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My professor for this course, Sergio, told us to make sure that the topic we chose was one we wouldn't get easily sick of,
as we would be conducting research for the project throughout the semester. If you've visited other pages on my site, you
know that my choice of topic was simple.
I looked at various sources about the history of the Boston Red Sox baseball team. This is a topic in which I have much
interest. I have been a life-long fan of the game of baseball, and consider myself to be a "die-hard" Red Sox fan.
I have been to countless games since my first game, at Fenway Park with my father, uncle and cousins. Since then, I have
come to idolize players who have come and gone, leaving their unfathomable mark on me and the game of baseball as a whole.
My first "favorite player,” Rodger Clemens, would later become one of the most reviled men in Red Sox history.
I, along with thousands of other baseball fans, was alienated from the game by the baseball strike of 1994, which lasted 232
days, and caused the cancellation of the World Series. Unlike many other baseball fans, however, the race between Mark McGuire
and Sammy Sosa to beat baseball's home run record was not enough to bring me to fully love the game that had scorned me in
1994. I watched games casually; if there was nothing on, I'd catch a few minutes of the game, and then find something more
productive to do. It took the Boston Red Sox' tremendous run at the American League Championship Series in 1999 to finally
bring me back to the game that I had always known I had loved my whole life. After the 2004 Boston Red Sox beat the 86-year
stigma which was created with the 1919 sale of Babe Ruth, one of the greatest players to ever set foot on the field, I felt
an overwhelming need to learn all I could about the history of my favorite team. Since last fall, I have fully immersed myself
in books, websites, magazines, and television specials to gain a full understanding of what it means to be a die-hard Red
Sox fan.
Another reason I chose this topic is because I had already done a substantial amount of reading on the subject on my own
for fun. I figured I could use the knowledge I had gained and familiarity with the sources I have already looked at to complete
this assignment. Having had much (some would say, "too much") interest in the Boston Red Sox, I also thought that
this topic would be one that I would not grow weary of over the course of the semester. For these reasons and countless more,
I have chosen to focus my final project for this class on the history of the Boston Red Sox baseball team. What follows is
an annotated list of books, websites, and other materials which I feel would greatly benefit anyone who is conducting research
about the history, both past and present, of the Boston Red Sox baseball team.
Grossman, Leigh (2005). The 2004 Red Sox Fan Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to be a Red Sox Fan, or to Marry One.
Boston: Rounder.
This book, updated to include the momentous 2004 season, contains a detailed history of the team now known to the world
as the Boston Red Sox. I especially like the way the author has constructed the book, breaking down the history of the team
into distinct time periods (i.e. "The Selling of Babe Ruth and the Dark Ages: 19-20-1932") in the first half of
the book, then giving short "biographies" of notable players who have been members of the Boston Red Sox. These
two features make this book a valuable reference tool for anyone researching any aspect of Red Sox or Fenway Park lore.
The second half of the book contains brief (several paragraphs) on every interesting and quirky player who played for
the Red Sox. The author tells the stories behind the well-known legends of Fenway Park, including the player who caught a
rat in his glove, and which players allegedly blackmailed a teammate by taking pictures of him sleeping with a stripper.
This is another great feature, as many of these stories have been passed down from person to person verbally. It is a great
treasure to have all of these inspiring, moving, and funny stories all in one volume. More common baseball knowledge can
be found here too, such as a quick and easy guide to keeping track of the action on a scorecard, as well a very useful bibliography.
Woven into the historic information, the author also gives valuable tips for today, such as where the best seats in Fenway
Park are, and where to go before and after the game for a bite to eat. This characteristic of the book also makes it useful
to any person who may be planning on attending a game at Fenway Park. Although much of the book is based on the history of
the Boston Red Sox, there is a section of the book devoted to up-and-coming players in the Red Sox farm system, which is a
wonderful tool for spotting the future stars of the Boston Red Sox. Woven throughout the text are brief (one-to-two pages)
stories from members of "Red Sox Nation." These wonderful reminiscences breathe life into the story of the Boston
Red Sox, and allow the reader the choice to use this helpful volume as a reference guide to the Red Sox, or as an enjoyable
read that will make them want to become a more knowledgeable fan of the team. As fun as it is informative, this handy reference
guide is the ultimate book for the die-hard fan of the Boston Red Sox. The book ends with some touching short stories from
long-suffering, now-celebrating Red Sox fans. This book comes highly recommended for those totally unfamiliar with the team,
who want to get a quick idea of what they're getting into when they make the tough decision to root for the Red Sox.
