Using "Red Sox" and "impossible" in the same sentence? aaaah...
Ricci G. (goldie61) reviewed Lost Summer : The '67 Red Sox and the Impossible Dream on + 39 more book reviews
I just finished this book covering the 1967 baseball season and the focus on the Boston Red Sox. Well written and thorough, the writer recreates the excitement felt by the city as their team rises from second division status to take the flag.
The Sox were an interesting team, but probably not the best team in the American League that season. Both the Twins and Tigers had stronger squads top to bottom, but the Red Sox rode the coatails of two outstanding performances during the year to win the pennant on the last day of the season. Being a Twins fan, there's a touch of biterness in reading about the change in fortune between the Twins and the Red Sox, knowing that the Twins only needed to win one of the last two games to beat out the Red Sox. But I give the Red Sox their due... they did what they had to do against tremendous odds. They faced a better St. Louis Cardinal team in the World Series and to their credit, extended the series to seven games. They had no answer for Bob Gibson and that was the major difference.
The author spent more than a few pages giving the story context by writting about the events that shaped the months during the baseball season, including race riots, the Vietnam war and the rise of drug usage. As for Sox history, I found it interesting to read about the characters in the book, especially Tony C, Yaz, and Jim Lonborg. One eye opener for me was the attendance at Fenway during the season. Given that getting a ticket these days to a ball game in Boston is extremely difficult, reading that sellouts were rare in the 60's is quite the surprise.
I did notice at least two factual errors in the book. For instance, the author stated that Elston Howard caught Don Larson's perfect game in the World Series, when it was actually Yogi Berra. The second example escapes me at the moment, but these errors really didn't detract from the writing.
Baseball fans will appreciate this tale from the 1967 season, but the real appreciation for the story and this book will come from readers that consider themselves Red Sox fans to the core.
The Sox were an interesting team, but probably not the best team in the American League that season. Both the Twins and Tigers had stronger squads top to bottom, but the Red Sox rode the coatails of two outstanding performances during the year to win the pennant on the last day of the season. Being a Twins fan, there's a touch of biterness in reading about the change in fortune between the Twins and the Red Sox, knowing that the Twins only needed to win one of the last two games to beat out the Red Sox. But I give the Red Sox their due... they did what they had to do against tremendous odds. They faced a better St. Louis Cardinal team in the World Series and to their credit, extended the series to seven games. They had no answer for Bob Gibson and that was the major difference.
The author spent more than a few pages giving the story context by writting about the events that shaped the months during the baseball season, including race riots, the Vietnam war and the rise of drug usage. As for Sox history, I found it interesting to read about the characters in the book, especially Tony C, Yaz, and Jim Lonborg. One eye opener for me was the attendance at Fenway during the season. Given that getting a ticket these days to a ball game in Boston is extremely difficult, reading that sellouts were rare in the 60's is quite the surprise.
I did notice at least two factual errors in the book. For instance, the author stated that Elston Howard caught Don Larson's perfect game in the World Series, when it was actually Yogi Berra. The second example escapes me at the moment, but these errors really didn't detract from the writing.
Baseball fans will appreciate this tale from the 1967 season, but the real appreciation for the story and this book will come from readers that consider themselves Red Sox fans to the core.
