They called him the Babe. The Bambino. The Sultan of Swat. And finally they called him a legend. But the greatest baseball player who ever lived was also a flesh-and-blood man, the freest spirit ever to give managers gray hairs. This is the story of the game he played and the life he lived to the hilt—told as only he could tell it. Here are the golden moments on the diamond and the unforgettable times off of it. Here are the highs, the lows, the friendships, the feuds, and the loves—in a book filled with the plain-speaking, hard-hitting style of the man who came to symbolize America's favorite game.