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Babe Ruth and the creation of the celebrity athlete / Thomas Barthel.

by Barthel, Thomas, 1941- author.

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Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland & Company, Incorporated, Publishers, [2018]

Ruth, Babe, 1895-1948.

Baseball players -- United States -- Biography.

Baseball players -- United States -- Social conditions -- 20th century.

Mass media and sports -- United States -- History -- 20th century.

Endorsements in advertising -- United States -- History -- 20th century.

9781476665320 (paperback)

147666532X (paperback)

9781476626628 (electronic book)

x, 276 pages ; 26 cm

Reformatory farewell (1914) -- A pitcher leads (1915) -- Stardom arrives (1916) -- Best at his craft (1917) -- Labor relations -- Home Run King (1918) -- Magnates -- A new record (1919) -- New York City and fans -- New team, new city (1920) -- Train travel -- The Yankees, the judge and the agent (1921) -- Ruth's business partner, Christy Walsh -- Free to be a cartel (1922) -- Celebrity and hero -- Yankees win (1923) -- Advertising's muscles -- The usual greatness (1924) -- Barnstorming -- The worst (1925) -- Newspapers and magazines everywhere -- A sign of glory (1926) -- Johnny Sylvester: seizing an opportunity -- A prized year (1927) -- Radio and newsreels and play-o-graph -- Another sweep (1928) -- Male clubs and masculinity -- Many deaths, one marriage (1929) -- Ruth and children -- The $80,000 year (1930) -- Ruth's confederates, the sportswriters -- The last tour (1931) -- Last times (1932-1935) -- An entertainer (1936 and after) -- 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.

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. (Publisher)

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