The Year of the Gerbil

Rating:
Summary: 1978: The Best of Times, the Worst of Times
Review: Author Chapman has written a wonderful account of the epic Red Sox-Yankees season of 1978. Sox fans can view the season in a is the glass half-full or half-empty approach. Are they the team that "blew it" and allowed the Yankees to get back in the race or are they a great team that won 99 games, including eight straight at the end of the season, to force a playoff game between the two best teams in baseball? Author Chapman's story includes a history of the Boston-New York rivalry, not just in relation to baseball and the personalities of these two cities. Lots of insight given into the Spaceman-Gerbil relationship. Exciting re-telling of the playoff game. Red Sox, Yankee and baseball history fans in general will enjoy this literate account of the 1978 season when the Athens and Sparta of baseball battled it out for supremacy of the American League.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Book for Any Serious Baseball Fan
Review: Much work and fact gathering on the part of Mr. Chapman have produced an interesting, detailed and valuable snapshot in time of this infamous game and the people involved in it. I particularly enjoy his style of writing and the special way he brings the players to life. This is an important book; it is a gift to baseball history that it was written. For me, it was a great read, and I would highly recommend it to any serious fan.

Rating:
Summary: Wasn't that good
Review: There are plenty of obvious factual errors in the book, such as the author's statements that the Yankees have had streaks of 7 & 8 consecutive World Championships. On the other hand, Yankee fans will enjoy the author's anguish about the Redsox fate.