Jonathan Weeks

Publisher: Lyons Press

Publication Date: April 1st 2022

Print Length: 224 pages

Genre: Sports History/Biography

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More than seventy years after his death, Babe Ruth continues to fascinate generations of fans. His exciting adventures on and off the field have become essential reading for students of baseball and pop culture. While most Ruth biographies are filled with mundane facts, Lore of the Bambino is the equivalent of a greatest hits compilation. Ruth’s extraordinary (and at times incredulous) tales carry readers on an enthralling journey through the life of the most celebrated sports figure of the twentieth century. All of the most popular anecdotes (such as the Babe’s alleged “called shot” in the 1932 World Series) are thoroughly covered along with many lesser known narratives.

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EXCERPT:

Though his hitting was quite extraordinary, Ruth was only slightly above average as an outfielder. On the plus side, he had a strong, accurate arm. On the negative side, he was a bit clumsy at times, finishing among the top five in errors during eight seasons. On August 20, 1923, he was forced to make one of the trickiest catches of his career.

During the ninth inning of a 16-5 Yankee blowout in Chicago, a dog got loose somehow and wandered into leftfield, where Ruth was stationed. With the game well in hand, the playful Yankee slugger began clowning around. He got down on all fours and followed the dog around. He then removed his glove and threw it, prompting the canine to fetch. As the Babe’s new friend ran off with his mitt, rookie pitcher Paul Castner hit a fly ball to left field. Ruth caught the ball bare-handed for the first out of the inning. The Chicago crowd roared with laughter and gave the Babe an appreciative round of applause.

Ruth’s adventures in the outfield were numerous. He once got his finger caught in the right field screen at Yankee Stadium, tearing his nail off in the process. During a spring training game, he ran headfirst into a palm tree in pursuit of a fly ball. Even so, his lifetime fielding percentage was slightly above the league average at the time of his retirement.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

A lifelong sports fan, Jonathan Weeks has published several non-fiction books on the topic of baseball. Additionally, he has two novels to his credit--one of them a posthumous collaboration with his father. His latest project: Best of the Bruins: Boston's All Time Great Players and Coaches, was released in 2021.

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GUEST POST:

A TRIP TO YANKEE STADIUM

by Jonathan Weeks

I started watching baseball on TV when I was about 7 or 8 years-old. The first team I rooted for was the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds had a number of future Hall of Famers on the roster at the time, including Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, and Tony Perez. They also had Pete Rose, who would end up being banned from Cooperstown on account of a gambling scandal (...an unfortunate story for another day). In 1975, the Reds took on the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. It was the first Fall Classic I actively followed. I might have remained a Cincinnati fan for life had my father not taken me to Yankee Stadium in 1976.

I grew up in the Capital District region of New York State. NYC was roughly two and a half hours away by car. I can vividly recall specific details of the trip, though some aspects have faded with the passage of time. Yankee Stadium is located in the Bronx and urban decay was evident during the era. Along the highway outside the ballpark, there were abandoned cars on the shoulder of the road that had been stripped of their parts. If memory serves me correctly, one of those metal husks was actually on fire! I was a little nervous at that point. I worried about being attacked by roving bands of thieves, who would shoot us dead and strip our vehicle down to the bare bones.

We made it safely inside the stadium, of course, and I was captivated by the sights, sounds, and smells. I couldn’t believe how big the park was (it had seemed so much smaller on TV) and I wondered how on earth anyone had ever hit a ball out of there. I also remember the colors—the blue padding on the outfield wall and the emerald green of the grass. The air was rife with the scent of hot dogs, popcorn, and fried sausage. Vendors carrying huge trays of concessions wandered up and down the aisles hawking their wares with heavily accented voices:

Bee-yah hee-yah! Get yah bee-yah hee-yah!!”

“Pop-cawn. Hey, get yah pop-cawn!!”

My father bought me a program and we settled into our seats for Old-Timer’s Day. Inside the program, there was a sheet listing the retired players who would be taking the field for a 2-inning exhibition game. Since many of them had played before I was born, there were quite a few unfamiliar names (Ralph Terry, Elston Howard, and Eddie Lopat for instance). But there were quite a few guys I had heard of. As I scanned the list, one name in particular stood out to me.

Mickey Mantle.

I had read about his tape measure homers and how one of his blasts would have sailed clear out of Yankee Stadium if it hadn’t hit the right field façade located 120 feet above the field. I was acquainted with his World Series heroics and how he had broken a number of postseason records previously held by Babe Ruth.

Mickey Mantle! His alliterative name

sounded like a comic book or Western hero. And it gave me chills just thinking about how I would soon be sitting within shouting distance of him.

Mickey Mantle—living legend—lord of the diamond!!

The guy whose baseball card would later sell for over $5 million.

Sadly, I can’t remember “The Mick” being introduced by announcer Bob Sheppard that afternoon. I do recall that he hit a towering pop-up that was dropped by the opposing first baseman, leaving me with a personal anecdote to share with friends and family. He may not have powered a ball into the stadium façade that day, but he made me a Yankee fan for life. From that point forward, I would root for no other team.

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GIVEAWAY:

Jonathan Weeks will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter. Enjoy!

(All the Ups and Downs is not responsible for this giveaway, its entries, or the prize. Goddess Fish Promotions and the author assume all responsibility for this giveaway.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway