Boston Red Sox and the Meaning of Life by Mark Rucker

Boston Red Sox and the Meaning of Life by Mark Rucker (MVP Books, 2009) 400 pages

Our recent run of team-related book reviews has covered the Yankees, Dodgers and Cardinals, so the Boston Red Sox are definitely due some attention.  There have been countless books devoted to the Sox over the years and Boston Red Sox and the Meaning of Life is the latest.  Great moments, players and memorable quotes from the history of the franchise are brought together in the second instalment of this new series. 

Boston Red Sox and the Meaning of Life follows the same format as the opening book in the series, dedicated to the New York Yankees.  Photos and quotes are combined into double-page spreads throughout a small but thick hardback book.  They are split into broad chapters stretching from the teams of the early-twentieth century to the end of 2008, although the period from the 1960s to the 1990s is (perhaps justifiably?) glossed over compared to the rest.

These books are designed to be picked up and flicked through, making the quality and variety of photos central to their success.  The black-and-white shots from the early days always appeal the most, taking you back through the history of the game in a way that words often fail to fully capture. For example, the sight of the crowd descending on Boston’s Huntington Avenue Base Ball Grounds for the first ever World Series in 1903 shows the excitement generated by the new event.

There are many chances to gaze at the old uniforms and equipment used by the likes of Tris Speaker, Cy Young, ‘Smoky’ Joe Wood and Jimmie Foxx, while Boston greats such as Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski are featured as much as you would expect.  The shots of Babe Ruth with ‘Red Sox’ emblazoned across his chest remind you of the way baseball history was changed not just when he moved to the Yankees, but when he decided to leave his pitching days behind him.

The modern era is unsurprisingly captured in the greatest level of detail, from the despair-filled clubhouse after the Red Sox’s crushing 2003 ALCS loss to the Yankees, to Schilling’s bloody sock (one of the most iconic photos of recent postseason history) and the joy of a Champagne-soaked David Ortiz celebrating another trip to the postseason in 2008.  The legendary Fenway Park is featured from many angles, never failing to make you appreciate the glory of its historic charms.

While the photos are undoubtedly a match for those included in the New York Yankees edition, the quotations initially feel like a disappointment in comparison.  Virtually all of the quotes in the Yankees book are either by a Yankee or about the team and they have a clear relationship with the photo they are paired with.  In contrast, many of the quotes included here are not by Red Sox representatives and some are not even directly related to baseball.  Their randomness is epitomized by the use of a quote by “Steven Gerrard, star soccer player for Liverpool”. 

However, while it doesn’t work in quite the same way that the Yankees version does, the random nature of the Red Sox version actually makes it very enjoyable when judged on its own merits.  Take this sequence as an example: we start with a photo of Johnny Damon crashing into Damien Jackson alongside a quote by Pablo Picasso, the next page includes a quote by American entrepreneur T. Boone Pickens followed by a quote by Voltaire and then a quote by that famous philosopher Kevin Millar!  How many other books include a quote by Josh Bard on the difficulties of catching a knuckleball (“like you’re trying to catch a butterfly with a waffle iron”) and then follow it with a quote by Winston Churchill?  Not many, I would guess.

The book does include some excellent Red Sox-related quotes as well, such as Bill Lee’s great comment about the Green Monster (“do they leave it there during the game?”) and pitcher Bobby Schantz reflecting on the advice he was given before facing Ted Williams (“It was great advice, very encouraging.  They said he had no weaknesses, won’t swing at a bad ball, has the best eyes in the business and can kill you with one swing”).  So it’s certainly not the case that the Red Sox are overlooked in the words, just that they don’t match up as seamlessly with the photos as they do in the Yankee book.

All of which suggests that the format was originally devised for the New York Yankees version and the publisher has decided to use it as a template for other teams, even if they can’t quite match the Yankees and their long line of quotable players, managers and opponents.  It will be interesting to see whether the series is extended to any other teams and, if so, whether they are able to match the original.

Boston Red Sox and the Meaning of Life  doesn’t quite match New York Yankees and the Meaning of Life in terms of following the latter’s brilliant template, but it is successful in its own way.  The photos are excellent, the quotes often entertaining and the overall result is a book that would be well-thumbed by any Red Sox fan who buys a copy or receives it as a present. 

Have you read “Boston Red Sox and the Meaning of Life”? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below. Can you recommend any other similar books? If so, let us know.