Ryan, Bob (2002). When Boston Won the World Series. Philadelphia: Running Press.
This book is a well-written and entertaining narrative about the 1903 baseball season, as told from the perspective of
famed Boston Globe sports reporter, Tim Murnane. The author does a marvelous job of bringing the reader back to the year
that the popular National Baseball League joined the upstart American League in the first fall classic, which later came to
be known as the World Series. When Boston Won the World Series reads like a great underdog story, but there is much to be
learned about the players, coaches, and fans that many other histories of the team do not present. The book includes several
appendices, giving the reader team rosters for the Boston Americans (the 1903 Red Sox) and the Pittsburg Pirates, as well
as league standings and the box scores for all eight games of the 1903 World Series.
One of the real charms of this brief novel is that the bulk of the research that Ryan conducted while writing it was
done through Tim Murnane's coverage of the Boston Americans' roller-coaster ride to the first-ever World Series. Ryan does
such a marvelous job, that the reader can actually visualize the action on the field, leaving them to wonder if they have
just traveled 100 years into the past to witness one of the most exciting World Series in history.
There are well-over 50 pictures, including player photos, which are very rare and difficult to find elsewhere. The reader
will learn many interesting trivia facts, such as when all of the seats in a park were sold out, fans could pay to stand in
the outfield (this was before the 1912 construction of Fenway Park). Another wonderful feature that Ryan's book has is that
he explains how baseball was played in those early days of the game (it would take the reader hours of research to learn the
rules that existed back in 1903). This book also gives the reader a biography of the fans back in 1903. The fans played
a huge role in deciding the outcomes of the games back then. The reader will learn about the way that the fans would spontaneously
break into choruses of the song "Tessie" as a way of taunting the opposing team's pitcher, often time forcing him
to pitch so poorly that the Americans would win the game. When Boston Won the World Series is another book that will give
the reader insight into the history of the Boston Red Sox that they would be hard-pressed to find anywhere else.
O'Nan, Stwewart and Stephen King (2004). Faithful: Two Diehard Red Sox Fans Chronicle The Historic 2004 Season. USA:
Scribner.
You can't even begin to think about the history of the Boston Red Sox without considering the accomplishments of the
2004 Red Sox. This book, which was written by two of the world's most well-known novelists (who just so happen to be die-hard
Red Sox fans), chronicled the truly historic baseball season that ended the dreaded championship famine which had plagued
the city of Boston since Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth in 1919, as it happened. Written with the unrivaled passion that comes
with being Red Sox fans, this 400+ page book can be read in a day (I say this from experience). The tone of the writing,
which could be described as desperately hopeful, gives the reader a glimpse into the whacked-out minds of two members of the
"Fenway Faithful." The best way to describe the contents of this novel is "history as it was happening."
The authors explain how they got the idea of viewing every Red Sox game for one season, and writing a book from the perspective
of the world's most passionate sports fans. Then, through the act of serendipity, they happened to be writing about the season
when all of the long-suffering Red Sox fans dreams would finally be realized, as at the end of the regular season, the Sox
chased the American League East pennant and a Wild Card birth to make it into the playoffs.
King and O'Nan write with so much passion, that the book has to be read to truly understand what the word, "passion"
means. Another book that is useful on many levels, the appendices contain the complete statistics for all of the members
of the Boston Red Sox for the regular season, American League Divisional Series, American League Championship Series, and
the 2004 World Series. Intertwined with the flowing text are many pictures of the team, some humorous (one picture depicts
Manny running onto the field waving a tiny American flag after passing his American citizenship test) to touching (one photo
shows Pedro, upon getting the third strikeout against the archrival New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series,
points two figures to the sky, in thanks to God).
