The Rivals: The New York Yankees vs. the Boston Red Sox---An Inside History [Hardcover]

The New York Times (Author), The Boston Globe (Author), Harvey Araton (Author), Tyler Kepner (Author), Dave Anderson (Author), George Vecsey (Author), Bob Ryan (Author), Jackie McMullan (Author), Dan Shaughnessy (Introduction), Robert Lipsyte (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 12, 2004

A Struggle for the Ages. . .

BOSTON GLOBE JANUARY 6, 1920
RED SOX SELL RUTH FOR $100,000 CASH
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Demon Slugger of American League, Who Made 29 Home Runs Last Season, Goes to New York Yankees
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FRAZEE TO BUY NEW PLAYERS

The Yankees vs. the Red Sox. Each baseball season begins and ends with unique intensity, focused on a single question: What's ahead for these two teams? One, the most glamorous, storied, and successful franchise in all of sports; the other, perennially star-crossed but equally rich in baseball history and legend. In The Rivals sports writers of The New York Times and The Boston Globe come together in the first-ever collaboration between the two cities' leading newspapers to tell the inside story of the teams' intertwined histories, each from the home team's perspective.

Beginning with the Red Sox's early glory days (when the Yankees were perennial losers), continuing through the Babe Ruth era and the notorious trade that made the Yankees champions (and marked the Sox with the so-called "Curse of the Bambino"); to Ted Williams vs. Joe DiMaggio; Thurman Munson and Carlton Fisk; Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez; down to last year's legendary playoff showdown, The Rivals captures the drama of key eras, events, and personalities of both teams.

And who better to tell the story than the baseball writers of the two rival cities? For The New York Times, it's Dave Anderson, Harvey Araton, Jack Curry, Tyler Kepner, Robert Lipsyte and George Vecsey who report on the Yankee view of the rivalry, while The Boston Globe
loch's Gordon Edes, Jackie MacMullan, Bob Ryan and Dan Shaughnessy recount the view from the Hub. And their stories are richly illustrated with classic photographs and original articles from the archives, capturing the great moments as they happened. For Red Sox fans, Yankees fans, or anyone interested in remarkable baseball history, The Rivals is an expert, up-close look at the longest, and fiercest of all sports rivalries.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This collection of original essays is a natural: not only does the same parent corporation own both newspapers, it also has a significant stake in the Red Sox. But the anthology isn't just hype; the New Yorkers in particular gladly point out that this is "a Potemkin Village of a rivalry," and that whether Babe Ruth cursed the Sox or not, the Yankees have been able to win 26 World Series in the 84 years since Babe arrived in the Bronx because they consistently fielded a better team. Dreamy-eyed paeans to the "religion of baseball" are thankfully kept to a minimum, as the writers focus on major Sox-Yankees confrontations through the decades (including last year's championship series brawl) and anecdotes starring players from both teams—many of whom may go unrecognized by baseball fans in other cities. If the book does have a fault, it's that its writers often wind up repeating the same stories, though the differing perspectives can be illuminating. Globe writers fess up to the Sox's sorry legacy as the last Major League team to hire an African-American player, for example, while Times columnists use the fact as one more opportunity to hammer home their team's superiority. 60 b&w, 20 color photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the Inside Flap

"Here in Boston, the Hub of the Hardball Universe, we think that the 'rivalry' between the Red Sox and Yankees is the greatest rivalry in all of sports-better than Dodgers-Giants, Cardinals-Cubs, Celtics-Lakers, Cowboys-Redskins, Ali-Frazier, Texas-Oklahoma, Russell-Chamberlain, Michigan-Ohio State, Seabiscuit-War Admiral, and even Harvard-Yale."
- from the Introduction by Dan Shaughnessy

"[The Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is] useful, even essential, to our understanding of the two teams, their cities, their fans, perhaps the Pastime and its nation. In many ways, it is similar to that Cold War rivalry between those other Reds and Yankees. It may even have been the model for it."
- from the Introduction by Robert Lipsyte

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; First Edition edition (August 12, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312336160
• ISBN-13: 978-0312336165
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #498,843 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Happy Yankee Fan, January 26, 2012

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Robert Thomson "Chef Bob" (Edgewater, NJ) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Rivals: The New York Yankees vs. the Boston Red Sox---An Inside History (Hardcover)

I ordered this book for my fourth grade Yankee Fan Grandson who thinks this is just great. He needs to read so many books in a given time and this will be one of them.

4.0 out of 5 stars Babe,Bucky,Buckner and Boone, January 13, 2012

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Tim Williams - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Rivals: The New York Yankees vs. the Boston Red Sox---An Inside History (Hardcover)

A gracefully written summary of the rivalry between the Red Sox and Yankees that covers all the bases and also gives us fly on the wall tidbits along the way. We relive Game Six of the 1986 World Series from Paul Simon's national anthem right through to Buckner's bitter end. We remember the famous events but also learn specific details that add color. We read about George Steinbrenner's famous feuds but we also see an illuminating behind the scenes interaction with infielder Bobby Meacham. The only improvement I'd make is to cut back on the number of essayists. Sometimes, the number of essayists interrupts the narrative flow and leads to unnecessary repetition. Nevertheless, this is an excellent book for non-citizens of the respective baseball nations, and an illuminating retrospective for citizens.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great account, November 25, 2007

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Gabrielle Janik "Sydney gal" (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Rivals: The New York Yankees vs. the Boston Red Sox---An Inside History (Hardcover)

This was a christmas present to a devout red sox fan living in Australia. He says it was an excellent book.