New Page 1
Tom
Stanton, an award-winning author of several baseball books, will be visiting Fox
Cities Stadium on Wednesday, July 4, as part of his 21-state "Ty Cobb and Babe
Ruth Resurrection and Redemption Book Tour."
The
Michigan-based author will be signing copies of his newest title, Ty and The Babe (
St. Martin
's Press, May 2007), before and during the 7:00 p.m. game between the Timber
Rattlers and the Kernels. The book has won critical acclaim from sportswriter
and author Leigh Montville and Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell, among
others.
"Ty
and The Babe is the story of the remarkable relationship between Ty Cobb and
Babe Ruth,"
Stanton
explains. "It is a tale of grand gestures and petty jealousies, superstition
and egotism, spectacular feats and dirty tricks, mind games and athleticism,
confrontations, conflagrations, good humor, growth and, ultimately,
friendship." Throughout Ty
and The Babe,
Stanton
challenges stereotypes that have cast Cobb as a Satan and Ruth as a Santa
Claus. "The mythologized images of both men are far from the truth," says
Stanton
. "Cobb, in particular, may be the most maligned figure in American sports
history. A fan from his era would not recognize him based on how he is portrayed
today."
In Ty
and The Babe,
Stanton
brings to life a parade of memorable characters, including golfers Bobby Jones
and Walter Hagen, sportswriter Grantland Rice, humorist Will Rogers, and Hall of
Famers Lou Gehrig, Tris Speaker and Joe DiMaggio, as well as a trick
shot-shooting former fugitive and a 15-year-old caddy with impeccable golf
lineage.
Stanton
's other titles include Hank Aaron and
the Home Run That Changed America (a Reader's
Digest selection of the month); The
Road to Cooperstown, a poignant true story about a father-and-son road trip;
and the Tiger Stadium memoir The Final Season, which was named best baseball book of the year as
winner of both the Casey Award and the Dave Moore Award.