Aside from being a wonderful way to reflect upon "the long and winding road" to salvation, this novel serves
as a great way of bringing closure by highlighting the accomplishments of the 2004 Red Sox.
Major League Baseball. Date retrieved: 3-22-05. http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/index.jsp?c_id=bos
This is the homepage of the Boston Red Sox. It contains valuable information about the current roster of Red Sox players.
The “Fenway Park: A-Z Guide," found under the “Fenway Park" tab is a useful resource for answering
just about any question you may have about attending a Red Sox game at Fenway Park. There are many useful resources linked
to this page, including a page listing players who are currently on the disabled list, links to Major League Baseball's and
the Red Sox minor league clubs' websites. Although the information is updated daily, this is still a great place to go for
current information on the Boston Red Sox.
Cornette, Kristen D. Personal Site. Date retrieved: 4-6-05. http://www.redsoxdiehard.com
This is an extremely well-done and informative fan-page for the Boston Red Sox. An entertaining as it is informative,
the author has tons of great links and information about the history of the team, including a fun button on the homepage which
brings you to a random page on the site when clicked. A self-proclaimed, “Haven for Red Sox Fans, you could literally
spend hours looking around this site, and never get bored. A link on the homepage of this site, titled History Class, brings
the user to two great essays on the early history of the Boston Red Sox. The first essay tells the story of how baseball
came to Boston in 1901 (I know, I thought it was always here too!), and the second tells the reader about how Cy Young and
“Tessie" brought Boston its first World Series championship in 1903. A link on the 1903 page brings you to
Baseball Reference (see next annotation), another wonderful website for researching the history of the Boston Red Sox.
Sports Reference Inc. Date retrieved: 4-11-05. http://www.baseball-refernce.com/teams/BOS
This site is incredibly good for people who are really into statistics. At this website, there are hyperlinks to every
Boston baseball team from 1901 to 2004. When clicked on, the user is brought to a webpage with all of the statistics for
every Red Sox player in the given season. Before the 2004 season, fans of the strategy behind the game of baseball could
have discovered that the Red Sox needed to improve their pitching depth in order to secure that elusive World Series victory
(this was the problem that Terry Francona and Theo Epstein figured out, and were able to remedy before the beginning of the
2004 season, by adding Curt Schilling and Keith Foulke to the team, to solve the issues of starting and closing pitching.
If you are studying the history of the Boston Red Sox, the statistics found on this website can provide valuable insight into
the team's stronger and weaker points.
The Sports Palace, Inc. Date Retrieved: 3-28-05. http://www.historyoftheyankees.com/
As any die-hard Red Sox fan will tell you, “To love the Red Sox is to hate the Yankees." This site is
a great one for getting to know the “bad guys." With links to biographical web pages on many of the great
players who have played for the Yankees over the years, this site is a wealth of information on all things Yankee. A link
on this homepage brings you to a much less interesting “History of the Yankees" page, that is nowhere near
as in depth as the history page at www.redsoxdiehard.com, but then again, it's the Yankees, so who cares? In all seriousness,
much of the Red Sox' history is closely tied to the Yankees, beginning with the 1919 sale of Babe Ruth to 2004's epic comeback
in the postseason, where the Yankees laid down four losses, setting the stage for a historic World Series victory by the Red
Sox.
Sports Illustrated, Inc. Date Retrieved: 4-1-05. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/teams/red_sox/
This informative site has everything you need to know about the current roster of the Boston Red Sox. I think that one
of the great and useful features of this website is that it has in depth and up-to-date statistics for all of the players
who ever played for Boston's baseball team (this includes statistics for the Boston Somersets, Americans, and the Red Sox).
