cover image The Boston Red Sox: Memories and Mementoes of New England's Team

The Boston Red Sox: Memories and Mementoes of New England's Team

Bruce Chadwick. Abbeville Press, $24.95 (132pp) ISBN 978-1-55859-242-1

The history of the Boston Red Sox baseball team is filled with examples of the noble competitor. The team can boast of the greatest hitter in the game, Ted Williams, while also wallowing in a tradition of futile competition: 1993 will mark the 75th anniversary of the Red Sox's last World Series Championship. However, that sorry history has produced the noble fan, as well, who glories in the team's ineptitude, reciting famous boners like a mantra. Chadwick, former writer for Sports Illustrated , chronicles that lineage, accompanied by a scrapbook illustrating game programs, ancient uniforms and equipment, baseball cards, ticket stubs and, of course, a history of the Green Monster--the left field wall--Fenway Park's most recognizable landmark. The narrative gracefully takes a backseat to Spindel's marvelous pictorial reminders of what Red Sox fans proudly refer to as ``The Greatest Team to Never Win the World Series.'' (Feb.)