Sox Bid Curse Farewell: The 2004 Boston Red Sox
Edited by Bill Nowlin
Associate editors: Len Levin and Carl Riechers
ISBN (ebook): 978-1-960819-18-5, $9.99
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-960819-19-2, $34.95
In 2004, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series in historic fashion. This book, published on the 20th anniversary of the 2004 championship, celebrates that team by collecting biographies all of the players on the roster alongside essays about that unprecedented postseason run and its ripples throughout New England. These biographies include everyone on the team, from the stars like David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis, and Johnny Damon to a couple of guys who would later manage their own teams in the big leagues in Dave Roberts and Gabe Kapler, to the manager, Terry Francona, and his coaches.
Seeing the team win the World Series for the first time in 86 years resonated throughout New England and “Red Sox Nation” beyond, tapping into the strong sentiments that people have rooting for the underdog. When Dan Shaughnessy wrote the book The Curse of The Bambino, the title resonated with every Red Sox fan. But the “curse” was reversed when the Red Sox avenged that and every other loss to the Yankees by becoming the first team to ever win a seven-game series after being down three games to none.
Chicago Cubs and White Sox fans have had even longer waits, but only the Red Sox had so many excruciating last-minute losses along the way. We hope readers will enjoy the story of Kathryn Gemme, who finally saw her Red Sox win it all again, when she was 109 years old. Also in the book we include the memories of a few dozen fans and details of the first-of-its-kind “trophy tour” to all 351 towns in Massachusetts.
This book began as a project of the Boston Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research, but grew to embrace the contributions of 68 different SABR members, including both Yankees and Cardinals fans. SABR’s Digital Library has now passed 100 volumes, all created, researched, and written by SABR members.
Contributors include: Malcolm Allen, Jesse Asbury, Budd Bailey, Lawrence Baldassaro, Bill Ballou, Gerald Beirne, Charlie Bevis, Kevin G. Bley, Rich Bogovich, Mike Bresciani, Robert Brustad, Ralph Caola, Christopher D. Chavis, Walt Cherniak, Karl Cicitto, Eric Conrad, Kit Crissey, Dave Dionisio, Robert Emerson, Jeff English, Anne Enos, M. Frank, Norm Ginsberg, Chad Hagan, Belt High Hallisey, Donna L. Halper, Barry Halpern, Paul Hofmann, Joanne Hulbert, William Hyland, Evan Katz, Seamus Kearney, Norm King, Bob LeMoine, Len Levin, Nick Malian, Scott Melesky, David G. Moore, Mark Morowczynski, Tom Nahigian, Robert Nash, Bill Nowlin, Tony S. Oliver, Ryan Palencer, Tim Peeler, Matt Perry, Eric Poulin, Bill Pruden, José Ramírez, Alexander Reardon, Carl Riechers, Luca Rossi, Keley Russo, Jason Scheller, Mark Schremmer, Paul Semendinger, Vic Son, David Southwick, Mark Stangl, Karen De Luca Stephens, Mark S. Sternman, Jeb Stewart, Cecilia M. Tan, John Tierney, Richard “Dixie” Tourangeau, Greg Tranter, George “Skip” Tuetken, John Vorperian, Bob Webster, Saul Wisnia, Ed Wheatley, and Gregory H. Wolf.
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