Neither the lore, nor the debunking of it, entirely tells the story. As Leigh Montville wrote in "The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth", the production "No, No, Nanette" had originated as a non-musical stage play called "My Lady Friends", which opened on Broadway in December 1919. That play had, indeed, been financed as a direct result of the Ruth deal. Various researchers, including Montville and Shaughnessy, have pointed out that Frazee had close ties to the Yankees owners, and that many of the player deals, as well as the mortgage deal for Fenway Park itself, had to do with financing his plays.