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Title: Feeding the Green Monster by Rob Neyer ISBN: 0-7595-5028-X Publisher: iPublish.com Pub. Date: August, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.41 (17 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A Passionate Story About A Season With The Red Sox
Comment: Rob Neyer lived many a fan's dream during the 2000 major league season when he attended all 81 home games of the Boston Red Sox at their historic home, Fenway Park. But that wasn't the full extent of his baseball watching that summer. He managed to push his season total higher still with games in Seattle, New York, Kansas City and Pawtucket. The book that resulted, "Feeding the Green Monster," is Rob's diary of that busy season. We get plenty of baseball between these covers--and also a lot about Rob's life.
Neyer is a columnist for ESPN.com, and his knowledge of, and passion for the game shine throughout the text. He's also quite eloquent and passionate about Fenway itself, and makes a strong case why this historic ballyard, the oldest left in the major leagues, should not be prematurely retired. One of the highlights for me was the story of how Rob and a friend managed to stay after the end of a game and spend the night in Fenway, exploring every nook, cranny and crevice. It's going to be a long time before anyone can write this way about any of the current crop of "retro" ballparks, and I can never, ever imagine a fan feeling the same way about one of those cookie-cutter stadiums that proliferated in the 60s and 70s.
Sadly, Neyer didn't have much of a season to write about. The BoSox made a promising start that year, remained in contention for their division title for most of the summer, and were in the hunt for the wild card slot almost to the end, but once again fell short against the Yankees. A classic pennant race instead of a sad fade would have made for a more gripping text.
Some of the other reviewers seemed to find the book a bit too self-involved, but such is the nature of a dairy. I had a different take...I found myself thinking of Rob as something of a kindred spirit, and wishing I could go to a game with him sometime. Anyone who laments over the fact that too many great books are published to keep up with in a year, let alone a lifetime; and who had such a passionate love for this great American sport is going to rate very highly in my personal book.
Rating: 4
Summary: Rooting for the Underdog
Comment: Rob Neyer, ESPN.com columnist and cutting-edge baseball writer, attended 114 ballgames during the 2000 season. I attended one, and even that was shortened by rain. He sat in Fenway Park for all 81 Boston Red Sox home games. I saw the Red Sox only during their battles with the Yankees that year, and apart from Scott Brosius's killing-blow home run off Pedro Martinez that September, I remember little. But I devoured "Feeding the Green Monster" in just a few days, racing through the Red Sox's also-ran season just to read what Neyer would have to say about it, wishing I had been there in his entourage.
"Green Monster" is a diary, a confessional -- at the end, Rob writes, "I fell in love twice this season, with a ballpark named Fenway and a woman named (spoiler removed)". There are entries covering Opening Day through the offseason, but not each one is as meticulous or documented as his ESPN.com columns. As with Rob's previous work, the book is better when he's in full-on research mode. The entries concerning Gary Gaetti, Johnny Pesky, the 1946 World Series, and the history of the outfield wall now called the Green Monster, are outstanding.
The personal content is also intriguing, although the fact that the author could devote a whole season to buying tickets at Fenway -- and then flying or riding to 35 other games in other cities -- hints that it might be easier for Neyer to be a baseball fan than most of his readers. I always wanted more details on the people he went to games with -- we come to know Fenway's scalpers better than the author's girlfriends. Passages such as "Baseball fans in these parts are about as moody as a pregnant woman who forgot to each lunch" should have been deleted long before publication.
I've only been to Fenway once, and came out just a little bit more enamored of the Red Sox -- not an easy thing to do, as I am a New Yorker. After finishing "Feeding the Green Monster", I found I wanted to be there at Fenway again, rooting for the likes of Tim Wakefield and counting Pedro Martinez's strikeouts. Rob Neyer's diary of the 2000 season is far from perfect, but it's unique in its approach and its refreshing lack of interviews with ballplayers. Rob is Every-Fan, our agent in the bleacher seats, and it would be kind of nice if he could write a book like this again.
Rating: 4
Summary: Good writer. Good book.
Comment: Check it out. Whether you're a Sox fan or not.
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