Customer Reviews

A Tale of Two Cities: The 2004 Yankees-Red Sox Rivalry and the War for the Pennant

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a baseball fan, I was glued to this book and could not put it down, even though I knew who won in the end... Tony Mazz and John Harper did a great job giving the reader a feel for what each city was experiencing during the 2004 season. The behind the scenes stories and quotes added a critical element to the book and made the reading fun. If you want some inside information on Pedro, A-Rod, Schilling and others, this book is for you. The off-the-record quotes are stunning. I really enjoyed this book... and I've read a lot of baseball books over the years. This is one of the best.

While any reader of this review most likely already knows how the events of the 2004 MLB season unfolded, A Tale of Two Cities takes the reader beyond the dirt and sod of the ball field to the personalities and emotions that are not always evident to the casual fan.

As a native New Englander, I loved the book's insights and vignettes which go well beyond the headlines to the foundations of what makes the Red Sox - Yankee rivalry so great. As a lover of sport and human drama, the juxtaposition of events as told from the both the Boston and New York perspectives were truly revealing and well crafted. I enjoyed the book thoroughly - so much so I finished it in a single sitting.

Like any argument there are two sides and who better to rely on than two sportswriters who make their living covering the year-in-year out battle between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.
While this 2005 release has the familiar ring of the classic written by Charles Dickens, it took two authors to produce a work that is worthy both of the name and the plot line of this modern day baseball classic.
Baseball beat writers John Harper of the New York Daily News and Tony Massarotti of the Boston Herald have shared writing space as well as barbs about their two hometown teams and now take their grievances public in "A Tale of Two Cities."
The idea for the book took shape just moments after Aaron Boone's ALCS-winning homer cleared the fence at Yankee Stadium in 2003. The two minds agreed that their combined beats and insights gave the reader a truthful and exciting behind the scenes look at this historic battle.
Massarotti opens his first chapter just days after Boone's fateful, memorable shot and rolls into the firing of Boston Red Sox manager Grady Little, the placing of Manny Ramirez on waivers, the courtship and subsequent rebuff of Alex Rodriguez, the stage being set for a divorce with Nomar Garciaparra and the acquisition of Curt Schilling and Keith Foulke.
Harper responds with the news that the Yankees knew of Boone's knee injury during a pick-up basketball game for two weeks prior to releasing it to the media as well as other teams. He explains how GM Brian Cashman worked the phones, creating the trade for A-Rod along with the selling of the former Texas Ranger on a move to third base. The Daily News beat writer also includes the clandestine efforts Cashman took to prevent word from leaking out about the trade, all before taking it to George Steinbrenner.
The two authors provide insight to each team's manager, for Harper, the ex-skipper Grady Little as well as the newly hired Terry Francona after his unsuccessful stint with the Philadelphia Phillies. Harper takes the reader into the boardroom and private dining room of Steinbrenner as he proposes to extend Yankee skipper Joe Torre's contract and why the manager waffled before finally accepting.
Once the 2004 season was underway, both writers give their viewpoints to key meetings between the two squads throughout the year and no subject is off limits.
Read how Massarotti complains of the visiting press box at Yankee stadium, the air of New York fans and players. Harper pounds back with his own tongue-in-cheek shot about "Red Sox Nation" along with his own personal hatred of Pedro Martinez.
The drama continues on and off the field as the AL pennant race heats up, in April.
Pedro Martinez is without a contract, Manny Ramirez becomes a U.S. citizen, Schilling has a bum ankle and his cell phone has local sports talk radio station WEEI in its speed dial, for starters. For the Yankees, Harper reveals how boring Derek Jeter is with the media along with how fake Alex Rodriquez is with the same hoard, but at least he can give you something for your notebook.
Harper also goes so far as to mock his Boston counterparts while filing on deadline after a loss to the Yankees as well as describe the difference in how the media is perceived in the two East Coast cities.
The two authors focus on the competing shortstops, how Jeter exemplifies style, grace and competitiveness, while Garciaparra is often portrayed as shallow, selfish and sometimes weak.
The work of these two authors who have the pleasure of writing about these two ball clubs comes together brilliantly as their passion of the game and their beats glows on the work's pages.
Whether you bleed Yankee Blue or are a card carrying member of Red Sox Nation, "A Tale of Two Cities" must become a part of your baseball collection.

No, it's not Dickens, but it's still a heck of a book. "A Tale of Two Cities" follows the Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees rivalry throughout the 2004 baseball season. Chapters alternate between Tony Massarotti of the Boston Herald and John Harper of the New York Daily News. Their writing is clear, efficient, and totally engrossing. Each of the head-to-head meetings between the Red Sox and Yankees is examined in detail, culminating with a fantastic account of the American Leaugue Championship Series. Massarotti and Harper offer many fascinating and thoughtful insights, plus some looks behind the scenes and psychological portraits of a few of the players. Each series is covered by a chaper by each author, so the reader gets a very balanced perspective.

