CompleteMartialArts.com - Red Sox Nation: An Unexpurgated History Of The Red Sox
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List Price: $24.95
Our Price: $16.47
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Manufacturer: Triumph Books
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.357640974461
EAN: 9781572437449
ISBN: 1572437448
Label: Triumph Books
Manufacturer: Triumph Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 576
Publication Date: 2005-03-30
Publisher: Triumph Books
Studio: Triumph Books
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Editorial Reviews:
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For baseball enthusiasts everywhere, the names of the greatest Boston Red Sox are synonymous with the game itself: Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove, Dom DiMaggio, Carl Yastrzemski, Johnny Damon, and so many more. And no other franchise can claim as many moments that have become indelible parts of baseball’s history: Williams’ last at-bat, Carlton Fisk’s Game 6 home run, Bill Buckner’s fatal error. Red Sox Nation is the finest, most comprehensive history of this storied franchise, told from the point of view of the people who lived it. From every disappointment to each triumph, culminating with the 2004 world championship, Red Sox Nation takes you into the dugout and onto the field to relive each moment.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: The Complete History
Comment: This book is a fascinating read to see how everything started. It explains what baseball was like B.R. (before Red Sox) and gives us a sense of our fandom ancestors. It truly is like a family history with all the crazy characters and situations that come with every family.
I'm most amazed to find that the past is very similar to the present in that the team was formed by luring great players, including Cy Young, away from other teams (today's free agency), and dumping salaries. Not to mention the parallels between the fans and their taunting of the Pirates players in 1903 as today's fans mock Yankees players.
The only problem is that there is SO much to talk about, everything is given equal time, and if you want to immerse yourself in more detail about specific moments, then you're out of luck. But that's why there are books on each subject like the selling of Babe Ruth or the Impossible Dream, etc.
This book gives you the overview. It's up to you to take your education further. -- Andy Wasif, author Green Monster University: Creating Die-Hahd Fans Since 1901
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Interesting story but the book is a rough draft
Comment: Half the book are quotations, and some quotations run for pages and pages. In my opinion, that's unprofessional. It's like the author published his rough draft. He must have been paid by the word.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Must Own Book If You're A Bosox Fan..
Comment: I've been a Red Sox fan since the early 1960's - around the time that Carl Yastzemski, my all time favorite player, came up - and in common with all Red Sox fans, have suffered through some of the most heart-breaking losses imagineable..
And, unfortunately, this book does not pull any punches or try to sugar coat the losses. It's all there - the loss to the Cardinals in 1967 after Yaz almost single-handedly carried the Red Sox to the Impossible Dream and took the Cards and the brilliant Bob Gibson to a 7th game.
Or the 1975 World Series against the Big Red Machine - the Cincinnati Reds. Again, the Sox went the distance only to lose in Game 7. But they gave us a win in Game 6 which, in my opinion, was the greatest game ever played in the best series ever played.
But it also brings back the heartbreak of the 1978 season when they blew a huge lead in August and ending up losing to the Yankees after Bucky F*****ing Dent's homerun.
Or the 1986 World Series against the Mets when they lost Game 6 after being just 1 strike away from winning. Thanks Bill Buckner / Calvin Schiraldi and Bob Stanley.
And let's not forget the 2003 "Cowboy Up" season..!!
You know, I never bought the "curse of the Bambino" nonsense and this book only confirmed what I always suspected / knew. The ONLY thing that the Red Sox were cursed with were Managers who, at times, were clearly brain dead - they were simply in over their heads and couldn't do the little things that separate the great coaches from the merely good or "mortal" ones.
For example, Don Zimmer sticking with Mike Torrez late in the one game playoff with the NY Yankees back in 1978 when he should have gone with Bill Lee's fresh arm. Unfortunately, Zimmer thought "Spaceman" Lee was a flake and so he decided to keep him on the bench. Between this bonehead play - and Zimmer's decision to get rid of one of the greatest pinch hitters around (remember Bernie Carbo's heroics in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series..??), is it any wonder that the player's couldn't get the job done..??
Or in 1986, John McNamara elected to keep a gimpy kneed Bill Buckner at first instead of pulling him for a healthier, better fielding replacement.
And we all know what happened..!!
And, of course, we can't forget Grady Little staying with Pedro Martinez late in the game in the 2003 ALCS when every Red Sox fan - alive and dead - was screaming at Grady through their TV to "pull this guy and get a fresh, strong arm in there..!!!??. After giving up a bunch of hits, Little pulled Martinez, but by then the damage was done..! And when Boone hit that home run, it was deja vu all over again..!
No - there never was a "curse" - just some of the most incredibly inept and stupid managing in the history of this great game. Some day, Zimmer and Little and McNamara should all get together and compare notes on who the biggest bonehead is..!
But enough of the negative stuff.
I loved the commentary from the players /fans / reporters etc that are sprinkled thorughout the book. It really gives you a flavour of the time and the emotions that we all experience when you're a Red Sox fan. The bookj talks about the beaning of Tony Conigliaro, who never properly recovered from that terrible accident. We can only wonder how great his numbers and career might have been had he been healthy.
Or the numerous stories of Ted Williams - or the Yawkey's (Tom and Jean), Luis Tiant , Jim Rice, Freddie Lynn and on and on it goes.
Of course, we all know that it has an incredibly happy ending with their World Series win in 2004. Yes,three years later in August 2007 as I'm writing this, it still feels great to be able to sit back and know that these guys won it all in our lifetime...!!
And to win it the way they did against the Yankees is still the BEST memory I will ever have in baseball. No matter how many incredibly painful ways the Red Sox found to lose throughout the years, ONLY the Yankees have been ahead 3 games to 0 in the ALCS and then proceed to lose the next 4 games. Yes - the Red Sox have had some bitter losses, but only the NY Yankees have choked so bad that no other team in baseball history has ever equalled it. The World Series win was the BEST cake in the world - and beating the Yankees the way they did was the best icing on the cake a Red Sox fan could possibly ask for..!!
I hope the Yankees and their fans still choke on that thought from time to time.
Anyways, if you're a Red Sox fan - and you should be if you're not - you MUST own this book. it's a great read from the first to last page and it's a pleasure to read about the teams and players that pre-dated your own interst.
It's a pleasure being a Red Sox fan..!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: History of Boston Red Sox & Red Sox Nation
Comment: Must read for the followers of RED SOX NATION
What else can be said but win another RING.
Customer Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest books I've read
Comment: A long time Red Sox fan, I've been let down countless times. The biggest being in 1985. But, after the 2004 season, all my anguish and woe as a Sox fan diminished after they swept the Cardinals in the World Series. When this book came out, I immediately picked it up and read it as fast as I could. From the first page on, the book just grabbed me and I couldn't let it go. The pictures are well taken and well represented in the book. After the 1970s, I could remember these moments in Sox history. Then I read about the 1990s, about Pedro and D-Lowe. Then the forgettable 2003 ALCS. Then the greatest pages of all, the 2004 season, with the book ending on a high note, for once! All the Red Sox books I've read, all of them have ended badly, this one though, ended great! Read this book, you won't regret it.
As they say in the book
"And when Red Sox fans in the future travel to stadiums around the country, they "1918" caps and taunts of "Bucky Dent" or "Bill Buckner" will ring hollow. Bucky who? Who cares? Bill who? Doesn't matter.
"History starts today" became the battle cry. The Red Sox had done it. Red Sox fans, like Humphrey Bogart, will always have Paris."
- Red Sox Nation: An Unexpurgated History Of The Red Sox
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