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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
This is a nice review of Tito's time in Boston. I enjoyed it. But as someone who follows the Sox fairly closely it didn't add anything really new that I hadn't already heard from WEEI or the Globe. Good summer reading for a baseball fan.
A fascinating look at the Francona years of the Boston Red Sox (2004-2011), which encompassed 2 World Series victories (including the first in 86 years) as well as the biggest collapse in baseball history in September of 2011. Many people were obviously exhaustively interviewed by Dan Shaughnessy for this book, and his many hours over many years in the clubhouse as a reporter are obvious- Shaughnessy clearly knows his way around this organization. The book is well written, though I did find it to be repetitive- I found myself often reading about a situation or a conversation, only to have it re-expained only a few pages later. I wondered if this was a newspaper thing- if people are going to be reading articles that are published days or weeks apart, then you have to go back and recap things that might have been talked about earlier... but in this case, the book is such a quick read that it was a detriment, though only a small one.
Francona is the real star here, and his quotes are funny, insightful, and honest. I felt very sympathetic towards him anyway before reading this (the way he was dissed and dismissed was, in a word, gross), and his book only makes me feel even more strongly in his corner.
Obviously this book isn't for anyone. I don't even really know how people outside of Boston would feel about it. But for Red Sox fans, it is very, very good.
Francona is the real star here, and his quotes are funny, insightful, and honest. I felt very sympathetic towards him anyway before reading this (the way he was dissed and dismissed was, in a word, gross), and his book only makes me feel even more strongly in his corner.
Obviously this book isn't for anyone. I don't even really know how people outside of Boston would feel about it. But for Red Sox fans, it is very, very good.
I did not want to put this down. It was like watching a disaster unfold. Readers got a great look inside the workings of the Red Sox.
With all the flights back and forth home for weddings and birthdays managed to get through Tito's book. Turned out to be be perfect timing, as last night was really the final bookend on the Francona years.
Definitely learned more about the intricacies of the baseball world and got a different perspective on the sometimes conflicting agendas of the field management, baseball operations, and ownership.
The best part of the book without doubt was the treasure trove of "Manny being Manny" anecdotes. So many good ones.
Definitely learned more about the intricacies of the baseball world and got a different perspective on the sometimes conflicting agendas of the field management, baseball operations, and ownership.
The best part of the book without doubt was the treasure trove of "Manny being Manny" anecdotes. So many good ones.
Honestly, if you are a big Red Sox fan odds are you won't learn anything new from this. It was fun to re-live 2004 and 2007 (especially 2004) and reading about how everything fell apart in the ending chapters was interesting but otherwise this was a pretty ho-hum read. I'm glad I listened to it and our freshly painted playroom will probably make me think of the sox from now on. I new going into this that it was going to be full of language- Baseball aside, this is Boston we're talking about. So, if a lot of language bothers you I would steer clear of this one. 5/10
I'd say I already knew a good portion of this book's contents, but there was a significant amount I didn't before reading. Going in, I knew what to expect from anything penned by Shaughnessy (insert eye roll here -- does anyone take more seeming pleasure in spotlighting anything negative?), but try as he might, he cannot sully Tito in my eyes. What I really took away from this book is exactly what I perceived already: the Red Sox ownership is so far out of touch with what a real baseball fan wants from the game and from their team. I cannot imagine what it is like to work for them, but the words 'frustrating' and 'unpleasant' spring immediately to mind. I, like Tito, felt like this book is vindicating and redemptive. Five-plus seasons removed from the end of Francona leading the Red Sox, I had no idea I still needed that, but upon closing this book for the final time, it has become clear to me that I very much did. (I really struggled with dropping this to three stars, purely for the Shaughnessy factor, but I couldn't make myself do that to Tito, who will forever get the benefit of my doubt after everything he brought to the team I love. He deserved every one of those four stars as far as I am concerned.)
This is an awesome insight into baseball operations and how people act towards one another. At times I had to stop reading because I was in such hate with the ownership. I had to remind myself this is one side of the story, but a juicy one.
Yikes, where to begin? I should have read the reviews first although I doubt it would have made a difference. I expected this to be a book written by Francona with Shaughnessy as a ghost writer or "by Francona with Shaughnessy" but it's not. It's a book written by Dan Shaughnessy from interviews with Francona. I had that suspicion almost right away. I mean, who writes an autobiography in the third person or refers to himself as "the manager"? Then the acknowledgement at the end pretty much confirmed it.
I cannot stand Shaughnessy's writing. I never could. There's a reason he has a nickname of "shank" and it's no mystery how there exists automated software that can write a Shaughnessy column. If you want to know what hack writing looks like, just pick up a Globe and read a Shaughnessy column. It reads as if written by someone trying to mimic what a old-timey meatball sports beat stereotype might writes like. With cigars and whiskey.
I can only imagine that Francona is listed as an author because athletes and others important to the story loathed Shaughnessy and liked Francona and would only cooperate if Francona asked them to and Francona was probably a damn good negotiator and without author credit, the book would not have been made.
That said...
There's not a lot new here. There is some background material I didn't know about and the story of Francona's younger life was interesting. I didn't, for example, know just how bad his health was, and it made some of what happened make more sense. It also does a reasonable job of getting across just how hard the feelings are all the way around, not just between Francona and ownership, but between all the players, owners, media and everybody else.
As a Red Sox fan, it's worth reading. You might come away with a slightly different perspective, but probably not. Anyone who has been watching the way ownership has been acting over the last 10 years or so really can't come away feeling any more dislike of John "Pink Hat" Henry and the rest than they already do. Some of it seems self-serving, but that's to be expected in any "autobiography", I suppose, but it doesn't come a surprise or change any opinions.
Terry Francona will always be loved by this town and there's nothing Sox ownership can do to destroy that, no matter how hard they try.
I cannot stand Shaughnessy's writing. I never could. There's a reason he has a nickname of "shank" and it's no mystery how there exists automated software that can write a Shaughnessy column. If you want to know what hack writing looks like, just pick up a Globe and read a Shaughnessy column. It reads as if written by someone trying to mimic what a old-timey meatball sports beat stereotype might writes like. With cigars and whiskey.
I can only imagine that Francona is listed as an author because athletes and others important to the story loathed Shaughnessy and liked Francona and would only cooperate if Francona asked them to and Francona was probably a damn good negotiator and without author credit, the book would not have been made.
That said...
There's not a lot new here. There is some background material I didn't know about and the story of Francona's younger life was interesting. I didn't, for example, know just how bad his health was, and it made some of what happened make more sense. It also does a reasonable job of getting across just how hard the feelings are all the way around, not just between Francona and ownership, but between all the players, owners, media and everybody else.
As a Red Sox fan, it's worth reading. You might come away with a slightly different perspective, but probably not. Anyone who has been watching the way ownership has been acting over the last 10 years or so really can't come away feeling any more dislike of John "Pink Hat" Henry and the rest than they already do. Some of it seems self-serving, but that's to be expected in any "autobiography", I suppose, but it doesn't come a surprise or change any opinions.
Terry Francona will always be loved by this town and there's nothing Sox ownership can do to destroy that, no matter how hard they try.
Interesting read on Terry Francona's life as a manager for the Red Sox. I didn't like Shaughnessy putting his two cents in a lot of the time, but it was interesting to see how close Tito was to certain players and Theo. it was a little long though and wordy. I didn't need brief bios of everyone mentioned. All in all a fascinating read a Red Sox fan will enjoy.