These statistics are perfect for figuring-out where the team has come from, and what direction the current team seems to be
heading in. The Sports Illustrated site also offers player photos and birthdays, should you want to send David Wells a birthday
card for whatever reason (maybe you're just that big a fan. In case you're curious, Boomer was born on May 20, 1963). One
of the other neat facts that Sports Illustrated's website offers you is that it tells you if a player bats left-handed, right-handed,
or if they can bat with from both sides of the plate. This is another statistics-loaded page, but has tons of information
on it.
Johnson, Richard A (2000). Red Sox Century. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
This is the greatest and best book in the history of mankind. In all seriousness, Johnson offers a rich and complete
history of the team, unlike anyone before him has been able to achieve. He takes on the task of making the Red Sox an interesting
topic to fans and non-fans alike, and does so very well. While other writers get caught up in the sentimentality that is
often attached to the Red Sox, Johnson manages to give a straightforward history, while still managing to tell the story in
a way that is inoffensive to the die-hard fans of the team. Illustrated with photos from the very first Red Sox' teams to
the 2000 team, this one-volume history is extremely well-researched and informative.
Frommer, Harvey and Frederick Frommer (2004). Red Sox vs. Yankees: The Great Rivalry. Champagne, Illinois: Sports Publishing
LLC
This book, written by father and son, features interviews with former New York mayor, Rudolph Guiliani, former Massachusetts
governor, Michael Dukakis, and other notable people involved in the world's greatest sports rivalry. Offering a glimpse into
the hatred that these two teams have for each other, this rather short (only 247 pages long) book contains loads of important
milestones in the rivalry between these two very different teams (the differences are illustrated best by their hair: the
2004 Red Sox had long, wild, out-of-control hairstyles, while the Yankees were bound by a clubhouse rule to keep their hair
short and well-groomed). Originally intended as a good-looking, coffee-table book, the incredible photographs and knowledge
contained within make this a must have for anyone researching the history of either team.
Montville, Leigh (2004). Why Not Us? The 86-Year Journey of the Boston Red Sox from Unparalleled Suffering to the Promised
Land of the 2004 World Series. Scranton, Pennsylvania: Perseus.
While one may look at the title of this book and think it slightly overdramatic, any true Red Sox fan will tell you,
it is not! This book, from the author of the 2005 edition of The Red Sox Fan Handbook, takes a look at, according to the
publisher's website (http://www.perseusbooksgroup.com/perseus/book_detail_redirect.do?imprintCid=PA&isbn=1586483331),
the “crushing near-misses of 1946 (when the Sox lost the World Series in 7 games), '48 (lost a one game play-off
to Cleveland), '49 (heartbreak to the Yankees), '67 (again, lost the World Series in 7), '75 (and again, lost the World Series
in 7), Bucky ["Bleeping" Dent] in '78, [Bill] Buckner in '86, [Aaron "Bleeping"] Boone in 2003-then come
back the next spring." Although the tone of the book, much unlike the 2004 season itself, seems to be upbeat, the author
does provide the reader with a broad perspective of a history of the Boston Red Sox that serves as the perfect starting-point
for research on the topic.
Shaughnessey, Dan (2005). Reversing the Curse: the Inside Story of the 2004 Red Sox. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Published this year, Reversing the Curse comes from the man who named (and consequently made tons of money off of) the
supposed "Curse of the Bambino." In an attempt to salvage his money-making curse-theory, Shaughnessey manages to
give a factual (with the exception of all this Curse-nonsense) history of the Boston Red Sox. The writing style is a bit
muddy to get through, given Shaugnessey's "Only-the-facts" style of writing, but this volume does serve up tons
of information which is valuable to the Red Sox historian.
Pesky, Johnny, et. al (2004). Few and Chosen: Defining Red Sox Greatness Across the Eras. Boston: Triumph Books.
This unique book takes a look at some of the incredible people who have been involved with the Red Sox organization,
from the very first home-town team, to the current band of self-proclaimed, “Idiots." Written from the unique
perspective of those who could be considered members of the Red Sox elite (Pesky is joined by Phil Pepe and Carl Yaztremsky,
to name a few), this book offers the history of the Boston Red Sox from the team's most knowledgeable fans: the players.
