Babe Ruth and the Creation of the Celebrity Athlete

by Thomas Barthel

Overview

From his first year in the majors, George Herman "Babe" Ruth knew he could profit from celebrity. Babe Ruth Cigars in 1915 marked his first attempt to cash in. Traded to the Yankees in 1920, he soon signed with Christy Walsh, baseball's first publicity agent.

Walsh realized that stories of great deeds in sports were a commodity, and in 1921 sold Ruth's ghostwritten byline to a newspaper syndicate for $15,000 ($187,000 today). Ruth hit home runs while Walsh's writers made him a hero, crafting his public image as a lovable scalawag.

Were the stories true? It didn't matter--they sold. Many survive but have never been scrutinized until now. Drawing on primary sources, this book examines the stories, separating exaggerated facts from clear falsehoods. This book traces Ruth's ascendance as the first great media-created superstar and celebrity product endorser.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476665320
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	07/30/2018
Pages:	286
Sales rank:	749,608
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Thomas Barthel, a professor emeritus in the State University of New York system, has written nine books on subjects ranging from the Civil War, to baseball history to civil engineering. He lives in Clinton, New York.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Author’s Note and Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction
 1. Reformatory Farewell (1914)
 2. A Pitcher Leads (1915)
 3. Stardom Arrives (1916)
 4. Best at His Craft (1917)
 5. Labor Relations
 6. Home Run King (1918)
 7. Magnates
 8. A New Record (1919)
 9. New York City and Fans
10. New Team, New City (1920)
11. Train Travel
12. The Yankees, the Judge and the Agent (1921)
13. Ruth’s Business Partner, Christy Walsh
14. Free to Be a Cartel (1922)
15. Celebrity and Hero
16. Yankees Win (1923)
17. Advertising’s Muscles
18. The Usual Greatness (1924)
19. Barnstorming
20. The Worst (1925)
21. Newspapers and Magazines Everywhere
22. A Sign of Glory (1926)
23. Johnny Sylvester: Seizing an Opportunity
24. A Prized Year (1927)
25. Radio and Newsreels and ­Play-O-Graph
26. Another Sweep (1928)
27. Male Clubs and Masculinity
28. Many Deaths, One Marriage (1929)
29. Ruth and Children
30. The $80,000 Year (1930)
31. Ruth’s Confederates, the Sportswriters
32. The Last Tour (1931)
33. Last Times (1932−1935)
34. An Entertainer (1936 and After)
35. Collecting Baseball Objects
Afterword: The Selling of Nostalgia
Appendix I: Marketing Ruth
Appendix II: Sales of Various Ruth Relics, 1929 to Present
Appendix III: Ruth’s Complete Barnstorming Stops in the Continental U.S. and Canada
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

heavily researched and detailed...an important contribution to understanding Ruth’s prominent place in American cultural and marketing history...recommended”—Choice; “you [will] come away feeling you know [Ruth] better than before you read the book”—SABR Deadball Committee Newsletter; “[Barthel] addresses a topic that has been largely overlooked in earlier works—Ruth and money—and in this way makes a valuable contribution to the ever-burgeoning Babe Ruth canon.”—Nine; “Much has been written about Ruth, but as someone who teaches sports marketing, I really appreciate the angle taken by Barthel, who reveals how the most marketable athlete of his day parlayed great celebrity into business opportunities. This book has much to offer baseball fans and marketing scholars alike.”—John Fortunato, author of Sports Sponsorship: Principles and Practices and Commissioner: The Legacy of Pete Rozelle.

From the Publisher