As I was saying...

What, you thought the previous review of Red Sox books was all-encompassing? As they prepare to face their archrivals once again, it seems like an appropriate time to look at some additional titles, striking while the iron is hot and taking advantage of the Red Sox first World Series title in almost ninety years.

You couldn't blame Leigh Grossman for taking the time to update THE RED SOX FAN HANDBOOK: Everything You Need to Know to be a Red Sox Fan or to Marry One. The author first released the HANDBOOK in 2001 but now gets to include all the happy details. The bulk of the book consists of 400 Sox players, whether for their outstanding play on the field or their colorful personalities. Grossman also includes useful information for further elucidation, such as Sox-related websites and books. Especially helpful in this entertaining guide is the "Red Sox fan's guide to (safely) visiting Yankee Stadium." The only drawback to this volume is the total lack of illustrations.

As if to make up for that shortcoming, another updated reprint hit the bookstands recently: RED SOX: A RETROSPECTIVE OF BOSTON BASEBALL, 1901 TO TODAY. The trio of editors rejiggered this handsome mish-mash of photos and prose, covering mostly the highlights and ignoring the lows. As with others of its kind, the RETROSPECTIVE celebrates heroes who have preceded the current batch of "Idiots," such as Johnny Damon, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz and company. On the one hand, books of this kind --- as impressive as they --- are very common; on the other, they are still very popular, even for the most casual fans.

Herb Crehan takes a very anecdotal approach in revisiting RED SOX HEROES OF YESTERYEAR. Beginning with Bobby Doerr in 1937 and ending with manager Joe Morgan in 1985, many of these players are not so much heroes (Pumpsie Green? Bruce Hurst?), relatively speaking. They were, it seems, available to speak with the author. He heads each of the forty profiles as "Interview with...", but the accompanying text, while including quotes from the players, seems more like straight biographical information. All in all, Crehan presents a pleasant homage to many Sox favorites.

Two new titles seek out fans for their take on what the first World Championship in 86 years means to them. For most of that period, a question that resounded louder with each passing season is "Why not us?" So why not use that as a launching point? Done.

Leigh Montville, author of the impressive biography TED WILLIAMS: THE BIOGRAPHY OF AN AMERICAN HERO, interviewed "fans, friends, friends of friends, old sportswriters, ballplayers, public figures and plain folk" for their cathartic stories in WHY NOT US?: The 86-Year Journey of the Boston Red Sox Fans From Unparalleled Suffering to the Promised Land of the 2004 World Series.

Similarly, but much encompassing, is WIN IT FOR....: What a World Championship Means to Generations of Red Sox Fans. The editors, listed as "The Sons of Sam Horn," are a collection of "diehard Boston fans with a bent on noise-free intelligent baseball conversation" who use a popular Red Sox website as their virtual watering hole and consists of pleas to their chosen ball club to "win it" for various fans, living and dead, in a "Gipper"-like fashion. While this novel approach is well-intentioned, it does wear after awhile and, like a family scrapbook, is interesting mostly for those who appear within its pages.

What about the children, you might ask? Don't worry, Gerard Purciello has them covered with THE YEAR THEY WON: A Tale of the Boston Red Sox, a fictional account of the team in 2024, after another lengthy drought without a title. Let's hope they won't have to wait that long in real time; who knows what effect it might have on the younger generation, to whom this book is marketed.

--- Reviewed by Ron Kaplan