Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Authors: Seth Mnookin
List Price: $26.00
Amazon Price: $15.60
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Reviews:
Summary: Excellent Work
After reading all of the hype about this book, I was prepared to be disappointed. Between all the reviews and articles, I thought I had read all of the revelations. I was totally wrong and I've never had a perspective like this one. I've read many, many books about the sport and have never read anything that combined management and ownership and players and the on-field aspect like this one. I think it's probably something I'll go back and read repeatedly as time goes on, like "9 Innings" and "Moneyball" and "Ball Four" combined into one.
Because people are so passionate about the Red Sox and about baseball I suspect there will be lots of different reactions to the book. Already it seems to have angered those who think they're the only "true" fans. Take the review in the Globe, where the writer (a host of a sports show) said he would prefer to remain ignorant (his words, not mine) about what actually happens in the game, or one of the reviews here written by Bill Nowlin, who has written many, many books of his own about the Red Sox (eight since 2004 alone). He makes fun of the title but doesn't say he's good friends with Rob Neyer and took part in research for Neyer's book. He also says this book made a mistake by saying Kevin Youkilis was on the World Series roster, but Youkilis was indeed on the roster, replacing Ramiro Mendoza, who'd proven himself utterly worthless in the ALCS.
I think that's to be expected when writing about baseball and the Red Sox. People feel very strongly about both, regardless of what else is going on in the world. I wasted many hours of my life reading all of the books that came out after the 2004 World Series, and this is one that finally looks at the whole history of the last six years while giving you the behind-the-scenes access and the beauty of the game. If you want to know anything about either baseball or the Red Sox this may be the best book produced in the past ten years, and may be one of the best baseball books ever.
Summary: A Chronology of the Red Sox
It was October 6, 2000, and for the first time in a generation the Red Sox were up for sale. Bought by Tom Yawkey in 1933, ownership had passed to his wife's trust in '94 after her death. Some wondered why it was now for sale - the team had just won a legislative battle for funding the construction of a new ballpark, and its value was at an all-time high. Fourteen months later it sold - to Boston outsiders, and the rumors of a "fix" (courtesy of Commissioner Bud Selig) were rampant.
The new owners proved themselves willing to work with the Boston fans, players, and writers, and at first it looked like smooth sailing. However, it seems like there were never-ending feuds - between owners, players and coach, etc. The "good news" is that things coalesced, new stars (David Ortiz and Curt Schilling) were acquired, and the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004 (and are leading their division again in 2006).
Professional baseball in Boston goes back to 1871. The Boston team won 8 pennants over the next 25 years, including three straight. Another high point was acquiring Babe Ruth (age 19) from Baltimore in 1914, and his evolution into an outfielder as part of filling out the roster during WWI. The "bad news," was his being traded to the Yankees in 1919 for $100,00 - largely as a result of his becoming a difficult personality (wanted his salary doubled to $20,000), though unfounded rumors swirled about that the real reason was that the Sox' owner needed the money to finance his Broadway show "No, No, Nanette.
Then, after winning more World Series in its first two decades than any other team, the Red Sox went on to suffer a drought for the next 80+ years - despite Ted Williams (joined in 1939, and hit a home run his last at bat), though probably at least partly because the owners passed on Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays, partly when combined with lots of poor managing.
Summary: a very disappointing book
I still give it four stars, because I enjoy reading good books about the Red Sox. This is definitely better than average, hence it gets more than three stars, but it's very disappointing.
The disappointment starts with the title, not exactly original - in fact, it's practically the same title as Rob Neyer's truly enjoyable 2001 book, FEEDING THE GREEN MONSTER. Neyer attended every single Red Sox home game during the 2000 season and writes about his experiences.
Much was expected from Mnookin, given that he had unprecedented access (including his own desk at Fenway), but in the end he really offers very little in the way of either information or insights that would not be familiar to those who have followed the Red Sox the last few years.
There are also some odd errors, from saying that Kevin Youkilis was on the 2004 World Series roster (page 404), to saying that Trot Nixon was signed through 2007 (page 257), and from writing that the Red Sox were known as the Pilgrims in 1903 (page 23.) None of those things are true.
There were also a few spelling errors indicating insufficient proofreading (I was amused at the notion on page 159 that baseball "consists of a discreet series of interactions between two individual combatants.")
Then there was the idea that one of Tom Yawkey's "main business interests" was running a house of prostitution in South Carolina. For a man running businesses doing tens of millions of dollars annually, that must have been one active house!
Seriously, though, the book presents a good updating of recent Red Sox history during the Henry/Werner/Lucchino period, up into the early days of the 2006 campaign. Maybe it is the mark of how thoroughly the Boston media masticates all things Red Sox, but there is very little of anything at all new here. To repeat myself, little new in the way of facts and nothing really surprising or insightful in the way of analysis.
I suspect that some of those working in the ranks of the Red Sox would find other things that really disturbed them, but I am in no position to comment.
There is room on my shelves for straightforward Red Sox books and this one (despite the title that's so similar to Rob Neyer's) is welcome there. I just wish I could give it a more enthusiastic review.
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