Customer Reviews

Red Sox Century

essential reading for fans of the Carmine Hosed warriors, May 12, 2001

By	Sean M. Kelly (Portland, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews

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.

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this sets new standards, October 4, 2000

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

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