The Selling of the Babe: The Deal That Changed Baseball and Created a Legend.
By Glenn Stout. Thomas Dunne Books. 304 pages. $27.99.
If there’s anything in baseball that’s been written about more than Babe Ruth, it’s the impact of Babe Ruth being sold by the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees in 1919.
The deal, the traditional wisdom runs, launched the Yankees dynasty, made Ruth a star, saved baseball after the Black Sox scandal, and laid a curse on the Red Sox that kept them from winning the World Series until 2004.
Fortunately, Glenn Stout, series editor for “The Best American Sports Writing,” has found a fresh take on the tale: that the sale of Ruth was driven more by his disruptive impact on the Red Sox and the internal politics of the American League than the financial dilemmas of the Red Sox’s long-villified owner, Broadway showman Harry Frazee.
While Stout relies on modern tools like sabermetrics to show that the Red Sox actually fared worse when Ruth was a slugger, he also does a great job of storytelling to show the Big Bambino’s impact on the game as a sport and as a business — and how management’s reaction to both made his exit from Boston and his arrival in New York inevitable.
“Tanner ’88” (1988) Mockumentary series directed by Robert Altman and written by Garry Trudeau follows the campaign of a fictional presidential candidate played by Michael Murphy who rubs shoulders with actual candidates like Bob Dole and Gary Hart. Originally broadcast on HBO.
Quote: “USA Today is on the other line. They want to know, if you were a fruit or a vegetable, which one would you be?”
Available: Buy DVD on Amazon; stream on Hulu.
. . . Think all politicians are corrupt
“The Ides of March” (2011) Actordirector George Clooney portrays a too-good-to-be true Democratic candidate campaigning in Ohio. Ryan Gosling is an idealist who has drunk the Kool-Aid. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti are competing political strategists.
Quote: “I’m trying to remember if the Democrats ever nominated an atheist before.”
Available: Stream on iTunes, Vudu, GooglePlay; rent DVD from Netflix; buy DVD on Amazon.
. . . Want a brokered convention
“The Best Man” (1964) Two flawed presidential candidates — a ruthless pragmatist played by Cliff Robertson and ethical liberal played by Henry Fonda — consider dirty tricks in their battle at the convention for
their party’s nomination and the endorsement of a dying president. Written by Gore Vidal and directed by Franklin Schaffner with characters loosely based on Truman, the Kennedy brothers and Joe McCarthy.
Quote: “Power is not a toy we give to good children. It is a weapon. And the strong man takes it and uses it.”
Available: DVD from Amazon.
. . . Already binged ‘House of Cards’
“Wag the Dog” (1997) Barry Levinson spoof about how the powerful can manipulate the system. To distract from a president’s sex scandal, a political spin doctor, played by Robert De Niro, and a Hollywood producer, played by Dustin Hoffman, conspire to create the appearance of a war with Albania. Quote: “It’s a pageant.” Available: Stream on iTunes, Amazon; DVD from Amazon.
. . . Miss smoke-filled rooms
“The Last Hurrah” (1958) Spencer Tracy as an Irish-American big-city mayor in his final campaign against a young but telegenic neophyte. Film by John Ford of bestselling novel by Edwin O’Connor is about a dying breed of politician and a change in how modern politics are conducted.
Quote: “Your mother was the prettiest girl who ever lived in the Third Ward. Except for one. Your grandmother.”
Available: On DVD; stream on Amazon.
. . . Believe it was ever thus
“The Great McGinty” (1940) Directorial debut of legendary Hollywood satirist Preston Sturges, who won an Oscar for its screenplay. A corrupt political boss gets a Depression-era drifter, played by Brian Donlevy, elected governor.
Quote: “If it wasn’t for graft, you’d get a very low type of people in politics.”
Available: Buy on Amazon; rent from Netflix.