Rating: 
Summary: Extraordinary
Review: After living overseas for much of the last decade, I somehow missed this. But the book was mentioned quite prominently in Halberstam's excellent new book, The Teammates, so I sought it out. This is a rare book that combines research as rigorous as that of any academic with fine writing making it eminently readable, illustrated by pictures that help move the story along rather than just fill up space. I had always fancied myself as more knowledgeable than most Red Sox fans, but this book has humbled me. An absolute must for Sox fanatics.
Rating: 
Summary: You can judge a book by its cover
Review: Any questions. What a bitter disappointment. If you are a novice baseball fan and just want this as a decorative piece, if fails you there too, with quite possibly the worst baseball book cover ever. Save your money and your time...If you MUST purchase this book mine is for sale on Ebay, no reserve!Jeff
Boston, MA
Rating:
Summary: this sets new standards
Review: For fans wanting some reading during the next 6 months, I can recommend the brand new title RED SOX CENTURY. There have been a lot books over the years which were histories of the Red Sox, but I believe this one is clearly the best. It's a hefty 473 large pages, and very comprehensive. Exhaustive, even. There are a lot of photographs included. The book is written by Glenn Stout and Dick Johnson, noted for their collaborations on books about Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio and Jackie Robinson. This will be my standard reference book, but it's also a book with opinions. RED SOX CENTURY questions a few long-held beliefs, and fears not treading on sacred Yawkey toes. It goes further than any other book to suggest that Tom Yawkey, more than any other person, held the team back from success. Yawkey ownership clearly dominated Red Sox history, spanning from 1934 until the present, in one form or another. Noting that the Red Sox have so very often been one or two players short, the competition (frequently the Yankees) rarely are. The ultimate goal is, of course, a world championship. The "commitment of the franchise to this goal has not matched the devotion of their fans." Tom Yawkey was one of the wealthiest men of his time, far wealthier than I had ever realized (the authors calculate the money he inherited in 1933 as being equivalent to somewhere between 4 1/2 and 7 billion dollars today.) His lineage is traced back to Johann Georg Jaky, who came to the new world from Germany in 1736. From time to time, Tom Yawkey paid a lot of money for specific players. The purchase price for Joe Cronin was an unheard of $250,000. Sounds like a lot, but Stout and Johnson translate that into 1999 dollars and the equivalent today would be a staggering $37.5 million! Anyone think we could pry loose a player or two from the competition with an outright cash purchase price of $37.5 million? Yet Yawkey never quite achieved what he could have. Oftentimes, he was out of Boston for months at a time in mid-season. He had a private side - even his own GM Dick O'Connell had no idea that Yawkey had a daughter Julia, adopted by Tom and his first wife Elise. RED SOX CENTURY makes the case that Yawkey never made the moves he could and should have made to see the Red Sox triumph. The refrain is that he held the team back. While Yawkey is lionized in Boston, Harry Frazee has always been held in contempt. After all, this is the former Sox owner who sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees - and gave them the mortgage on Fenway Park as well. The legend has it that Frazee was forced to sell the Bambino to finance losses caused by gearing up to present the Broadway show NO NO NANETTE. Stout and Johnson make a persuasive case for Frazee fighting for right against the machinations of Ban Johnson in the early days of the American League, and losing out in that struggle. Frazee was hardly broke, though. He died a very, very wealthy man. Frazee was a successful promoter who staged several successful efforts between the sale of Ruth and the opening of NO NO NANETTE. There are quite a few interesting side notes found throughout the text. In the early Twenties, there was more Boston-area enthusiasm for the Twilight League, which could draw 20,000 fans to Hoyt Field in Cambridge - more than either the Red Sox or the Braves could attract. The level of play was often higher in such leagues, for semipro players could often earn more than major leaguers in this era - and thus often attracted higher quality players. One amusing line caught my fancy. Discussing why Joe Morgan was replaced as manager by Butch Hobson, they write of the Sox ownership of the period, "They couldn't fire each other, so they fired Joe Morgan...." There are very few errors that I noted - misspellings such as Elden Auker, Ted Williams' mother May Venzor and Johnny Pesky's birth name, Paveskovich - and a few very minor errors of fact, such as the idea that Pesky had been taken under the wing of former major leaguer Carl Mays (Pesky spent a few days at a camp Mays ran.) These errors are very minor indeed and in no way detract from a masterful job. I do highly recommend this solid, comprehensive work. -- Bill Nowlin, co-author TED WILLIAMS: A TRIBUTE; FENWAY SAVED; TALES FROM THE RED SOX DUGOUT
Rating:
Summary: I didn't know there was a major league team in Boston
Review: Having seen them play I assumed the Red Sox were a AA minor league team, but I find they are still allowed to play with the other teams in the American League (to whit, I was startled to learn that once upon a time they were a legitamate contender; this obscure reference to another time had me checking this book and other references back to 1492 in pursuit of Bosox success). I did learn about Ted Williams and Yaz and similar non-steroid addled test tube creations that once populated baseball (a nice respite from 2004, and anything post 1990 wherein all statistics are bogus and meaningless (if Bonds hit 73 hrs., I'm sure Babe Ruth would have hit 173). 480 pages of memories but sadly not marvelous ones, moreso depressing. And so, speaking of ones, I give it one star.
