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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Solid work, suspiciously slanted, April 2, 2008
This review is from: Dynasty: The Inside Story of How the Red Sox Became a Baseball Powerhouse (Hardcover)
Dynasty chronicles the Red Sox from the beginning of Dan Duquette's reign in 1994 through the 2007 World Series. The state and evolution of the Red Sox is examined over this decade, and the result is a good synopsis of how the team got to where it is now and how much things have changed in such a short period of time. Tony Massarotti does a very nice job of evaluating the controversial figure of Dan Duquette, and "inside story," contrary to some other poorly written Red Sox books, does mean exactly that, as this book is full of new and interesting tidbits. The rehashing of some things will be tedious for hard core fans, but leaving them out would be to the detriment of the wider audience, so I will forgive him the pages I skipped. The theme of the Red Sox waffling in and out of dysfunction before finally beginning to settle in recently as a model organization is very well developed, and overall, I enjoyed this book.
Massarotti is a Boston Herald reporter, though, and his status as a member of the very media corps he's often writing about makes things awkward at times and prevents him from engaging in fair evaluation. He is unabashedly biased against those players who are less adept at relating to the media, and he appears to have never recovered his sense of objectivity in the wake of the mess of the 2005 offseason. It was bleedingly obvious from his Herald columns then that he hated Larry Lucchino and loved Theo Epstein, and that has carried right over into this book. Lucchino is constantly pigeon-holed and Epstein is either fawned over or irksomely patronized like a precocious toddler. This line in particular bugged me:
"Shaughnessy's column came a few days after a Herald columnist had similarly skewered Lucchino, who was similarly engaged by the criticism."
That Herald columnist was YOU, Tony, on October 27, 2005! I remember this slam job quite clearly. This is done over and over again, with his own columns attributed to nebulous third persons and no mention made anywhere of who wrote them, as there is no bibliography or index. This strikes me as somewhat disingenuous and tainted the last half of the book in particular. Not enough, however, to prevent me from recommending this book for all Red Sox fans.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not quite a dynasty, not quite an inside view, but still enjoyable, April 12, 2008
This review is from: Dynasty: The Inside Story of How the Red Sox Became a Baseball Powerhouse (Hardcover)
Massarotti provides a good summary of Sox history from the Duquette years through the 2008 World Series. He gives due credit to the contributions of Dan Duquette to the first Sox championship in 2004, which is long overdue. I can remember Dan in the bar of the Adams-Mark Hotel in St Louis during the post-game World Series celebration in 2004 looking lost and out of place. Massarotti recounts the ways in which the new Sox administration has sought to deflect any credit from prior management. That was unfair, demonstrates the author, since Duquette's trades for Martinez, Varitek, and Lowe as well as his draft of Garciaparra and plucking of Wakefield from the scrap heap all contributed to the Sox rise. Many of the trades Epstein developed to help the 2004 team were made from prospects drafted by Duquette as well.
The story of 2004 is fun to read as always but I expected more from the author who is a beat writer covering the Sox for the Boston Herald and, according to Varitek in the foreward, a guy who stays in the clubhouse after each game as long as any of his peers. The sub-title of the book calls it an "inside story." However, aside from a few quotes not heard before, virtually everything in the book could have been gleaned from past news coverage. The value of the book is the synthesis of all of this information to explain the Sox rise rather than the revelation of new information.
My other issue with the book is the short shrift given to the 2008 World Series covered in a few pages. In fact, Massarotti seems to be rushing to finish in the final chapters. In one case, he uses the metaphor running on all cylinders twice in consecutive paragraphs. Tighter editing could have helped.
Finally, the title makes me nervous. The Sox are a few championships short of any consideratuion of the "D" word.
Overall,the book is competently written and fun to read for Sox fans. It also has some value as a business book in detailing how culture changes and interpersonal skills in strategy and execution make a difference in product.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
It's boring. Please insert writing skills..., May 15, 2008
This review is from: Dynasty: The Inside Story of How the Red Sox Became a Baseball Powerhouse (Hardcover)
I made the mistake of purchasing this book. As a Boston denizen, I should have realized the quality of sports writing in this town exited with Will McDonough. There just isn't any talent left here, as evidenced by this seemingly random assemblance of words.
If you're looking for decent writing, you'll have to wait until a sports writer in this town manages to realize that the story isn't about them...and that's not happening anytime soon.
How does a shill like this even find a publisher willing to sell? It's mind boggling...yet another MTV moment here folks.
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