Preview
  • What If the Babe Had Kept His Red Sox?

  • And Other Fascinating Alternate Histories from the World of Sports
  • By: Bill Gutman
  • Narrated by: Pete Larkin
  • Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
  • 3.9 out of 5 stars (19 ratings)

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What If the Babe Had Kept His Red Sox?

By: Bill Gutman
Narrated by: Pete Larkin
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Publisher's summary

What if Babe Ruth had not been sold to the Yankees in 1920 and instead played his entire career in Boston? What if Muhammad Ali had lost or quit in his first fight against Sonny Liston? What if the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants had never moved to the West Coast? What if Vince Lombardi had become head coach of his hometown Giants instead of heading to Green Bay? How would sports history, and our perception of it, be different today? These are some of the questions asked and answered in this entertaining book of alternate history, the first book of its kind in the field of sports. It is sure to appeal to every thoughtful sports fan.

©2008 Bill Gutman (P)2012 Audible, Inc.
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Editorial reviews

The Boston Red Sox's sale of Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees stands as one of the most game-changing deals in all of sports, and in this intriguing collection, Bill Gutman takes an exploratory look at what could have been had Ruth stayed in Boston, among 11 other alternate histories. Steve Larkin sounds appropriately curious as he details Gutman's scenarios, such as Sonny Liston defeating Cassius Clay, or Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson's early integration of baseball. What If the Babe Had Kept His Red Sox? is an engaging, speculative listen sure to provoke intense discussion among sports fans.

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What if I hadn't read this book,

An interesting premise but the end result (and some of the facts) are incorrect. In the beginning of the NFL, the championship team was chosen by a vote of the owners. Teams didn't play the same number of games. There were a couple years when the team with the best record wasn't declared the champion. Also, it was written that George Marshall was okay with the addition of the Baltimore Colts from the AAFC. He didn't want them at all. He had to be bribed to accept Colts in the NFL.

The "What if" that drove me crazy was the idea of Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson actually playing for the Philadelphia Phillies. When Jackie Robinson finally played for Brooklyn, the worst city for abuse was Philadelphia. In 1969, Curt Flood was traded to Philadelphia. He refused to go because he didn't like the organization nor did he like the treatment of African-American ball players. The idea that Philadelphia would have been the ideal location is just ludicrous. When I heard that, I realized that book was awful.

At least the announcer was enjoyable.

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