Rating:
Summary: BEST RED SOX BOOK EVER!!!!
Review: I have read many books on the Red Sox and this is by far the best one that I have seen.Stout and Johnson have done great research on the subject and take the reader through the long and exasperating history of the Boston American league baseball team as no one has before.I highly recommend this book to Red Sox fans.This book is better than I thought it would be.A must read for all Red Sox fans.The reader will see that alot of what was previously written about the Sox was just myth.The authors do an excellent job of setting the record straight on many key points throughout Red Sox history.
Rating:
Summary: You've Got to Get This
Review: I heard Dan Shaughnessy say on the radio that this book was better than any of his, so I got it and after spending a few days reading it, all I can say is WOW!!! It's now my favorite book ever. It's way way better than the Curse or of my other Sox books and I've got a full shelf. This book has everything they do plus alot more stuff I've never known. Great stories from the past to the present (well, last year), great writing and the best pictures I've ever seen of the Sox. I've been driving all my friends crazy the last few days talking about it. I don't think you can call yourself a Sox fan anymore if you don't have this book.
Rating:
Summary: I can only agree - best Red Sox book ever
Review: I won't go on and on - the other reviews have said it all. I just want to add another voice to the opinion that this book is phenomenal. And it is phenomenal because it is not all just roses. I am a die hard Red Sox fan and would have thought I knew close to all there was to know, but I can't tell you how much I learned and how this book helped me to evolve my sense of a sports team that has been so important to me. This book is just terrific!
Rating:
Summary: This is the Final Answer
Review: If you want to know where this franchise went wrong (and why, every once in a while they haven't), this is the book. Easily the best history of a baseball team I've ever read. It celebrates what there is to celebrate, such as Boston's early successes, 1967, and 1975, and takes an unflinching yet still entertaining look at the rest. New information throughout, from the myth of the curse, Tom Yawkey, to Fenway Park, to the ineptitude of the current acting owner. Although this book is a year old, the reasons why things went wrong this year (and why that's likely to continue barring change) is laid out for you - amazing. Whoever is contemplating buying the Red Sox should read this book and committ it to memory. For the rest of us, it just might get us through til next year.
Rating:
Summary: essential reading for fans of the Carmine Hosed warriors
Review: It is May, and the Red Sox Nation finds her beloved Sox in their annual pennant chase, taking on the Blue Jays and those hated Yankees. With every win, we celebrate- but not too hard..for tomorrow is another day. With every loss, we squabble, fret, point fingers, await the inevitable collapse..such is Red Sox Nation. Like in 1986, 78, 75, & 67, the Sox have the talent, but will they break the Curse of the Bambino?! Or will both the Babe and Harry Frazee pull the puppeteers' strings and foil us again? These questions are the same ones asked every year by the faithful Red Sox Nation. The Babe and his curse has dominated the Red Sox since his leaving Boston for the Apple. "Red Sox Century" dives into all things Red Sox, from the glory years between 1901-1918, when the Sox dominated baseball, to the Babe's going to New York, and all the sorrow that has followed it. From Harry Hooper to Teddy Ballgame, Yaz, Dewey, El Tiante, the Rocket, Nomar and Pedro. The heroes, like Fisk in 75, or Yaz's Triple Crown in 67, to the unlucky- Torrez in 78 or Buckner in 86. All are covered in this fascinating book. "Red Sox Century" is one of the most complete books I've ever seen written on my Carmine Hosed Heroes. The story, like an opera, is compelling, with twists and turns unlike any other franchise in sports. Few teams in any sport offer more drama on any given day than the Red Sox do. Peter Gammons, Dan Shaughnessy, and the authors do a remarkable job bringing the impossible stories to life. While hard to swollow at times (re-opening old scars), Red Sox fans and fans of baseball alike will find much to marvel at in this book. Great pictures, painstakingly accurate history, a storied franchise. Baseball and the Red Sox are one and the same, and this book covers both marvelously.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent one-volume history of the Boston Red Sox
Review: Red Sox Century provides an excellent one-volume history of the Boston Red Sox, telling the team's story in its entirety for the first time from its inception in 1901 to its peak performances in 1918, through modern times. Vintage black and white photos pack the presentation.
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