|
|
38 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
Nonsense. A complete waste of time., October 25, 2003
It's not only the lack of factual research that makes this book a wasted read...The book is based on a fairy tale, that the author has presented as a reason for the Red Sox' misfortunes of the past 80+ years. It is completely illegitimate. Red Sox fans have Dan Shaughnessy to thank for getting the "Bambino" curse into the national media spotlight. He has (unwittingly?) become the number one enemy & annoyance to the Red Sox and their fans. Until The Sox win the series, they will be taunted by moronic tv announcers that treat this as an noteworthy story, and nit wit opposing team fans that hold up pictures of Babe Ruth, to try and taunt the Red Sox. There was a recent documentary on HBO on this subject, with the author trying to sell this book. After hearing him speak on the subject, I cannot even consider him a journalist. Thanks Dan, looking forward to your biography on the Easter Bunny.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
 
|
|
|
|
|
|
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
Nice annuity for Shaughnessy - but far from the real story, October 23, 2004
When I was a kid growing up in Boston in the 60s and 70s, the was never a mention of any 'Curse of the Bambino.' It was simply a case of the Red Sox not measuring up to the Yankees on many benchmarks...managers (Grady Little trying to match wits against Joe Torre being only the latest example), ownership (Tom Yawkey's plantation mentality meant the Sox were the last team to integrate), team chemistry (the famous '25 cabs for 25 guys' line was written to describe the Yastrzemski-era Sox) and player personnel (the 70s teams, for example, featured bombers to take advantage of Fenway who could neither run, field, bunt nor sacrifice as well as their chief rivals).
So, Dan Shaughnessy comes along post-1986 collapse with the trite, kitschy 'Curse of the Bambino' and suddenly every talking head in America has a little piece of pop psychology they can gear their stories around - witness, as an example, any recent Fox broadcast with shot after shot of Ruth 'ghosts' parading through the stands at Yankee Stadium. Great visuals, cue it up between batters, between pitches...but why load these 25 current players with that extra-heavy burden? 'Curse' has been a healthy annuity for Shaughnessy, no doubt (and I give him some credit for the that), but from his Globe byline pulpit and his repeated intonations about The Curse, he has unwittingly become somewhat his home team's worst enemy (witness the venom on these pages as a confirmation of that opinion).
What's different about 2003 and beyond is that the Henry/Lucchino/Epstein regime doesn't buy into this garbage. They see baseball for what it is - a game of statistics, percentages and chances. Get your numbers to the point where they are better than the competition, and more times than not your team is going to win. They were smart enough to recognize that the Yankees were winning because they were demonstrably better. They made a commitment to continuous improvement of the club using the Yankees as their benchmark. Owner John Henry is one of the nation's most successful commodities and stock traders; President Larry Lucchino has a track record of improving franchises; GM Theo Epstein is a Moneyball/Bill James disciple and baseball talent-spotting prodigy. I'm sorry that's not as mystical and compelling as Harry Frazee needing to finance 'No No Nanette' and Babe Ruth pushing a piano into a lake, but that's the truth. For the first time in 86 years, the Red Sox - across the organization - are outworking and outthinking their competitors. That's what we ought to be celebrating right now, not whether the Curse has been broken.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
Now irrelevant, October 28, 2004
Shaughnessy now has to find a different schtick; the Sox have won the World Series, and now we won't have to hear about made-up curses ever again. Go Sox!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
The Stupidest Book Ever Written About Baseball., December 15, 2003
To set the record straight, no one in New England--except for the CHB--believes in any curse. The fact that people stand a decent chance of living 80+ years and never see the Red Sox win a World Series is a tad more distressing. Having grown up in California and not being a native New Englander, I can vouch for that. Blame poor ownership, bad management, bad luck, and--as much as I hate to say it--the fact that the New York Yankees have put together some legitimately great teams over the years. Don't blame a curse.Strictly looking at wins and losses, being a Boston Red Sox fan really isn't so bad. A disproportionate number of great players have worn the Red Sox uniform (Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk, etc.) and Boston tends to win more games than they lose and be in the playoff hunt every year. I'd rather follow the Red Sox than the L.A. Clippers! That being said, the CHB has perpetrated a lie concerning a "curse" that has allegedly befallen the franchise. Using H.L. Mencken's motto "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public", he made a lot of cash with this book (I once saw him getting out of his shiny, black Mercedes-Benz near Newbury Street one afternoon a couple of years ago). To add insult to injury, every idiot sports announcer who's not from New England constantly--and aggravatingly--mentions "the curse of the bambino" each time the Red Sox either make the playoffs or are close to making the playoffs. Since he has a vested interest in the Red Sox losing every year, I'm sure the CHB was chuckling with mirth after the Yankees won Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. Shaughnessy is a medium talent at best--and a bitter jerk at worst--in his books and columns in the "Boston Globe". The CHB is basically the imbecile at the bar who trashes everyone's favorite teams--and goes home lonely wondering why no one "understands" him. "The Curse of the Bambino" won't explain anything of significance about baseball to the layperson, except to give them an understanding of why the CHB is so universally loathed in Boston.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
Literary Notes, June 27, 2003
Understand, Shaughnessy is to the written word what Marcy Playground was to rock - a one trick pony that has been beaten to death with a 4 by 4 (an unnamed Lumberjack commented that a 4 by 4 is more effective for beatings than a 2 by 4).Shaughnessy (who is to Boston sportswriters what lead singer Luis Alfonzo was to Luis And The Hawk) gets by on reputation, rather than results. An NL scout with a Masters in English told me that Shaughnessy has forgotten what an adverb is and relies too much on contractions. That sort of thing may play at highschool newspapers, but not on the national stage. Throw in his decided smug streak, and there may be a lesson to be learned. Know this, Don Skwar believes that either late this year or early next year, Shira Springer, whose stylish attitude has been compared to Peter May, who despite his excessively sweaty throat last week, is still respected (which is quite a compliment in itself), will be a big part of the Globe. Just asking: are Steve Buckley and Steve Urkel the same person?
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
Two words: absolutely horrible, November 1, 2003
I can't add anything further regarding the content of this book beyond all the other negative reviews. Thank god I did not pay for this piece of crap - although I should charge Shaughnessy for the time I spent reading it... I find it quite interesting that all the earlier reviews are in the 4 or 5 star range (Shaughnessy's family and close friends, no doubt) and all the later reviews (1 star) appear to be from Red Sox Nation. I take great pleasure in lining my ferrets cage with Shaughnessy's newspaper articles, where they get the treatment they deserve. If I actually owned a copy of this book, I'd tear out all the pages and add them to the cage, too. Can't we trade this guy to the Expos?
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
Curse is a misnomer, January 12, 2005
The idea that the Red Sox were cursed because Harry Frazee sold the Bambino to finance a show is a misnomer at best, and a sincere lack of honesty at worst. The true reason the Red Sox failed to win a World Series title in 86 years was due to ethnic racism, pure and simple. The Red Sox had Jackie Robinson tryout in Fenway Park and commented that Robinson was a great hitter, but it was "too bad that he was colored". They also watched Willie Mays in a tryout and passed up the opportunity to sign him. They refused to have a young Henry Aaron tryout for the team when they found out he was colored. That is how the old Boston Braves were able to sign Aaron in 1952 to play for them (albeit in Milwaukee) and the fabled cross town rivals were not. Racism was the true curse of the Boston Red Sox. Boston has had a serious problem with racial hatred in the neighborhoods of Dorchester and Roxbury for decades and refusing to acknowledge this problem leads the naive to assume that there could be any relationship to the trade of Babe Ruth to the NY Yankees and the 86 year drought of a World Series championship. Pure, utter nonsense. Racism was their curse.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
"piece of junk" -- to use the author's own words, June 26, 2003
Shaughnessy once referred to a Red Sox player as a "piece of junk". That's exactly what this book is. If you really want to know more about the Red Sox history, read Red Sox Century or if you're specifically interested in Ruth's era read the excellent 1918: Babe Ruth and the World Champion Boston Red Sox.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
ugh, December 4, 2004
240 pages of scratchy toilet paper. Shaughnessy is allowed to perpetuate a myth based not in fact, but his own feeble brain. Avoid this book at all costs.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
Find another gravy train, Danny Boy, November 5, 2004
One of the best things about the | |