The only thing I didn't care for was the way the typeface changes inexplicably. The first four chapters are in one font, then the fonts alternate every two chapters. The authors alternate every chapter, so the font changes don't reflect who is writing.

The authors do a great job of revealing facts about the stars (Pedro, Nomar, A-Rod, Jeter, etc.) and how they fit (or did not fit) in with their teammates. In addition there are several great stories about the relationship with the athletes and the media (the Mussina and Mike Kay relationship). Even with all of the books I have read concerning this great season I had not seen any mention that the Sox were the first team since '29 to have 5 pitchers with 175+ innings for the season. Even more enlightening is the fact that once Arroyo was put into the rotation the starting 5 did not miss a start the remainder of the season.
Truth be told I found it a book that I hated. I hated to put it down, and I hated to finish the last page. What a masterful job both authors have done. Too bad your highest rating was only 5 stars!

I have to be honest that I discarded this book after 100 pages but not because it was a bad read. As a Red Sox fan who lives in Mass., much of the story in the book is stuff that we in Red Sox land lived through back in 2004. I found the Yankees stuff to be interesting. Was anyone really surprised that most of the Yankee players hated Alex Rodriguez?

For those baseball fans who want to get the lowdown on what goes on behind the scenes with one of the great sporting soap operas in history, then I would pick this up as a primer.

OK, frustrating in two ways. While I certainly greatly enjoyed reliving the story of the 2004 baseball season through the words of these two excellent writers, I was disappointed at how much of it was about the media itself. The book is arranged with alternating chapters from each point of view, Yankees and Red Sox, with "head-to-head" chapters labeled as such to warn the readers that the gloves are coming off, but even outside of those chapters, a significant portion of the writing is about how the print, TV and radio journalists of the two cities were involved in the story of the season. My second frustration is an age-old one. Professional athletes and executives are not held accountable for their words. The book is strewn with anonymous quotes introduced with lines such as "one source said," "one teammate said," "one league official said." It's not life and death - it's sports. While a newspaper reader living in the moment may be able to make deductions as to who the sources are, to future readers, the quotes are unverifiable and therefore usless as historical documentation.

The high point of the book for me was seeing the rivalry from the opposite side of the fence. Living in Boston, I read Massarotti's column during the season, but was not privy to inside details about the happenings on the Yankees side, at least not as much as someone checking the New York dailies was. I was continually surprised by Harper's chapters. The collaboration was an excellent idea.

It seems highly unusual that beat writers covering the teams involved in MLB's greatest rivalry agreed almost two years ago to collaborate on writing an account of the 2004 season. For both the Yankees and the Red Sox, and their fans, that season provided both the best of times and the worst of times. It is to Massarotti's and Harper's credit that the results of their collaboration, this book, succeeds so well in recreating competition both on and off the playing field. Like a classic Dickens novel, their book offers a riveting plot, direct conflict and dramatic tension, colorful characters, memorable moments, and -- best of all -- behind-the-scenes access to fans such as I who saw none of the Red Sox-Yankees (or if you prefer, Yankees-Red Sox) games in person.

Granted, the national sports media devoted constant and thorough attention to both teams. Only in Massarotti and Harper's account, however, did I find sufficient answers to questions such as these:

1. Why was Grady Little fired as Red Sox manager? Surely there had to be more to it than his deference to Pedro Martinzez.

2. How did the Yankees acquire Alex Rodriguez?

3. In terms of their deportment, what are the most significant differences between the Red Sox and Yankee players?

4. To what extent (if any) did Joe Torre's often strained relationship with George Steinbrenner affect the Yankees' behavior and performance?

5. In terms of their relations with the media, how do Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez differ? Why?

6. At which point during the season did the Red Sox become convinced that they could win the AL playoffs and then the World Series?

7. Who is the real Curt Schilling?

8. What is the single most interesting aspect of the Red Sox-Yankees competition during the 2004 season of which most sports fans are still unaware?

9. How to explain the fact that the Red Sox won the last eight games they played, especially after going 0-3 against the Yankees in the ALC?

10. According to Massarotti and Harper, who were the most valuable and yet least appreciated players on both teams? Why?

Soon, the MLB playoffs will begin. It remains to be seen whether or not the Yankees and/or Red Sox will participate. In that event, will they again meet in the ALC? Whatever does and does not happen, one fact seems obvious to me: The 2004 regular season and subsequent playoffs were among the most exciting thus far. I am grateful to Massarotti and Harper for providing such a revealing as well as entertaining commentary on them.

This is the best Red Sox book out there, and I have read quite a few. If you are a Sox fan and haven't read it, read it!

LoL. Is that a front cover photo of A-fROD doing the illegal girlie-man move to knock the ball out of the first-baseman's glove?