They Shaped the Game: Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, and Jackie Robinson [Hardcover]

William Jay Jacobs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1994 | Age Level: 9 and up

A fascinating look at the immortal boys of summer from baseball's golden era. Chock full of baseball anecdotes and personal accounts, this book features the men who helped make baseball America's favorite pastime. This inspiring account will appeal not only to the most ardent baseball fans but to all middle-grade readers. Includes bibliography and index. Black-and-white photos.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6?Brief accounts of the lives of three of the most talented and influential individuals to have played in the game of baseball. Jacobs does a commendable job of presenting accurate, interesting information in the 20-plus pages he devotes to each subject. While the majority of the text describes the outstanding athletic careers of the three men, Jacobs pulls no punches when covering the volatile off-field activities of Cobb and Ruth. Robinson's son's drug problems are also discussed. While the author makes general acknowledgments of the sources he referred to while preparing this book, he provides no formal documentation. Eleven black-and-white photographs, most of which were obtained from the National Baseball Library & Archive, appear throughout. A brief list of further reading is appended. A useful volume that might lead young readers to more substantial biographies.?Tom S. Hurlburt, La Crosse Public Library, WI
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 6-9. Although this book does not exactly spell out how Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, and Jackie Robinson actually shaped baseball, it does present interesting, readable biographies sure to be enjoyed by baseball fans. Both Cobb and Ruth lived wild lives and had fiery tempers. Cobb acquired his baseball greatness through hard work and determination, but his tactics on the diamond earned him the reputation of the "dirtiest" player in baseball history. Ruth was born to greatness with an innate batting and pitching ability. He loved to eat, drink and party to excess, yet went on to achieve a reputation almost synonymous with the name of the sport. Robinson was the first black man to play with a major league. His doing so helped fight discrimination in other social and political arenas as well. The book characterizes Robinson as having "greatness thrust upon him." Cobb and Ruth were two of the first five players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame; Robinson was the first black to achieve the honor. The book includes interesting details about these men's lives and marriages as well as some simple philosophical musings about values and "greatness." Susan DeRonne

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 80 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum (November 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684197340
• ISBN-13: 978-0684197340
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,840,515 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #15 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( C ) > Cobb, Ty
  • #50 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( R ) > Ruth, Babe
  • #82 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( R ) > Robinson, Jackie

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars GREAT HISTORY OF BASEBALL, August 24, 2011

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Joseph H. Race "Jose Mango" (SAIPAN, MP United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: They Shaped the Game: Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, and Jackie Robinson (Hardcover)

Here's the champs - Cobb, Ruth, and Robinson - they are integral parts of baseball culture and tradition and set/held record after record. The personal glimpses at their lives is most interesting, and the photos are wonderfully historic. They were all men that basically came from the underclass and rose to well-deserved celebrity status. They made movies about these players and for good reasons. If you enjoy sports, this is a book for your library and for hours of discussion. It is always fun trying to decide who were the greatest ball players in history - this book made it all more challenging.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Basic biographies of Cobb, Ruth and Robinson for young fans, April 5, 2005

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Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: They Shaped the Game: Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, and Jackie Robinson (Hardcover)

For my money there are two figures in baseball history who tower above everybody else, namely Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson. In terms of changing the game you cannot find another player or owner who had an impact as great as the man who made the home run what it is today and the man who broke the color barrier. The only other thing that comes as close to impacting the game would be the introduction of night baseball at which point we are closer to requiring clean baseballs to be used and lowering the mound than we are to what Ruth and Robinson accomplished.

However, in "They Shaped the Game," William Jay Jacobs looks at not only Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson but starts off with Ty Cobb. Certainly Cobb personifies the way baseball was played before Ruth changed the emphasis from speed to power, but I would not make the case that he shaped the game in terms of changing how it was played. Willie Keeler was hitting them "where they ain't" and John McGraw had made using your head when playing baseball a key part of the game before Cobb's time. So I buy the idea of Cobb defining the game, but not shaping it into something new.

Besides, the argument that Cobb, Ruth and Robinson shaped the game is rather implicit in this book, which essentially provides short biographies of the three players. To demonstrate the impact Jacobs would have to focus more on those who followed in their footsteps. However, that gets reduced to Lou Gehrig and Roy Campanella respectively when it comes to Ruth and Robinson. What I was expecting was a more specific look at how Jimmy Foxx, Hack Wilson and Hank Greenberg were following closely on Ruth's heels and how Jackie Robinson opened the door for Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente.

As short biographies of these three players what you will find in "They Shaped the Game" certainly covers the highlights of their careers and will serve as introductory looks at each. I appreciate that Jacobs does not sanitize their lives, touching on Cobb's racism, Ruth's drinking, and the hate hurled at Robinson but leaves it to later biographies to fill in the details (a list of such books is provided in the back). The book is illustrated with black & white photographs of the players and if "The Shaped the Game" does not really prove its thesis, it domes demonstrate that Cobb, Ruth and Robinson all had the key common trait of being fiercely dedicated to what they were doing.