Tuesday, July 03, 2007

The Big Bam (copy)

Serendipity is the art of finding something meaningful amid looking for something else; or at least, that is how I define it. It happened last week while perusing the Atlanta airport books. I was in the mood for Flannery O’Connor, a native Georgian, when I ran across his face. Who? None other than, "the Sultan of Swat, The Caliph of Clout, The Wizard of Whack, the Rajah of Rap, the Wazir of Wham, the Mammoth of Maul, the Maharajah of Mash, the Bambino. The Bam. The Big Bam." Yes, staring me in the face was The Big Bam by Leigh Montville.

Skipping down the concourse and plopping into a seat next to hubby, I smile as I reveal my manly book. Ah, I can see in his eyes, he is impressed with my decision. He then tells me he has tickets to watch the Yankees at Yankee Stadium while in New York. He wants to see a game in the "House that Ruth Built" before they move across the street.

"Babe Ruth played for the Yankees and they built a stadium for him?"

Yes, yes. Laugh away. It is a good thing this book called out to me! I obviously know nothing of the game of baseball. Maybe Babe’s ghost placed it in my ignorant hands to keep me from further embarrassing myself.

The Babe’s early life is a mystery and author Montville calls it the fog. The book opens with father, George Herman Ruth, escorting his seven year old son to St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys. The school housed orphans, truants, and delinquents; for some reason, a place Mr. Ruth thought better than his home above the family bar. Reasons are in the fog.

It is at school Ruth learned how to pitch, hit, and field a baseball. At the age of 18, a scout for the Baltimore Orioles, Jack Dunn, stopped in for a look-see. He noticed as the large boy came to bat, "the right fielder moved so far back that he left the playing field, crossed a path, and stood in the next field, where another game was taking place." Next thing, the ball careened over the same fielder’s head.

In the early 1900s, a home run was seen as a fluke, as unexpected as an ace in golf. The book states, "The balls were not made for home runs...scuffed up, roughed up, spit upon, and used for as many as 100 pitches in a game. The bats, heavy and thick through the handle, were not made for home runs. The mind was not made for home runs." Here, standing in front of Jack Dunn, was a miracle.

For what ever reason, I’m glad I finally met Babe Ruth. Montville summed it up nicely, "He will be crude and rude and kind and approachable, sometimes all in the same ten minutes, and it all will be fine. He will be credited with miracles. Fine."

18 comments:

Bookfool said...

Oooh, that sounds fun! I know nothing about baseball and my kids both hated it (funny, given where we live, eh?) but I have this weird thing for baseball movies. I love baseball movies. I'll have to look this one up, thanks. :)

Bookfool said...

BTW, I'd go for a Damn Yankee Summer Reading Challenge. Your little button had me laughing.

maggie moran said...

It was a great book and I like Montville's style, Bookfool. My hubby's been trying to get his mitts on it for days, or I'd let you have my copy. I saw the Jackson-Hinds has one, but it is checked out.

Oh, the button is from Sage. A nice balance to the Southern Reading Challenge, don't ya think!?! :D

Carol M said...

I know a little about Babe Ruth. That sounds like a very interesting book. I've always enjoyed baseball.

I finished reading Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler. It's about a forty-year-old woman who walks away from her family and starts a new life.
She doesn't feel appreciated or loved by her children and husband. She gets a job, makes new friends and finds another family who needs her. I really liked the characters in this book and I liked how things work out for her. I love the way Anne Tyler tells her story and I will be looking for more of her books!

maggie moran said...

Thanks Carol, for the comments and the book review. You are almost done, right? One to go?

Oh, I guess I better order the pecans! :D

Anonymous said...

I love baseball. My dad used to be a semi-pro pitcher - he once pitched a perfect game. I was raised watching and listening to the Philadelphia Phillies.

The book about the Babe sounds good.

maggie moran said...

That's cool Lynne! Babe shares credit for pitching a perfect game, too. I think he struck out one guy then got into an arguement with the ref and was thrown out of the game. The relief pitcher really threw the perfect game, but they both get credit for it. ;D Around the 12 chapter, I think?

Jill said...

Maggie, you mentioned that you're a fellow-Georgian with Babe. What part of Georgia are you from? I went to college at Wesleyan College in Macon and grad school at the State Univ. of West Georgia in Carrollton. I'm really a Florida girl but I LOVED my seven years as a Georgia peach.

Happy Reading!
=) Jill
http://mrstreme.livejournal.com

maggie moran said...

Oh, no, I'm sorry, Jill. We were stuck at the Atlanta airport and I was in the mood for Flannery O'Connor-a native Georgian.

But, I'm thrill you are half Floridian and Georgian. :D

I was born in Texas, grew up in Tennessee, and now live in Mississippi. I gotta say I LOVE both Georgia and Florida beaches.

Carol M said...

Maggie, I finished all three of the books that I picked. I'm not sure though where I talked about them but I know that I did! lol

I just got a copy of Bobbie Faye's Very (very, very, very) Bad Day and I thought I would read it next.

maggie moran said...

Great Carol! Keep up the reading! I believe there are three participants who have completed the challenge. Too easy, huh? :)

Diane said...

In today's world when Barry Bonds' inevitable passing of Hank Aaron's home run record (it was Aaron who passed Ruth), is viewed askance due to rumors of Bond's steroid use following him to every ball park, it's good to remember the beauty and simplicity the game once had . . .

Maggie - I listened to Fannie Flagg's Can't Wait to Get to Heaven, and loved it!

Ed said...

I don't think you can get any more Yankee than that book!

Sage wrote a spoof of my suggestion to balance your southern reading challenge and now look what is happening. It is blossoming. Now I am going to have to read a southern challenge book to counterbalance the movement I started. I'll let you know when I get it finished. :)

maggie moran said...

So true, Diane! Montville points out all these feats are from un-enhanced players. No only that, these old timers thought beer "a liquid food, heathful beverage!" :D I'm hearing all good with Fannie Flags new one. Glad you liked it.

Ed, you have created a monster and I love it!

Carol M said...

Maggie,
Some people have more time to read than others so it's hard to decide how many books to pick for a challenge. The nice thing about doing this is that I have found lots of new authors to read! :)

maggie moran said...

Great, Carol! I hope you become a real Southern Genre Fan! :D

sage said...

that book sounds great. Glad to see that my little parody of your summer reading contest (making fun of Ed who was feeling left out with the Southern reading challenge) is getting more books read!

maggie moran said...

I do love a challenge, Sage. ;)