What a marvelous book!
I'm a lifelong Yankees fan and this book brought back tons of wonderful
memories that I hadn't thought about in a long time - Boone's HR, the
2003 ALCS, the Boston Massacre, and several I'd just as soon forget!
I also learned things I didn't know. Everyone knows about the sale of
Ruth to the Yankees, but I didn't know just how much Boston was effectively
the Yankees farm team around that time. I never knew that the Yankees offered
Lou Gehrig to Boston and they passed on him!
Any real baseball fan will find plenty of stories in here to enjoy, bring
back memories, but especially if you're a Boston or New York fan.
The only thing that would have made this book better is if it had left out
everything about the 2004 post-season! LOL
( )

Rivalries are what makes baseball more exciting. The third edition of "the great rivalry" by the Frommers updates the greatest rivalry of all - the Yankees and the Red Sox. They cover the trades and sales, including the most famous of all, Babe Ruth to the Yankees and the end result, the Red Sox curse of not winning the World Series that lasted almost one hundred years. Many comparisons between the teams are made and backed up with statistics. And the most famous games and players are included: Bucky Dent, the DiMaggio brothers, Ted Williams, and many more. There is a chapter of quotes by the well-known, like John Kerry and Rudy Giuliani, players and regular fans.

What is missing from the book is an index, which would have been helpful, as well as any references, scholarly or otherwise. The chapters were not in chronological order, so, with no index, it was hard to go back and find the subject. There was also a lot of repetition: the older chapters appear as published and the new ones lift material verbatim so you find you are reading the same thing more than once. Tighter editing and more rewriting would have helped the book.

(In the interests of full disclosure - I am a Phillies fan, which means I am used to year after year of adversity with an occasional great year. My husband and son are rabid Yankees fans and expect to win every year.)

This is one of those must reads for Yankees-Sox fans in spite of the many flaws. ( )

I didn't read this book straight through. I started by sampling chapters, finding out which were the most interesting or perhaps the most familiar, since my relationship with the Red Sox began in the seventies. The authors compare and contrast the two teams from a variety of perspectives. They look at the culture of the two cities, the two stadiums, the two iconic players, DiMaggio and Williams, and much more. I think this is good book for fans of either team or for any baseball fan. It's also a good reference for stats and quotes. Nice job. ( )

Harvey and Frederic Frommer have compiled a wonderfully comprehensive look at one of the greatest rivalries in sports - The Yankees vs. the Red Sox. (Sorry, the Yankees get top billing in this review because of my allegiance.)

The book contains information about not only some of the more famous lore from the rivalry (the sale of Babe Ruth to the Yankees, Aaron Boone's playoff winning HR, and the great Ted Williams/Joe DiMaggio battles for baseball supremacy) but also the less known stories, such as the competition between the fans, dirty tricks by the owners, and an in-depth look at the 1978 season.

In addition to the human interest parts of the book, there are plenty of pictures, stats, and even a chapter devoted to the two venerable ballparks. There's even a section listing fans' (including some famous names) favorite stories, thoughts, or anecdotes about this great rivalry. The Frommer's have given fair treatment to both franchises and avoided playing favorites or allowing their own personal preferences to creep into the book.

While most baseball fans will find the book interesting and worth their time, fans of the two franchises will go crazy over it and will want a copy on their bookshelves. Highly recommended!

I was awarded this book in exchange for a honest and unbiased review. ( )

I’m a life-long baseball fan, but I found this chronicle of the Yankee-Red Sox rivalry hard to enjoy. There’s good information in it, but it seems more like a collection of articles in random order than a well-organized book. There’s quite a bit of redundancy, therefore, and a lot of stuff that will only appeal to a hard-core Yankee or Red Sox fan. To those readers who don’t fit that description, I’d suggest starting your reading in chapter 5, which recaps the rivalry chronologically, although far too briefly. The earlier chapters consist primarily of chronicles of recent years’ action. Later chapters, on the ballparks and DiMaggio vs. Williams were well done. ( )