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| Author: Michael Holley
Publisher: HarperEntertainment
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $8.95
You Save: $17.00 (66%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 40394
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.3 x 1
ISBN: 0061458546
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.357640974461
EAN: 9780061458545
ASIN: 0061458546
Publication Date: April 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: New, book may have dings on the corner or along book edge, page edge may be slightly soiled also soil marks may be on book edge, dust cover may have curls along the edge and scratches on the cover - Hardcover
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 6-10 of 10 | | « PREV | | |
 Interesting but muddled view of the 2007 Red Sox April 16, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
In this book, Michael Holley writes a book that seems unclear as to what it is trying to do. Is it trying to profile the new dynasty of the Red Sox as the title suggests or is it trying to show what type of management style works best in baseball as the work suggest or is it trying to do something else? I find this book to oftentimes be muddled and confusing as to what it is trying to do exactly. I agree with a lot of the other criticism that the book lacks focus and also seems to lack a frame other then when it suites the immediate need of the story
I also find interesting that Holley managed to write this book without hardly a mention of Curt Schilling. Schilling is in there when discussing Terry Francona in Philadelphia and of course when he pitches in the playoffs, but other than that there is hardly a mention of him.
All in all I think Red Sox fans will enjoy this book but in my mind it provides very little insight into the team.
 How to lead and win in the new century April 13, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is less about the team than the manager who is so low key, Sox fans may underrate his accomplishments.
To place my review in context, I began following the Sox in the early sixties and suffered through the terrible (Higgins, Herman), the incomprehensible (Kasko, J. Williams), the lost (Hobson, McNamara), the temporary (Kerrigan, Popowski) and the flawed but effective (D. Williams, Houk, Johnson, Kennedy). We fans waited for the leader to bring us to the promised land and found him in the unassuming guise of Tito. This guy not only led the not quite believable comeback against the Yankees in 2004 but is 8-0 in the World Series with a team which recently lost 13 straight post-season games.
The book describes Tito as the son of a major leaguer, one of the best college players in the country, manager of Michael Jordan in Birmingham and failed player due to injuries. He had the strength to fight through the lost dream of being a productive major leaguer and the cauldron of managing in the meanest sports city in the US (Philly)to become part of the troika who saved the Red Sox. Of the 3 (Owner, GM and manager), somehow Tito has gotten the least attention.
Red Sox Rule can also be read as a business book with insights into the changing requirements of management success in a changing business. It explores the transition from directive leadership (Dick Williams) to servant leadership (Francona) and how the latter fits the times.
I appreciate the game and Francona more after reading this book. Sox fans should remember that the press ripped Ted Williams when he played and fans bood Yaz early in his career. We probably should understand and respect the best manager the Sox have had in our lifetime while he is here even if his personality and management style is not nearly as self promoting as Bill Parcells or as in-the-face as Bill Belicek.
I was in a Red Sox bar in Denver prior to Game 3 of the 2007 World Series and one Sox fan was reaching the panic point concerning the decision to have Ortiz play first base. I quietly said to the stranger, "Tito always makes the right decisions in post-season." He replied, "That's right," smiled and instantly calmed down. It is a new era for Sox fans.
After a close loss in which you want to debate a manager decision, remember: 86 years, end of Curse, 4 straight vs. NY, 8 consecutive World Series wins and, most of all, 2 championships.
Along with Big Popi and the Schill, Tito gets a lifetime pass from this fan.
RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "TERRY FRANCONA: SOMETIMES NICE GUYS DO FINISH FIRST!" March 27, 2008
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
When Terry Francona was hired to manage the Boston Red Sox in 2004 he was following in the footsteps of THIRTY-TWO different men who had tried unsuccessfully to win one World Championship in the past EIGHTY-FIVE-YEARS! The Red Sox play their home games on the hallowed ground of Fenway Park. Despite being baseball's smallest and oldest park, it has the sport's longest string of consecutive sellouts: as of the writing of this book the total was 388 straight games, nearly 5 seasons. To "old-school" baseball purists like me Fenway is a "FIELD OF DREAMS". I am not from Boston, but one of my goals that has always been on my "wish" list of sports experiences I wanted to accomplish, was to go to Fenway and have a beer in front of the famed "GREEN-MONSTER", and on July 18, 2007 I lived my Fenway dream. (I even posted the picture of my visit as my Amazon profile picture.) Along with the celebrated ballpark, the Red Sox fans in New England are renowned for their fervor and sports knowledge. There have been a number of "life-changing" events in Red Sox history that have been agonizingly passed down from Grandparents to Parents to sons and daughters, and I'm sure even whispered to the womb along with soothing music, that ranged from selling Babe Ruth to the hated Yankees, the 1978 collapse, Bucky *@#! Dent, and the latest one that led to Terry Francona's hiring: Grady Little leaving Pedro Martinez in the seventh game of the 2003 Red Sox-Yankees playoff game. This is the backdrop that the book is built around.