Pesky et. al. use a bit of humor in their writing, which doesn't get in the way of the many useful facts found throughout
the text. Another reason I really liked this book is because it pays homage to the great players who are sometimes forgotten
because of their inability to win a championship with the Boston Red Sox (did you know that Cy Young, arguably the greatest
pitcher who ever lived and namesake of the award given to the best pitcher in baseball, was a member of the Boston Americans
(Red Sox)?).
Lee, Bill (2003). Little Red (Sox) Book: A Revisionist Red Sox History. Boston: Triumph.
Not so good for factual information, but plenty of fun, this book looks at what could have been. Bill “The
Spaceman" Lee (so named for his breaking ball pitch, which looked as though he was in a zero-gravity environment when
he threw it), a former pitcher for the Boston Red Sox offers a fun and wacky alternate history of a world in which the Red
Sox actually won the World Series many years ago (when many say they should have won a championship). Extremely fun, especially
for those still in denial, this book presents a world in which Pedro Martinez struck out Aaron Boone, Bill Buckner caught
the grounder to second base, and the “Impossible Dream" came true. Perfect for those who have lived their
life wondering, “What if?"
Green, David (2005). 101 Reasons to Love the Red Sox (and 10 Reasons to Hate the Yankees). New York: Stewart, Tabori
& Chang, Inc.
This book takes a look at the top 101 reasons to love the Boston Red Sox (as the title suggests). As any longtime fan
will tell you, falling in love with Red Sox means simultaneously despising the New York Yankees. Most of the reasons Green
gives the reader to love the Sox and despise the Yankees are deeply imbedded in the history of the Boston team, and thus offers
the reader a biased perspective (which isn't always a bad thing, by the way, especially when it comes to the Red Sox!). Such
greats as Yaz, Tony Canigliaro, Dom Dimaggio, Johnny Pesky, Carlton Fisk, and many other Red Sox greats are highlighted in
this book. Green's brother, Ron Green Jr., is the author of 101 Reasons to Love the Yankees, which is why David’s
[better] book is written with such passion and gusto (sibling rivalry, especially where one is a Yankee-fan, and the other
a Sox fan, makes for one Hell of a book!). David Green's 101 Reasons is a nostalgic way to remember the many great reasons
why Boston's fans have held their heads high throughout the 86-year championship drought.
Title List and Information
1. Grossman, Leigh (2005). The 2004 Red Sox Fan Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to be a Red Sox Fan, or to Marry
One. Boston: Rounder.
2. Ryan, Bob (2002). When Boston Won the World Series. Philadelphia: Running Press.
3. O'Nan, Stwewart and Stephen King (2004). Faithful: Two Diehard Red Sox Fans Chronicle The Historic 2004 Season. USA:
Scribner.
4. Johnson, Richard A (2000). Red Sox Century. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
5. Frommer, Harvey and Frederick Frommer (2004). Red Sox vs. Yankees: The Great Rivalry. Champagne, Illinois: Sports
Publishing LLC
6. Montville, Leigh (2004). Why Not Us? The 86-Year Journey of the Boston Red Sox from Unparalleled Suffering to the
Promised Land of the 2004 World Series. Scranton, Pennsylvania: Perseus.
7. Shaughnessey, Dan (2005). Reversing the Curse: the Inside Story of the 2004 Red Sox. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
8. Pesky, Johnny, et. al (2004). Few and Chosen: Defining Red Sox Greatness Across the Eras. Boston: Triumph Books.
9. Lee, Bill (2003). Little Red (Sox) Book: A Revisionist Red Sox History. Boston: Triumph.
10. Green, David (2005). 101 Reasons to Love the Red Sox (and 10 Reasons to Hate the Yankees). New York: Stewart, Tabori
& Chang, Inc.
Websites
1. www.redsox.com
2. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/teams/red_sox/
3. http://www.redsoxdiehard.com
4. http://www.baseball-refernce.com/teams/BOS
5. http://www.historyoftheyankees.com/
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