The author describes the interview process between Red Sox executives and Terry that included a quiz along with game simulation and decision making. The reader is also taken back to Terry's childhood in Western Pennsylvania. He had loving parents and his Father Tito was a big league player whose high-water mark was a 363 average in 1959. From the time Terry was a child he had one goal: he was going to be a Major League baseball player. He was a star in high school and turned down a bonus contract from the Cubs and went to the University of Arizona. From there Francona played for multiple big league clubs with a career marred and shortened by injuries and retired with a 274 lifetime average. After numerous scouting jobs he wound up as the manager of the Birmingham Barons, the Chicago White Sox Double-A farm team. As fate may have it, Terry's path in the minors converged with the all-time great basketball player Michael Jordan. Jordan had retired from basketball and was following a childhood dream of attempting to be a big league baseball player. The unique dilemma of having to manage/handle the biggest star in the world, while integrating the needs of young baseball hopefuls in the midst of a national media circus would pay large dividends down the road for Francona and probably was just as important on his resume as managing the Phillies.
Major League baseball had become a haven for egotistical, pampered, mal-adjusted, multi-millionaire ballplayers, and it would take a unique centered individual to be able to manage a team full of such players, especially in sports crazed Boston, where one bad game or bad decision by a manager or ballplayer, would throw that individual into a cauldron of verbal abuse on talk radio, the newspapers, TV and at the ballpark. After great scrutiny, the Red Sox brain trust decided that Terry Francona had the tools necessary to manage the Manny Ramirez's of today's game. The author brings you inside the emotional and severe physical hardships that Terry faced, but surprisingly the 2004 world championship is absent from this book. I had to keep checking the inside cover and flipping back through the pages to make sure I hadn't missed something. There also could have been much more detail regarding the Red Sox's most recent championship in 2007. If you acknowledge those two shortcomings, the rest of the book is a wonderful way to get to know what a genuinely nice guy and dedicated baseball man Terry Francona actually is.
Felt rushed March 25, 2008
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
There are very few books about the recent history of the Red Sox that I consider must-haves. This book, unfortunately, is not one of them. It took me an hour to barrel through: I am normally a really fast reader, but this book just didn't have much substance. The best parts were the autobiographical sections about Terry Francona as a child and early in his baseball career, periods I really didn't know much about. His pulmonary embolism episode was also a gripping read, and I found the description of his managerial interview with the Sox really fascinating. The rest of the book felt really rushed. As a previous reviewer noted, there was very little on the actual process of managing a game, and the glossing over of the 2004 playoffs and several other memorable episodes, such as Theo Epstein's resignation, was troubling. I also wanted a lot more on the 2007 playoffs instead of some quick summaries at the end. It made me think that Holley just didn't want to take the time to write all of it thoroughly so he could get it out before the 2008 season. Well, he was successful at that, but the price is unsophisticated, incomplete writing that will frustrate many fans and bore others.
Buy this book for the sections on Terry Francona's life, which are indeed very good, and don't expect 200 pages of meat. It's a solid book and an easy read, but hard core fans probably won't be satisfied and I didn't feel I got my money's worth.
What Happened after Pedro Stayed in Against the Yankees March 25, 2008
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
After two World Series championships in four seasons, it's hard to reach back into the days of reversing the curse. It seems like something that our grandfathers had to deal with. In fact, the subject never comes up any more.
Instead, Jordan's Furniture came on the air to announce yesterday that if the Red Sox win the World Series in four straight in 2008 you will be reimbursed for your furniture purchases. It sounds crazy, but in 2004 and 2007 the Red Sox won in sweeps.
As I write this, the Red Sox are behind against the A's in Tokyo. Dice-K is all the rage and left with a no-decision.
I picked up Red Sox Rule to help get me into the mood for the new season. I was pleasantly surprised to learn new things about Terry Francona, Boston's championship manager. His job interview with Theo Epstein (the young GM) included two examinations! I also didn't know much about Francona's career as a player . . . nor his experience as manager of the Phillies.
When Francona was selected, I couldn't figure out why anyone would have chosen him. Having seen his work from the bench, I've been impressed by his heart, his discipline, his even-keeled personality, and his defense of the players. Francona is the right manager for Boston.
I had also forgotten that Francona had been Michael Jordan's manager while MJ was a baseball player. It was good to be reminded.
Those are the highlights of the book. Most of the rest is filler.
I found several aspects of the book to be disappointing:
1. The 2004 season is ignored.
2. The 2007 season is described too briefly.
3. You don't get much of a sense about how Francona combines old school instinct and new school statistics although Mr. Holley is fond of repeating the point.
4. Although Francona loves to talk baseball, there's not much of his philosophy of managing in the book. You get a brief reference instead such as how he'll bring team issues to the attention of Big Papi who will take care of things for Francona.
5. There is no index.
6. The focus is on explaining the Red Sox to those who don't know the team. That's weird. Yankee fans aren't going to read this book.
I can't imagine that Terry Francona held back a lot from Mr. Holley. My impression is that Mr. Holley wasn't sure how to write about managing. That is a missed opportunity.
After the next World Series championship in Boston, I hope another writer will take on this subject and do a better job.
As a side point, I would like to warn you that my copy is filled with smeared type as though the pages weren't printed properly. If you want to have a pretty copy, you might want to buy yours at a book store where you can check the printing quality before your purchase.
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